Mister Figg....?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85410

>  "sylvia wrote:
> 
>  Mr. Figg, if he ever existed, is 
> > either dead or has legged it long ago.  Perhaps he couldn't stand 
> all 
> > those cats.
>  
Erin wrote: 
>  Or perhaps he was killed by Voldemort, which is why Mrs. Figg is 
> participating in the OotP.  I can't think of too many other reasons 
> for a Squib to care what happens in the Magical world.  That would 
> explain why she dresses and acts so battily also-- it's grief.  Since 
> her husband died, she's never really been able to bring herself to 
> care about how she appears to everyone else.


That's an interesting idea, Erin. There could be a parallel with
Neville's gran, though she's a witch, not a squib like Mrs.
Figg--grief making them eccentric, etc. Even though I think Mr. Figg
was a Muggle (they lived in Little Whinging and the MoM has never
heard of Mrs. Figg), it's possible that Voldemort or the Death Eaters
killed him. And I suspect there's a connection to Dementors, too,
based on Mrs. Figg's knowledge of them in OoP. Also, the cats may not
just be an annoyance. One of them (Mr. Tibbles IIRC) seems to have
been keeping an eye on Harry in the opening chapter of OoP, so I think
he's a magical creature with uncanny powers of observation, like Mrs.
Norris only "good." 

BTW, has anyone else noticed an odd parallel here? Male squib (Filch),
female cat (Mrs. Norris); Female squib (Mrs. Figg), male cat (Mr.
Tibbles). I wonder what kind of encounter we'd have if those two ever
met? I can just see Filch giving up on medieval torture devices and
trying to learn elementary magic with Mrs. Figg while their
cats--never mind. Seriously, though, two squibs with cats that act as
spies? Can it be a coincidence?

Ahem. This started out as a serious post but got a bit out of hand. I
think maybe it's time to go to bed.

Carol