Madame la Fée (Re: Use of Madam -" Madame" )

[iris_ft]

No: HPFGUIDX 87122

Hi all, 
Forgive me if what follows is nothing new; I didn't read the whole 
thread concerning « The use of Madam ».
In French, "dame" can also mean "fairy", though it is not a very 
common term. It doesn't refer to the small cute fairies Magaret 
Tarrant used to paint so beautifully. It refers rather to the "human 
sized" entities. They are beautiful women, and they play a 
particular part in the stories. They are echoes of the 
ancient "Fatae", which means that they use to interfere in 
destinies. When the hero of a story meets one of them, it generally 
means that his life will change significantly, in a good or a bad 
way.
Now, I would like to add that if you examine what happens to Harry 
when he meets one of the female characters called "Madam", you can 
notice that these ladies are always connected with moments of his 
life that lead him into significant changes, or determine his 
choices. Let's see:

*Madam Malkins
She sells him his Hogwarts robes. Doing that, she reintegrates him 
symbolically to the Wizarding World. Harry is not a wizard already, 
but at least, he has the uniform of his new condition. At Madam 
Malkins' he also meets the boy who will become his nemesis, but also 
will lead him to refuse to become a Slytherin: if he didn't have met 
Malfoy at Madam Malkins' he wouldn't have learnt about the dark 
aspect of Slytherin, and his reject of the Snake House would 
possibly have been less radical.
In a certain way, crossing her way makes Harry reject Dark Magic.
 
*Madam Hooch
She's connected with the moment when Harry realizes that he has 
natural flying skills. Her class is the very first sign that Harry 
is not "an average wizard". Madam Hooch's lesson determines his 
belonging to the Gryffindor Quidditch team; it makes him a Seeker 
and provides him with symbolical wings. Without this lesson and its 
consequences, would Harry have learnt how to generate a Patronus? 
Crossing her way makes Harry start his quest for his own past, for 
his own memory (he doesn't catch a Remembral for nothing).

*Madam Pomfrey
The hospital wing's keeper. It's from her domain from where Harry 
leaves for his time travel, which gives him the opportunity of 
mastering for good the Patronus Charm, and of saving Sirius's life. 
It's the place where the "parting of the ways" between Harry and the 
Ministry takes place. It's the place where Harry goes to after each 
adventure's "big moment". It's more or less his fief. That is quite 
normal if we consider what makes Harry so particular: his incurable 
scar.
Harry crosses her way several times. IMO, she could symbolize the 
losses he has to suffer (bones, blood, friend, godfather, illusions) 
in order to become what he has to be.

*Madam Rosmerta
Thanks to her ignorance concerning what happened in Godric's Hollow, 
Harry learns about his own past and about the way his parents were 
betrayed. It puts him face to face with the dilemma he has to solve 
in the Shrieking Shack: to enforce the Talon's Law, or to overpass 
it. Without being conscious of what she does when she crosses his 
way, Madam Rosmerta puts Harry on the way to magnanimity.

*Madam Olympe Maxime
This "dame" puts indirectly Harry on another noble way: chivalry. 
Because of her, Hagrid breaks the rules of the Tournament:  he shows 
her the dragons. As he knows that she will tell Fleur, he shows them 
to Harry at the same time. Then Harry acts with chivalry, when he 
tells Cedric. He manages to overpass the feeling of rivalry he has 
towards him. It's the beginning of their partnership, and it 
prepares the "Graveyard's tragedy".
Madam Maxime isn't called that name for nothing. She's 
another "dame" that determines the greatness of Harry's soul.

*Madam Bones  
She's a member of the Wizengamot. During Harry's hearing, she 
emphasizes his ability to produce a Patronus.  She says that it is 
an exceptional thing, and so she makes Fudge and Umbridge look at 
Harry as a dangerous guy. We know the effects of Umbridge's 
repressive behaviour: Harry becomes a DADA teacher (one of the 
reasons why other students attend his classes is his ability to 
produce a Patronus; a "teasing detail" Susan Bones was told by her 
aunt), and for the very first time, he takes the lead of a group in 
the fight against the Dark Side.
Madam Bones plays a determinant part in Harry's raise as the leader 
of the Good Side. 

 
Okay, maybe it's only coincidence. But it's what we can call a happy 
coincidence. Those "dames" don't act directly in Harry's destiny. 
However, they rule places and times that determine his evolution, 
always in a positive way, though it's not evident at first glance.
They are like the ancient Fatae, the divinities who ruled destinies.
And as she is after all the greatest Fata of all, The Dame Who 
Writes The Story, I think that by now I will call JKR "Madam 
Rowling".
Any comments are welcome,
  
Amicalement,

Iris