Green eyes, grandparents, and the Mirror of Erised (Was:Some Discrepancies)

[Susan Miller]

No: HPFGUIDX 86423


Carol wrote:

I found the reference to eyes using "mother's eyes," not "green eyes."
It's at
 
http://www.the-leaky-
cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/1999/1099bostonglobe-loer.html
 
> Q: Do you know what Harry's parents look like?
> JKR: Yes. I've even drawn a picture of how they look. Harry has his
> father and mother's good looks. But *he has his mother's eyes and
> that's very important in a future book*. (My asterisks to indicate
> italics.)
> 
<snip>
> 
> http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/2001/0301-
comicrelief-staff.htm
> 
> Q: Do we find out more about James Potter's family history in the 
next
> books?
> JKR: Yes, you do. 
> 

<snip lots of good references>

Constance Vigilance (me):

Very cool, Carol. Great research!

The original poster was using the evidence of green-eyed people in 
the mirror to establish proof that there are wizards in Lily's family 
and then attempt to make the leap that Petunia is a squib. My 
response was intended to indicate that it proves nothing of the sort, 
for one of at least two reasons. 1 - The mirror is a real image of 
Lily's family, in addition to James', and says nothing about magical 
ability, or 2 - the mirror is simply presenting a fanciful image to 
satisfy Harry's deepest desire. In doing so, I seem to have touched 
some feelings.

I am not saying that the people in the mirror _couldn't_ be real 
family members, perhaps dead and gone. There is no doubt that the 
images of Lily and James are real. I presume that the mirror has 
access to external information that it could use to be able to draw 
accurate images of people that Harry has never known. Note that not 
even JKR tells us, in those excellent quotes that you uncovered, that 
the mirror is showing Harry anyone other than his parents.

The mirror is under no obligation to tell the truth. It could easily 
create, out of pure fancy, images that would please Harry. It does 
this for poor Quirrel. I'm just saying that we cannot make any 
assumptions about Harry's family based on what the mirror chooses to 
present. Note that we can also not assume, based on the evidence of 
the mirror, that Ron is to be Head Boy. However, the softie in me 
hopes both that Harry does have lots of family who love or loved him, 
and that Ron has a good shot at being Head Boy.

I have been enjoying this discussion, by the way. :)

Constance Vigilance