Dolores Umbridge

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 80368

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "James McDaniel" 
<peppermintfatty at y...> wrote:
(snip long and interesting analysis)
> While I firmly believe that Umbridge is a part human herself, I 
> cannot be certain as to what exactly she is. Upon reflection 
though, my guess is that in her veins runs Goblin blood. 
(snip)
> If Delores is indeed part Goblin, she could be far more important 
in the two upcoming books as Goblins may be a key in the coming war. 
We know that both sides are courting them in book 5, and every time 
they have been brought up in HISTORY OF MAGIC, it has been in 
relation to the great Goblin rebellion when they, for a time, 
overthrew wizarding kind. Whether you agree or disagree, I just feel 
> that this is an option we all might want to consider. Thanks for 
> reading.
> ~James
> Hufflepuff

CW comments:

I think you could well be on to something here, but if she is part-
goblin (and it would certainly help explain her appearance), I can't 
see her as a goblin spy/agit prop under deep cover, who will emerge 
as a negotiator/liaison person later on. Instead, I do think the 
goblin blood might have a more deep rooted psychological effect on 
her actions, because it fundamentally affects the way she views 
herself as a female, and how others view her. 

A while ago, as a contribution to the Umbridge rape debate, I posted 
(78317)that one of the outcomes of whatever happened in the forest 
might be that Umbridge begins a long court case at the MoM, which has 
a splitting and destabilising effect on the WW, just as they start to 
gear up for war with Voldemort.

Like a previous poster, Tamee, I too had doubted that Umbridge had 
really been raped (or that the centaurs had even threatened her with 
any such thing), and that the horror of whatever had happened was 
more a product of her fearful imagination. I said:

'Your post powerfully reminded me of the themes of EM 
Forster's 'Passage to India'. Umbridge could quite easily be seen an 
ageing Miss Quested, a bitter, repressed virgin, who has never had 
any success attracting men (I wonder why..), and whose deepest fears 
include bestial assault. The centaurs' cultural point of view would 
be quite as opaque to her as Aziz's was to the British Raj.

It makes me think she might reappear and agitate for some sort of 
court case, perhaps about 'false imprisonment of a wizard by a half-
breed under decree no XXX', to try and recover her self-esteem. 
Although we would all love to think she was totally discredited, I 
can quite imagine an ongoing sub-plot where certain factions in the 
MoM support her in this (for example, the appalling Percy, other 
wizards with non-PC/pure-blood 'racist' beliefs), their actions 
fomented by DEs wherever possible. It would all be part of a very 
believable chaos as the fight against Voldie gets going, with people 
lining up and having to choose which side they are on. 

In Forster's book there was a very ambiguous ending, and the 
misunderstanding between British and Indian cultures was not 
resolved, although the criminal charge was withdrawn. A court case 
against the Centaurs might take a similar course, and have the effect 
of alienating them for ever as allies.'

If Umbridge is indeed part goblin, I could imagine her extending the 
brief in such a court case, to include goblins, and all non-pureblood 
wizarding creatures, all as part of sublimating who she really was.

Hopefully, JKR will not allow the alienation to take place, and will 
expose her for what she is, perhaps in a way which is part of a great 
reconciliation of magic creatures at the end of book 7.