Are the gum wrappers a puzzle?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 87303

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Derek Hiemforth <derek at r...> wrote:
> Carol wrote:
> >I don't see any hope for the Longbottoms'
> >full recovery, but it would be very touching if Neville's mother could
> >recognize her son and speak his name.
> 
> Derek:
> A thought just hit me...
> 
> She *does* recognize him, at least on some level!  Dumbledore told Harry
> that Neville's parents didn't recognize him, but if you think about it,
> they (or at least Alice) must.  After all, she's not giving gum wrappers
> to everyone else, is she?  I guess we don't know for sure, but what
we see
> in the ward certainly gives the impression that she only gives them to
> Neville, and that she's done so for a long time.  So in some way, she's
> differentiating Neville from other people, and remembering from visit to
> visit that she needs to give him gum wrappers.
> 
> - Derek


Derek, I think you're right that she has some memory of him as a baby
and maybe she's also noticed, on some unconscious level, his marked
resemblance to herself when she was young or even to her reflection as
she is now, though she's changed so much. I agree that she senses a
connection with him and that's why I hope she somehow realizes that
he's her son and speaks his name. I'll cry for hours if that happens,
but I hope it does.

Carol