CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 9, The Woes of Mrs. Weasley - Discussion Questions

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 88305

Chapter 9 - The Woes of Mrs. Weasley

Discussion Questions:

1. How common do you think Muggle-baiting is?  Arthur's 
statement that it might strike some people as funny suggests 
that this is perhaps an attitude that he's encountered in the 
past.  Arthur has been criticized as viewing Muggles in a 
patronizing, condescending manner ("Bless them!" is most 
often cited as an example of this attitude).  Does the fact that 
he seems to have an awareness of his society's troublesome 
attitudes towards Muggles counter that claim?  Does Arthur's 
statement shed a new light on him?  

2.  Arthur's statement that Lucius Malfoy was trying to sneak 
into the courtroom is presumably a misdirection on JKR's part.  
The corridor in which Harry and Arthur find him is the one 
leading to the Department of Mysteries - was he perhaps 
trying to sneak in?  What business does Lucius have with Fudge?

3. Lucius greets Harry as 'Patronus Potter'.  Later in the book 
Bellatrix refers to Sirius as 'Animagus Black'.  In the latter case, 
a person is referred to by the magical ability that distinguishes 
him - is this also true for Harry?  We know that his ability to 
conjure a corporeal Patronus is unusual in a boy so young, but 
does this ability - and the moniker - mark Harry as a protective 
figure (after all, in conjuring the Patronus, he was also 
protecting his helpless cousin)?  Is it significant that the only 
two people we've met who've used this fashion of referring to 
people are Death Eaters?

4. There's a distinct note of bitterness in Arthur's voice when 
he speaks of Lucius Malfoy and especially of his money.  Money 
has always been a delicate issue around the Weasleys.  We 
know that Ron is embarrassed by his family's poverty, that Mrs. 
Weasley, when she breaks down momentarily at the beginning 
of GoF, expresses her frustration at her family's financial 
situation, and that Percy threw the money issue in his father's 
face during the row the precipitated his leaving home.  Does 
Arthur's tone of voice suggest that, despite his ideological 
reasons, he regrets choosing a lifestyle that isn't financially 
rewarding?  Does his resentment of Malfoy have financial 
underpinnings?

5. Having read the rest of OOP, there seems to be no reason to 
believe that Fudge is under the Imperius Curse, but how could 
Dumbledore know this for sure?

6. Why does Harry's scar burn when he returns to Grimmauld 
place?  Is Voldemort angry or happy about something, or is he 
reacting to Harry's thoughts about Dumbledore?

7. Hermione's analysis of Sirius is the first instance of many in 
OOP in which she acts as Harry's emotional interpreter.  Why do 
you feel Rowling gave this role to Hermione?  Is it because she's 
a girl, and therefore more mature than either Harry or Ron at 
this point, or is it because Hermione has traditionally held the 
position of  information supplier in the Trio?  Do you believe 
that Hermione will continue in this role in later books, or will 
Harry develop emotional instincts of his own?  How does this 
acuity of Hermione's reflect on the usual perception of her as 
a non-intuitive person (as opposed to Luna, for example, who 
is usually held up as an example of an intuitive female)?

8. Does Mrs. Weasley's glib mention of Scabbers suggest that 
she doesn't know who he really was?  If so, why not?

9. In past discussion, Mrs. Weasley has come under a lot of fire 
for her behavior when she discovers that Ron has been made a 
prefect.  She is criticized for dismissing Fred and George ('that's 
everyone in the family!') and for 'bribing' Ron for his achievement.  
Do you feel that these criticisms are justified?  How do the 
revelations about Mrs. Weasley's state of mind later in the chapter 
affect your opinion of her?  Is it possible that she's overreacting 
to the first bit of good news she's had in a while?  Could Mrs. 
Weasley's joy over Ron's selection have something to do with 
Percy?  Is she perhaps trying to recreate her lost favorite son in Ron?

10. We already know why Harry wasn't selected for Prefect, but 
do you feel that Ron was a good choice?  Does he truly have 
latent leadership qualities or did Rowling select him simply to 
make Harry jealous (and because, apart from Harry, he's the 
Gryffindor boy with whom we have the most contact)?  What do 
you feel might have been Dumbledore's reasons for selecting Ron 
as prefect?  Is he perhaps trying to guide Ron in the path of his 
older brothers?  Would another Gryffindor boy have made a better 
choice?

11. Is the twins' slightly malicious needling of Ron motivated by 
his Prefect badge or by their mother's fawning adoration?  What 
can we learn from Ron's wistful reaction at their attitude?  Does 
Ron want to be like Fred and George?  Is he?

12. Harry's argument with himself after Ron gets the prefect's badge, 
and his decision to be happy for Ron, are a rare example of emotional 
maturity.  One could argue that it is in fact the last instance of that 
kind of maturity until the very end of OOP, when he comes out of his 
grief long enough to feel sorry for Luna.  What is it about this 
situation that brings out the adult in Harry?  Does it have something 
to do with the GoF Rift, and his perception of Ron as constantly being 
in his shadow?  Why does Harry find himself incapable of exercising 
this same kind of introspection and maturity at other points during 
OOP?  

13. Sirius tells us that James wasn't a prefect, and yet we know from 
PS/SS that he was Head Boy.  Several suggestions have been made 
in the attempt to resolve this paradox, among them the claim that 
this is a FLINT, the suggestion that a HB isn't necessarily selected 
from among the prefects, and the suggestion that Lupin was 
stripped of his prefect's badge, which was given to James.  Which, 
if any, do you think is true?  What do you think this bodes for Harry's 
chances of being made Head Boy?

14. Why does Moody show Harry the photograph of the Order, and 
why does he think Harry would be interested in the picture of his 
parents?  Is he unaware of the reaction Harry might have to seeing 
his parents with Pettigrew, or is he purposefully trying to provoke 
that reaction?  Is Moody unaware that Harry does have pictures of 
his parents, and perhaps thinks that this is the first time Harry has 
seen a photograph of them?

15. What reasons could JKR have for giving us a roster of the 
original Order?  Do you believe that some of the previously unknown 
people mentioned in the photograph will show up in later books?  
Will someone presumed dead turn out to be still living?  

16. Does Mrs. Weasley's Boggart really conjure the image of both 
twins dead together?  What does this tell us about her perception 
of the twins?  What does it tell us about JKR's?  

17. Is Mrs. Weasley really reassured, or has she simply regained 
her composure enough to feel embarrassed?  Why is she so 
ashamed of her fear, and why doesn't she want her husband told 
about it?  Do you think we'll be seeing more of Mrs. Weasley's 
woes?  Do you think she'll be able to handle the stress of the 
coming war?

Abigail

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