OOPostsince Release Day-H'sMum/MagicalBrethren/Giants/FlowerNames

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 65914

ymekelly wrote:

<< Why doesn't Harry every wonder about his mother the way he wonders 
about his father? She is the one that gave her life so he could live. 
He seems to put that in the back of his mind and focus on his "Dad". 
>>

Most people think that it's normal for a pubescent boy to be more in 
need of a male role model than of a mother, and there is also my 
theory in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/65577 
that Harry doesn't need to search for Lily because she is already in 
his mind.

However, last month I thought of another possible answer. It seems to 
me that I'm being rude to speculate this way about an author who is 
still alive, but it seems quite the normal way to speculate about 
19th and early 20th century authors: Rowling started writing these 
books, planned out the plot arc of all seven, when she was a newly 
divorced single mother, so it is possible that she had a courageously 
repressed yearning for a man in her life, a father for her daughter 
and/or a partner for herself, and that emotion inserted itself into 
her visualisation of Harry. 

Happy Duck 1979 wrote:

<< Why is it that magicalbreathren are considered wizards, witches,
goblins, centaurs and house elves. We certainly see more things 
capable of magic (the valentines delivering dwarves in COS and the 
leprechauns in GOF just to name a few). >>

I have this really weird idea that "the lying statue" refered to 
specific people who joined together to save the magical world 
(not just the wizarding world) from some previous crisis. If HP is to 
follow that model, he already has Hermione (or Luna), Dobby, and 
Firenze, but now needs a goblin friend.

Katey wrote:

<< I now believe that she is making us have predjudices against 
Slytherin, only at the end of the series to crush that(how is up to 
speculation) perception. >>

But Hagrid's encounter with the giants suggests that they deserve 
their bad reputation in the wizarding world. Violent, not too bright, 
and treacherous to each other. The idea of people who really do 
deserve their bad reputation is interesting in a parable against 
prejudice ... Is the Grawp subplot going to show that if you catch 
'em young and take them away from their families and native culture 
and raise them in your culture, then they'll turn out okay?

Rhianyn the Cat mewses:

<< Lily and Petunia are, of course, the most obvious flower names for 
women in the Potterverse.  But there's also a flower called Narcisus 
which is quite like Narcissa and I've heard the belladonna referred 
to as bellatrix.  And then there's Pansy.  I wonder if there's any 
chance they're all remotely related? >>

And Lavender Brown, of whom I believe there is canon proof that she 
is Muggle-born: in PoA, there is a scene in Divination class where 
Professor Trelawney says something like: "My dear, you have the 
Grim!" and most of the students look horrified, but Lavender looks 
puzzled and Dean Thomas looks completely ignorant ... I take it that 
all the wizard-born students heard horror stories of the Grim all 
their lives, and some but not all of the Muggle-born have heard of 
the Grim from their school friends by this time, but the ones who 
don't know what the Grim is must be Muggle-born.