"Are the Shades of Goderic's Hollow to be thus polluted?!" (was: A new thou

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 44594

Pen wrote:

>>Is it really surprising that we haven't heard anything more 
about 
Penelope Clearwater? She and Percy were going out together 
while they 
were at school. He left school. If Penelope left school at the 
same 
time Percy did, there's no reason to assume she lived and/or 
worked 
anywhere close enough to Percy for them to be able to continue 
seeing 
one another.<<

Possibly. But Percy did carry on their relationship over several 
summers, owling frequently in CoS and PoA. Also he can 
Apparate, so unless Penelope has gone very far away indeed, 
he'd be able to visit her.
We don't know how Penelope feels about Percy. But Percy does 
seem to have been emotionally invested in Penelope in CoS. 
Look at the way he reacts when she's Petrified. And he keeps 
her picture by his bedside in PoA.

Pen says further:
>>I can't see any reason to suppose that Penelope is pining for 
her lost 
love, or heartbroken by his ruthless severing of all ties in order to 
further his ambitions! Perhaps she is, but is that really the most 
likely of all possibilities?<<

In our world, perhaps not. We don't consider 
seventeen-year-olds to be grown up, and we pretty much expect 
teenage romances to founder on the shoals of adulthood. But 
Rowling is not writing about late teen/twenty somethings trying to 
find themselves. For better or worse, wizards find themselves at 
age eleven, with the aid of the Sorting Hat. Perhaps this is why 
they don't seem to feel the need for a period of self discovery 
after school, and why they seem to trust their teen romances will 
last.

But Rowling  *is*  writing about the effects of prejudice and the 
way it distorts our thinking. One can be vastly interested in all 
things Muggle, and want them to be protected, without ever  
considering them as  potential members of one's family. A 
certain condescension creeps into Molly's and Arthur's tone 
whenever Muggles (bless them!) are discussed. I'd be surprised 
if Rowling doesn't develop this potential conflict further, either 
through Ron/Hermione or Percy/Penelope or both.


Pippin