Pondering Arabella Figg

[scaryscarlet at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 56573

Goodness me, lets see I've read through everything *I think* & I've got a 
substantial bit of speculation to discuss *I hope* though I haven't heard 
from a list Elf yet - so I'll just have to go it alone. As I loath to just 
fall blindly & unannounced into anything, yes, as you've guessed I'm new (you 
can't see it on your monitor but I'm waving to you all right now) & I 
stumbled upon this little slice of heaven you all call HPfGU while surfing 
about for tidbits about the elusive & mysterious Arabella Figg to discuss at 
poker night. (My girlfriends & I have a bi-monthy Harry Poker Night where 
seemingly sane grown women w/graduate degrees justify discussing a children's 
book at great length by the presence of playing cards & margaritas.) After 
recovering from the orgasmic like fit of nirvana brought about by finding a 
Harry Potter group just for grown ups I thought I might make a stab at 
discussing my thoughts here. *crosses fingers* I really hope I don't make a 
faux pas that warrants a Howler ... worse I hope this hasn't be discussed ad 
naseum. 

Arabella Figg has had me since her broken leg. I just had a feeling she would 
be significant later on & good moogly for once I was right. What intrigues me 
is the mystery of it all, just who is she? As of the final chapters of GoF we 
now know she is indeed a Witch, one Dumbledore seems to trust, one who is 
part of the 'crowd'. (I'm assuming based on theory the 'crowd' meaning those 
that came together to fight Voldemort the first time around.) I myself am 
leaning towards Mrs Figg being something very opposite of a 'mad old lady' 
due to much consumption of Polyjuice Potion. (cabbage smell) I also lean 
towards believing she is young Mr Potter's Secret Keeper while he is with the 
Dursleys. Now, the wild theory I'm about to throw out is a combination of 
'who is Arabella?' & a question that has been daunting me for some time... 
who is Harry's Godmother? We have a Best Friend/Best Man/Godfather in Sirius 
Black is it possible Mrs Figg could be the female counterpart? Surely Lily 
had a best friend at Hogwarts, surely she has a Maid of Honor, surely Harry 
has a Godmother? (Dare it be said that Sirius could be married or had a S.O. 
at the time of his incarceration) Or am I just totally off base here? 

Based off name theory Arabella means beautiful refuge & Figg (or Fig) means 
not literal - again all assumption however I'm thinking Polyjuice Potion. 
Godmothers are often benevolent care givers, wish granters, protectors. She 
was Harry's baby-sitter. Her leg broke conveniently at a time when Harry got 
to go out on a very rare outing, she may well also be his Secret Keeper -or 
something along those lines.

Also there aren't many prevalent nor heroic Witches in the series (Fleur is 
snobby & young, Mrs Weasly is marshmallow momish, MacGonagol is stern & 
cross, Rita Skeeter is horrid, Hermione & Ginny still students, Rosmerta a 
barmaid, Trelawney a tad flaky, a lot fraudish) so it could just be my hope 
that one eventually crops up. My one bane w/the books is the lack of strong 
female characters. So this all could be wishful thinking.

Anyhoo - I'd love to hear what other think about the possibility of Arabella 
Figg being Harry's Godmother & if not her ... just who is?

Ta,
Samantha


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]