TBAY: cabbages revisited and a new suspect for 4th man

[Linda C. McCabe]

No: HPFGUIDX 39050


Athena brings her head up out of the water.  She's been under the depths of
the Aegean sea for what has seemed to be weeks trying to wade through TBAY
discussions.  As she surfaces and smells the salty air she shakes her head
and realizes that there was one cannon she hadn't seen fly yet that she saw
on the bottom of the sea.

A new discovery on the significance of cabbages.  It may not only be
indicative of Polyjuice Potion, but may just be indicative that magic
potions are being brewed.  This appeals to the goddess, because frankly the
thought that her beloved Arabella Figg has been condemned to live for a
period of sixteen years continually brewing and chugging Polyjuice Potion
seems a bit - excessive.  Surely Dumbledore and Arabella could have come up
with an easier way to come up with a Muggle identity to live in a suburban
neighborhood.  And then the smell of cabbages comes wafting by and Athena
follows - she follows all the way to Diagon Alley and to the Apothecary.

As Harry and Hagrid were visiting Diagon Alley back on his eleventh
birthday:  "Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough
to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted
cabbages.  Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried
roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of
fang, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling."  Scholastic version SS p
80-81.

Yes, it appears that maybe, just maybe the thought that Arabella cooked up
various potions and stored potion ingredients in her root cellar could cause
the house to smell of cabbages and it wouldn't necessarily mean that she had
been continually ingesting the essence of some elderly woman for years and
years.  The goddess prefers the concept of an aging potion mentioned in GoF
that the Weasley twins had used in order to trick said goblet.  After all,
an old lady that lives alone and doesn't work wouldn't really attract much
attention in a neighborhood - a younger, unemployed woman who lives alone
would.  The goddess is still holding out for Arabella using an aging potion
for years to appear to be a dotty old cat lady and then her younger true
self could prove to be a romantic pair for the Dead Sexy Sirius Black.  She
sighs at the thought.  The Arabella/Sirius SHIP is one that she desperately
wants a ticket to ride on, she could care less about the Ron/Hermione or
Harry/Hermione SHIPS cruising about her.

Then Athena remembers another thought that came to her one night.  It was
the weaving of several TBAY theories together.  Maybe the Fourth Man is not
Avery after all.  Maybe the Fourth Man is someone that Could Not Be Named
because to do so would compromise another hidden plotline.  A Man who we
have conjectured about, but never really had proof of his existence.  A Man
who we think was angry enough to curse his wife and subject her to years of
imprisonment.  That of course would be the Cuckcolded Mr. Norris!

What if...What if...Mrs. Norris, let's call her Iona Norris found herself
horrified by living with a charming husband that became a cruel and
despicable Death Eater?  Possibly she found herself wanting to reject magic
because she had come to associate it with only the Dark Side.  She sought
refuge in the arms of someone that was as far removed from Mr. Norris as she
could.  The loving arms of our favorite squib Argus Filch.  Then after the
attacks on the Longbottoms, Mrs. Norris realized that her husband was one of
the culprits.  She agonized over what to do.  She was afraid that her
infidelity would be discovered and she worried about her husband's
activities.  She had hoped that after Voldemort fell that things might get
back to normal, but now...she realizes that Mr. Norris is just as cruel and
unbalanced as ever.

So, Mrs. Norris did what her conscience dictated to her.  She turned state's
evidence to the Ministry of Magic and delivered her husband and his
accomplices.  Mr. Norris had suspected that she was with  Filch, but had
more important fish to fry than to deal with that squib.  Then when he knew
he was about to be arrested he decided to seek his revenge on her.  As the
Aurors were approaching Mr. Norris, he turned his wand on his wife and
forcibly transfigured her into a cat like Crouch/Moody did to Draco Malfoy.
The difference is that he then followed the versions of many Old Fairy Tales
and added an additional spell that only her true love could release her to
her true form.  (The goddess worries whether or not Yellow Flags will be
thrown, but she continues unabated because she thinks Old Fairy Tales of
true love in classics such as Beauty and the Beast should count for
*something.*)  Yes, that is why Snape cannot simply turn his wand on Mrs.
Norris and transfigure her back like McGonagall had restored Malfoy from his
ferret form.  No, only Iona's true love can restore her to her human form.
Possibly this will mean that only Argus Filch can make the potion using
Mandrakes (what was essential to restore the transfigured to their original
state as mentioned in CoS), because it will also need his love.  Snape's
attempts over the years to help Filch/Mrs. Norris have been futile because
it has been missing the magical ingredient of Filch's love.

And possibly, just possibly, if anyone had given a memory charm to Neville
out of pity it would have been the squib-loving Mrs. Norris.  That is if
there was a memory charm at all.  Athena saw the rebroadcast of the
symposium on memory charms on closed circuit television and feels a bit
perplexed by it all.  She decides that her nectar and ambrosia is far more
appealing in her own temple than wanting to venture into the conference room
for Kool-aid, cheese whiz and zwieback and take the risk of having
splintered paddles fly in her direction.

And who might have set up the Longbottoms?  Possibly it was Evil!UncleAlgie.
Athena reviews the canon remarks about Algie and thinks that his intent may
have been darker.  Maybe even murderous.
"My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some
magic out of me -- he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly
drowned -- but nothing happened until I was eight.  Great Uncle Algie came
round for dinner, and he was handing me out of an upstairs window by the
ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and accidentally he
let go.  but I bounced -- all the way down the garden and into the road.
They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy.  And you
should have seen their faces when I got in here -- they thought I might not
be magic enough to come, you see.  Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he
bought me my toad."  Scholastic, SS p 125.

I think Evil!UncleAlgie was trying to off the poor child.  Because Neville
*knew* in his repressed memory that Algie had been the inside man that
allowed for the torture of his parents.  Algie was afraid that Neville would
remember and finger him as a supporter of Voldemort.  Anyone else wonder
about the name Algie and think that's so close to Algae?  Something that
toads swim in?  I think if anyone is hiding inside Trevor that it would be
Algie.  After kicking myself in not recognizing the significance of Remus
Lupin and Sirius Black's names, I cannot think that Algie/Algae & toad are
simple coincidences.

The Goddess settles back in her couch and allows the smell of incense being
burned in her honor by her devoted Athenians to waft her into a lulled
sleep.  She hopes that the parchments that she threw into the TBAY waters
will be received with kindness.

Athena