HBP & the Weasleys

[caspenzoe]

No: HPFGUIDX 105678

Leah <cmjohnstone at h...> wrote:
> Reading this, I couldn't help thinking of LOTR, where while Frodo 
> is off destroying the ring, there's a major subplot going on whereby 
> Strider is revealed as Aragorn and becomes the rightful king of 
> Gondor.  However, I wonder if book 5 is a bit late to start 
> introducing this idea, and whether, other than the Weasley's fairy 
> tale like poverty and number of children, we have had any hints?


Good point Leah (actually I wrote the words you quoted - no matter). 
I expect that the Half Blood Prince - whom/what-ever he/it is - is 
something of a subplot as are all of the other things/people - with 
the possible exception of the Order of the Phoenix - proper - that 
the titles of the various books refer to. 

I've been re-reading OOTP the last few days and have found 
additional references to Ron's potential royalty however: he is 
repeatedly called "weasle king" by Malfoy for instance. Still, even 
if he is in fact some kind of royalty - an heir of Gryffindor and 
counterpart to Slytherin's heir of COS, this would hardly make him a 
one and only supreme Wizard King in today's WW (despite my overly 
enthusiastic ravings of the past few days) would it? In any case, 
one wonders why the WW would need or want to revert to any more than 
symbolic monarcy in any case, since it's clearly not (in it's 
British form) a monarchy now. Perhaps, however, this does mitigate 
toward such a lineage forming a basis for plot progress in one book, 
if not seven?

As futher speculation for potential but postponed COS significance 
of such a back story, we're given only a sketchy history of the 
Sytherin vs. Gryffindor/Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff feud that ultimately 
led to Salazar's deserting the school. Seems like there must be more 
to it: perhaps Salazar's obsession with pure-bloodedness was in 
compensation for some perceived inferiorty of his own (aren't all 
discriminatory policies rooted in a sense of shame and 
inferiority?); maybe Godric while lacking Salazar's enormous 
ambition and lust for power, was in fact "noble" in the sense of 
both heredity and character, or at least moreso than was Salazar? As 
such a man, Godric would not, in the least, be threatened by those 
of mixed blood, but Salazar would certainly be constantly irritated 
by the injustice of it all, no? Why,afteral should nobility or 
possibly great nobility come gratis to Godric and elude Salazar 
despite his qualifications and strivings? Moreover, wouldn't such a 
situation naturally incline Salazar to vent his frustration by 
making an issue of blodd for those even less hereditarily qualified 
than he?

Specific speculations asside, COS is focused, among other things 
upon the WW equivalent of racism. The heredity issue and it's 
effect, if any, upon character, and self - while inherently part of 
the racism theme - are, in fact, I believe, more central to the 
series in general ("who am I really and what determines who I am?" - 
this is the first thematic question JKR raises in the books -SS, p. -
 darn - can't find my copy at the moment - just read it a few days 
ago - will post it soon as I find it). Nevertheless, they (the 
identity issues) are really only raised peripherally in COS by 
Harry's curiosity as to whethere he really could be related to 
Salazar Slytherin somehow and why he was ultimately sorted into the 
Gryffindor house. The latter question is answered definitively by 
Dumbledor in COS to the effect that ultimately race, heredity, etc. 
are irrelevant to the genuine self. Does Harry really understand 
whom and why he is yet? Do any of us? 

If I were JKR, and wanted to return to this theme (and I think she 
does - I'm going to go back over the series thematically in attempt 
to test this theory more closely - soon as I'm through with my OOTP 
review), I think revisiting it from another point of view (Ron's and 
the Weasley family's) would be an interesting and excellent way to 
do so.

Just some thoughts.

Casey