Fat Friar (was ghosts, magicians and babies was Re: Questions

[cunning_spirit]

No: HPFGUIDX 119280


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Juli <jlnbtr at y...> wrote:
> > 
> > > > Elanor Pam wrote:
> > > > The Fat Friar was a friar - but he was also a wizard (well, he's
> HufflePuff's ghost, so I assume he was). <snip>
> > > 
> > > Potioncat responded:
> > > How did he become both?  According to JKR the ghosts were in the
> house they now haunt.  If FF was at Hogwarts from 11--17, when did he
> go to the monestary?> 
> > 
> > Juli: What if instead of being a wizard and a friar he was just a
> wizard who by some reason got the nickname of fat friar? 
> > 
> > Juli
> 
> Carol notes:
> But isn't there a lso a pportrait of some monks in Hogwarts?
> Presumably they were wizards as well, probably at a time when the
> separation between the MW and the WW hadn't become final.
> 
> I'm pretty sure that the Fat Friar was a Hufflepuff (after all, he's
> that house's resident ghost) who became a real friar at around age
> eighteen, but at his death decided that the best years of his life
> were at Hogwarts, so that's where he returned after death. I really
> don't see any contradiction between being a wizard and being a friar
> in the *early* Middle Ages. Even as late as the fourteenth century,
> when witch-burning was in full swing, he could have been known in the
> MW for performing "miracles" instead of magic.
> 
> Carol

Cunning Spirit:

There is also an entire order of ghostly nuns roaming the halls of Hogwarts. A friar is 
simply a monk. According to the OED, the word is orginally from Old French, and means 
"brother" and is used to refer to any member of a monastic order. 

Individuals entered monasteries for many reasons and could join at any age.  They weren't 
really schools as we conceive of them, although, yes, there were a lot of children given to 
the church at an early age (ostensibly so that they could spend their lives praying for the 
benefit of their families, in many cases).  If any of you remember any of the old "Brother 
Cadfael" Mysteries that the BBC produced starring Derek Jakobi, Brother Cadfael didn't 
enter holy orders until after he had already served a very full career as a knight and 
crusader. 

Becoming a monk or a nun might have been one of the safest options for wizarding folk 
who wished to maintain connections with the rest of the world. Remember that the Fat 
Friar was from Hufflepuff, known for its emphasis on teamwork and tolerance -- good 
basic training for someone who eventually would up serving in a religious community.