Hagrid

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97309

Gina asked:
<snip> What is the deal with Hagrid's pink umbrella? Who gave it to him?

Carol responded:
I don't know who gave it to him, but it clearly hides the pieces of
his broken wand. I think he even admits that directly at some point
either in SS/PS or CoS (and it's hinted in the Ollivander's scene in
SS/PS). Maybe someone can help us out with a quote or two.


Caesian, quoting JKR during the most recent web-chat:

<snip> "Of course, he is somewhat hampered by the fact that his wand
is broken and disguised as an umbrella."

Yes, but a little pink umbrella?  And what's up with the spotted
hankies? Sentimental valubles, perhaps.


Carol again:
First, before I read that transcript, I was under the impression from
something in the books themselves (maybe the quote Geoff provided that
got snipped from this post) that the broken wand was hidden inside the
umbrella, but "disguised as an umbrella" almost sounds as if the
magically challenged Hagrid (sorry--had to use that term) somehow
turned his own wand into an umbrella, evidently using someone else's
wand. That doesn't make sense, so I'm back to the idea that the broken
wand has been slipped inside the hollow handle of the umbrella and
that's what JKR means by "disguised." Something about Hagrid's
behavior in Mr. Ollivander's shop gave me that impression--the wand
itself, not transformed but hidden, was right there under Mr.
Ollivander's disapproving nose.

Be that as it may, I think Hagrid bought the umbrella himself, and
since umbrellas are usually rather small, even the old-fashioned kind
with pointy tops and curved handles, he had no choice but to buy one
that was much too small for him. The only alternative would have been
to buy a cumbersome beach umbrella. (Try pointing *that* at a little
fat boy's bottom.) As for pink (and flowered), Hagrid has a rather
uncultivated sense of taste. Remember his "bunches" of hair, his
sickening aftershave (or was it cologne), and his hideous orange suit?
His mother (whose tastes were no doubt on the primitive side) left him
when he was a small child, his father died when he was twelve, he had
only about two and a half years of school to teach him what other
children considered appropriate colors and patterns for boys--and
since the Hogwarts students usually wear their black robes, he
probably had as inaccurate an idea of how other boys (especially
Muggles) dress outside of school (and what kind of umbrella, if any,
they would carry) as old Archie, who wore a purple-flowered nightgown
in the QWC campground. Hagrid cries openly (shades of Sam Gamgee,
anyone) and in other ways does not behave like a man who grew up with
the usual masculine social conditioning. In other words, no one told
him that boys and men don't generally carry pink-flowered umbrellas.
Or use spotted hankies.

Just my theory. Or make that hypothesis, to borrow the distinction
someone made recently, since I can't back it up with canon. (Is this
the direction you wanted the discussion to go, Gina?)

Carol