Chapter 20 discussion

[Christina in GA]

No: HPFGUIDX 102567

>[4]  With the revelation of his mother's
>death in this chapter, Hagrid is now
>confirmed to be another example of orphans
>in the HP books.  Compare and contrast
>Hagrid with Harry, Tom Riddle/LV, Neville,
>etc.  How has each orphan's loss of parental
>figures and family ties affected their lives
>and the decisions that they make?  What
>influences did the people (or the lack of
>thereof) in their lives who fill such voids
>have on who they are now?

Hagrid apparently has always had a fascination with strange and unusual pets
as we see from Aragog in PoA. Pets love unconditionally so Hagrid naturally
went to them, no matter how dangerous, and believed he could tame them or
make them love him the way he loved them. We see this as well with Norbert
the Dragon when Hargid doesn't *see* the damage Norbert is causing to the
house and says it's Ron's fault when the dragon bites him during feeding.
Hagrid is trying to replace his mother's love with being a caregiver, a
*mommy*, to creatures who are helpless and need a mother.
Harry still longs for a family and feels Hogwarts and the WW is his family.
Ron & Hermione are his closest friends, and as McGonnagal said in SS your
house becomes your family. But he still longs for a father figure and has
turned to Fake Moody, Sirius, Lupin and DD to be that to him. The sorting
hat said Harry had a desire to prove himself. He wants to show everyone that
he is a person of worth. His searching for a father figure though may be
part of his downfall. He had put James & Sirius on a pedestal and was let
down when he saw Snape's memories of the two. If he keeps looking for a
*perfect* father figure he will continue to be disappointed.
Tom/LV turned to dark magic in order to control what he couldn't control.
His mother may have been a pureblood wizard who either raised him to think
badly of his father or, if she wasn't around before he attended Hogwarts,
chose the WW over the muggle world and believed the pureblood families that
said wizards were "above" the muggles. Tom/LV is still trying to control
what is beyond his control and it makes him even angrier because he has
failed now 5 times.
Neville seems to be the quiet one and he doesn't seem to want any type of
attention. The scene in the hospital shows he still loves his parents and he
keeps the wrapper because his mother gave it to him. He never really talks
about them but I don't feel it's because he's ashamed of them, it's because
he doesn't want to be noticed or attract attention in any way. Because he
tries so hard NOT to attract attention though it makes him clumsier, more
forgetful and just more obvious. He has an extended family but always felt
left out because he didn't think he was *magic enough*. He probably has the
need to show his family that he is a person of worth as well, just like
Harry, but maybe it won't be in a magical way as his family (Gran, uncles)
feel is important.

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