FAMILY TREE AND MOLLY WEASLEY

[bowlwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 66045

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" 
<terryljames at h...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Susan Smith" 
> <atroposgryffin at y...> wrote:
> > SPOILER
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > <terryljames at h...> wrote:
> >
> > Is it possible that Molly is a nickname for Morgana Lestrange? 
> > (Bill wrote):
> > Possibly.  We are told that Molly is a 'cousin by marriage' to 
> > Sirius Black.  What could that mean?  Either Molly is a cousin of 
> > Sirius's wife - but Sirius never married, so far as we know - or 
> she 
> > is the sister of one of Sirius's cousin's husbands - of whom we 
> know 
> > of three: Lucius Malfoy, Mr. Tonks and Rodolphus Lestrange.
> > So yes, Molly's maiden name could be Lestrange.
> > 
> > <MY REPLY>:  Sirius family tree indicates his paternal cousins to 
> > be:  Andromeda, Bellatrix (LeStrange family) and Narcissa (Malfoy 
> > family) and his maternal cousin to be Molly Weasley (this would 
> > be "by marriage"-right?).  So Molly is not a Lestrange (IMHO)  
See 
> > Lexicon HP site, Sirius family tree
> > 
> > Susan
> 
> A maternal cousin wouldn't be a cousin "by marriage"--just a 
cousin.  
> Just because he's related to Bellatrix doesn't mean that he 
couldn't 
> be related to Bellatrix's husband also, which if Molly is 
Rodolphus' 
> sister would make him Molly's cousin by marriage. 
> 
> In the U.S., a "cousin by marriage" could also mean the spouse of a 
> cousin.  So if Arthur is Sirius' cousin (just an example; don't 
have 
> the tapestry in front of me), Molly would be his cousin by 
marriage.  
> Then Sirius would not necessarily be related to any male 
Lestranges.  
> However, there may be no reason why he couldn't be related to both 
> Molly and Arthur. 
> 
> Sounds like the wizarding world is a lot like a small town in the 
> U.S. Deep South!
> 
> Terry LJ

Don't forget Mrs. Black's words when she yelled from the painting  
(US hardback, pages 78 and 179):

"How dare you befoul the house of my fathers --"

"--FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS --"

Mrs. Black was married into the Black family, but she still mentions 
that the house is that of HER fathers'.  From what Sirius says about 
all the families being interrelated, it seems as though Mr. Black 
married a cousin or he was related to his wife in some fashion.  How 
else could Mrs. Black make those comments?

It stands to reason, then, that Molly could be a "cousin by marriage" 
from either side or even both.  And, I assume he uses "cousin by 
marriage" to indicate that she's a member of the family branch, but 
doesn't have ANY blood relation to him (which is amazing, considering 
all the intermarriages).

Here are the ways Molly could be a "cousin by marriage":

 1) a cousin of Sirius' spouse 
 2) a spouse of Sirius' cousin 
 3) a step-cousin 
 4) a cousin of a cousin 

1) We don't ever see that Sirius is married in canon, so I doubt this 
one.

2) If this one were the case, why mention Molly and Arthur 
separately?  Why not just mention Arthur and let the reader infer 
that since Molly is Arthur's wife, she would be related by marriage.

3) This one is a viable option, since she wouldn't necessarily have a 
blood relationship but would be related by a second marriage to a 
relative.  I haven't seen evidence of step-relationships in canon, 
though.
4)  This would come about by having common cousins but not being 
related themselves.  For example, Sirius' aunt married Molly's uncle 
and the resulting children would be cousins to both but Molly/Sirius 
wouldn't be related.  To me, this is the most viable option, plus it 
fits in with what we already know from canon.

Any thoughts?
bowlwoman