Troll's leg umbrella stand

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 111766

SSSusan wrote:

Recent discussion of Tonks' clumsiness reminded me of the BIG DEAL
that Galadriel Waters made of the troll's leg umbrella stand at 12
Grimmauld Place (which Tonks tripped over) in her New Clues to HP 5
book. I kept racking my brain, racking my brain.... WHAT could be
significant about Tonks stumbling over a severed troll's leg umbrella
stand? WHY did GW go nuts about this thing being mentioned a couple
of times in the OotP chapter on GP?

Leah replies:

The Severus connection is ingenious, but I haven't had a chance to 
relook at Snape in GP yet.

I too have wondered why Galadrial Waters thinks the umbrella stand is 
a big deal.  The stand is clearly based on the umbrella stands made 
of elephants' legs which were apparently a common feature of 
Victorian and Edwardian houses.  Before I came across Ms Waters, I 
assumed this was just a JKR wizarding spoof of an unpleasant feature 
of the muggle world.  I'm wondering now whether we are meant to make 
any connection between the use of elephants by muggles for this 
purpose, and the world of HP.

Elephants famously never forget, so is there a memory connection 
here?  Something to do with the Longbottoms?  Is there something we 
should remember about this scene?

My other thought was that just as the use of elephant's legs was an 
exploitation of the animal world by people who thought themselves 
superior, so the troll's leg stand is another pointer to the way that 
some wizards treat other magical beings.  But this point is so 
clearly made by JKR in the books, that I'm not sure we need to have 
it reinforced in that way.  Any more ideas?

Leah