About Florence

[jtdogberry]

No: HPFGUIDX 45342

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "hickengruendler" <hickengruendler at y...> 
wrote:
> I've read many of the old Florence theories, and I haven't found 
this 
> one. But I haven't read any single post, so maybe I just missed it, 
> and it was already mentioned.
> 
> I think that Florence is the later Mrs Longbottom, Neville's 
mother. 
> After all, Neville is very good in herbology. It's not very 
realistic 
> that he has inherited the talent from his father, an auror, so 
maybe 
> he has it from his mother, and who could be a better herbologist as 
> someone with the name "Florence"?

Could well be!! After all, the best known Florence, is Florence 
Nightingale. Herbology and medicine could easily be combiened. The 
number of times Sprout has mentioned that the school matron needs 
certain herbs to cure students!!!.

> I also think, it is odd, that Neville's mother's first name wasn't 
> mentioned at the trial against Crouch jr and the others. Crouch 
sen. 
> talked about Frank Longbottom and Frank Longbottom's wife. Why 
isn't 
> the name of Frank's wife mentioned, although she was a victim? This 
> isn't logically. JK Rowling could easily have invented some name 
like 
> Beth or Marcia or whatever, but she didn't. So I suppose, that 
> Neville's mother is more important as Frank. And whose name was 
> mentioned in the same chapter, only a few pages later? Florence's. 
JK 

I have mentioned this many times before but no one has ever taken me 
up on it. My theory is a little different for your though.
Many years ago, the was a childrens program where the baddie was 
after this retired prof, the good guys found him and his wife but so 
did the baddies. The good guys and this old guy were taken to 
baddie's lair and the "prof" was made to crack the code except that 
they had the wrong person, it was his wife!!!!
A similar story could have happened here, it could also explain why 
they tortured Mrs Longbottom after her husband.
Another idea is that she may appear in a later book, it would give a 
big clue if her first name had been already mentioned but now JKR can 
use her first name and maiden name (many women now keep the maiden 
names for working) to throw us off that trail if need be.

> I am sure, whoever Florence is, if she ist important, that she 
kissed 
> Snape behind the greenhouses. But she dumped him and married Frank 
> Longbottom. This would explain Snape's horrible behaviour towards 
> Neville.

Or it could be she is related to Snape and he blames Frank for not 
looking after her.
But yes, this is a good case.
However, it could also hold true to what I said above, that Bertha 
could have seen Frank kiss her but because of of what was happening 
around them/ or another reason, they decided to keep their 
relationship secret.

TTFN
Dogberry (who is happy that someone else is curious about Neville's 
mother)