Flitwick/Fudge/the Potters

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 91577

 "potioncat" wrote:
> I'm re-reading PoA, chapter 10 and noticed a few things (pp. 201-210 
> Scholastic paperback)
> McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and Fudge arrive at the Three 
> Broomsticks and sit near Harry, Hermione and Ron. Then they begin to 
> talk to Rosmerta about Black.
> Here are two interesting tid bits:
> 
> A few threads ago we were wondering about Flitwick and his role in 
> OWLS. Although his subject isn't mentioned, he was a teacher during 
> the marauders' days.  He recalls James and Sirius as being like 
> brothers.  (I know as group we pretty much decided that Flitwick was 
> teaching then, but here is canon.)
> 
> What surprises me is that Fudge refers to "James and Lily" several 
> times as if he had been on a first name basis with them. Oddly 
> enough, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick refer to James and Sirius 
> always as Potter and Black. 
> 
> I'm not sure if this just made the storytelling easier or if Fudge 
> knew the Potters well. Or if  he is just a name dropper. Do we know 
> how old he is?

Carol:
McGonagall also refers to "James and Lily" back in SS/PS chapter one
when she's not sure whether they're really dead and doesn't want to
believe it. I think maybe James would be James in connection with
Lily, his wife, but Potter in connection with Black, his schoolmate
(IIRC, McG always addresses male students by their last name and
female students as Miss Whatever). Also, as a married couple, James
and Lily would have the same last name, Potter and Potter, so using
their first names would be a way of keeping them distinct, whether the
speaker was McGonagall or Fudge. 

OTOH, "the Potters" would serve the purpose just as well for someone
who hadn't really known them, so maybe you're right. It's possible
that Fudge is close enough to James and Lily's age to have known them
in school, maybe a few years older. He was a junior official in the
MoM when the Godric Hollow and Pettigrew incidents occurred.

Carol, who thought she knew the answer when she began this post but
now can see both possibilities