Ferrets, Otters and Weasels (WAS: Ferret Theme)

[erisedstraeh2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 54496

Loony wrote:

> Have you noticed that ferrets seem to come up a lot in the HP 
> books?  

Now me:

This may be a bit of a stretch, but it's never stopped me before...

The ferret is a member of a family of animals that includes the 
weasel and the (sea) otter.  In addition to numerous references to 
ferrets, there are also numerous references to weasels and otters in 
the HP series.  Most obviously, the Weasley family name.  Less 
obviously, the Weasley's house is near the village of *Ottery* St. 
Catchpole, and the Weasleys, the Diggorys and Harry find the Portkey 
to the Quidditch World Cup at the top of *Stoats*head Hill. Not to 
mention Hagrid's inedible *stoat* sandwiches...

For those of us who believe in the Harry as Heir of Gryffindor 
theory - it was the life of St. Cuthbert which influenced St. Godric 
to become religious.  In one of the legends about St. Cuthbert, when 
Cuthbert went to the beach to pray, sea otters would try to dry his 
feet with their fur and warm his feet with their breath.  After St. 
Cuthbert blessed them, the otters returned to the sea (see: 
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/22/0320.htm). These references put 
otters into a positive light, and are suggestive of otters and 
weasels symbolizing those who do good.  Moreover, when asked about 
what her animagus would be, JKR stated: "I personally would like to 
think that I would transform into an otter, which is my favorite 
animal" (see: 
http://www.kidsreads.com/harrypotter/chattranscript.html). 

On http://home.worldonline.nl/%7Ewfu/ferret.html: "The famous Greek 
playwright Aristophanes mentioned ferrets in his satire 'The Acheans' 
around the year 450 B.C. He compared these people with ferrets, who 
had already established a reputation for themselves as thieves."  
Which is suggestive of ferrets symbolizing evil-doers.  And, as 
you've pointed out, JKR does not put ferrets in a positive light in 
the HP books.

So...where am I going with all of this?  I think in JKR's HP 
universe, the weasel and otter references symbolize good, while the 
ferret symbolizes evil.  Since the ferret is part of the same family 
as the weasel and the otter, in JKR's world, the ferret symbolizes 
how poor choices can lead a person from a potential for a life of 
good to a life of evil instead.  So, the wand with Fawkes' tail 
feather saw the potential for greatness in Tom Riddle and "chose" 
him, while its brother wand "chose" Harry.  Two wands from the 
same "family", but one "family" member (Voldemort) chose to be evil 
(choosing the path of the ferret) while the other "family" member 
(Harry) is choosing to fight evil (choosing the path of the 
weasel/otter).

~Phyllis
with no offense meant to ferret owners!