Dem Bones

[Katy Cartee]

No: HPFGUIDX 54792

Serena wrote:

> On another completley different note- I'm wondering
> about the Bones family. Hagrid says:
> '......he killed some of the best wizards an' witches
> of the age- the McKinnons, the Bones, the

Maria wrote:

> Barnes and Noble interview:
> "matiaskanfunfa: There is a girl named Susan Bones who
> was sorted in the first book, and there was a family
> called the Bones that Voldemort tried to destroy. Is this
> a coincidence, or will Harry meet her in future books? 
> JR: Susan Bones's grandparents were killed by Voldemort!"
> So, yeah, they're related.

Then the fact of the matter is that it was written incorrectly in the book. According to http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm the plural of Bones would indeed be Boneses.

Ba wrote:

> I think if you search every paragraph of canon, you will
> never find JKR forming a plural (unless it's a plural
> possessive) by using an apostrophe. That's because it's
> incorrect.  Always.

She's a great writer, obviously, and has great editors, but this one did slip through the cracks. And if that Barnes and Noble interview was a written/typed one, then she was incorrect there as well for using Bones's instead of Bones'.

Glad that's cleared up. I will never err with plurals again! :P

~Katy~
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