[HPforGrownups] Re: Mrs. Norris

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 46779


>From: Carol Bainbridge
>
> >>It also strikes me as a really lucky coincidence to find Mrs. Norris
> >>in the right place at the right time in order to see that she's
> >>attacked by the basilisk.

Ashfae replied:
>You forget, the first message and attack happened during the Halloween
>feast. Ginny had a great deal of time in which to open the chamber and
>paint the message, as everyone was up in the Great Hall (including,
>probably, Filch). Given that Mrs. Norris has been said on many
>occasions to have an uncanny ability to know when someone is in a
>place they shouldn't be in, and cats don't have much to do with
>Halloween feasts, it's not surprising that she came by Ginny.

Carol (me):
You're right: I did forget that about Mrs. Norris.  How could I forget that?

Ashfae again:
>...and I doubt that killing Mrs. Norris was
>originally part of the plan; Ginny/Tom just put her to good use once
>she was there.

Carol:
This part still gives me a bit of a problem.  Exactly how has Tom enchanted 
Ginny to do what he wants?  Is he in her mind somehow?  I had always been 
under the impression that he has simply charmed her to do what he wants her 
to do.  But unless he is somehow in her head, how does he know that Mrs. 
Norris is there petrified, ready to be hung on the wall?  Unless this was 
part of the original plan or unless Tom is somehow aware of what is going 
on, how would he know to tell Ginny to hang the cat on the wall?  And if he 
did know what was going on, why did he need Ginny to write to him to tell 
him other things that were going on?  Wouldn't he know every time he 
charmed her?  And if he doesn't know what's going on and Mrs. Norris is not 
part of the plan, how would Ginny know to hang the cat up?  Does that mean 
that even under Tom's spell, Ginny has some free will?  (Which leads to a 
rather scary idea that Ginny is somehow more evil than we think she is or 
is becoming evil due to the influence of Tom's charms).  Even if Ginny 
doesn't have free will as we would think of it, how could she make the 
decision on her own to make use of Mrs. Norris?  Am I forgetting something 
else, this time about Tom's charming of Ginny?

Carol