[HPforGrownups] Opals

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 72946

 KellyWLSC Says:
>>> Ok, I am in the middle of CoS again, and on page 52 (American
version) there is a mention of a magnificent necklace of opals
that has a card by it that says it's cursed and has claimed teh
lives of 19 Muggle owners to date.  (This was in Borgin and
Burkes).  Then I hurried up and went to check GoF and sure
enough, in the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang chapter, Madame
Maxime turns up wearing a magnificent necklace of opals.  No
idea what this means, if anything at all, but I thought it was worth
mentioning just to see if anyone has any ideas.<<<

Lady Macbeth:
There's a long history of cursed gemstones, and most often you will find
that these cursed stones are some of the most fabulous in the world - part
of the reason behind this is that ideal stones for use in any type of magic
are large, free of flaws and are of a good cut.  Also, you'll find that
fantastic stones have a history that's not as clear as someone looking to
avoid hot items would like - many of them were stolen, and in older times
were stolen in the process of looting and pillaging - especially in houses
of royalty and religious centers.  (Legend, as much as it may be trusted,
holds that the Hope Diamond was part of a larger diamond that was pried from
a temple in India during a raid and later cut apart to resell.)

Opals are no different.  Large and particularly firey opals are
exceptionally rare and exceptionally expensive.  The description in the book
of that particular necklace suggested to me that it was a treasure of a
royal family and that those 19 Muggles were Muggle royalty and/or high
society.

During the 18th and 19th centuries in particular, opals fell out of favor
because they were discovered by observant persons to change color on those
about to die.  With the Black Death sweeping Europe, and by no means
skirting those of wealth, this was not entirely unexpected.  Opal has such
properties that it WOULD likely change color, because the body temperature
of the person suffering from the Black Death would fluctuate drastically and
die out all together when they died.

However, legends also exist of cursed opals that WEREN'T always associated
with the Black Death.  That hasn't stopped the wealthy from purchasing them,
even to this day.

The only thing I found odd in the points you brought up is that Madame
Maxime was wearing them - though this speaks for her truly being a lady
despite her size, because opals are exceptionally fragile.  She would have
to be able to take extreme care of them and be extremely gentle when wearing
them to avoid them being chipped or broken. :)

-Lady Macbeth


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