The Weasleys' Muggle Cousin (Was Re: CHAPDISC: HBP5, An Excess of Phlegm)

hpfan_mom rdsilverstein at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 6 03:36:05 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 144147

> Sherry now:
> 
> I really don't think it has any significance in terms of anything
> much.  i mean, as I said, i haven't been in touch with my second
> cousins in many years.  why should I want to?  We have absolutely
> nothing in common, except
> that our grandparents were siblings.  But we didn't grow up
> together, we don't share memories or anything at all.  I'm sure
> they are no more
> interested in knowing me than i am in knowing them.  i've always
> thought it was pretty much the same for Molly's second cousin the 
> accountant.  And I haven't ever really thought much about it at
> all.  
>

hpfan_mom again:

Well, we've all got different relationships with our cousins, and I 
have no idea about JKR's and whether she thinks second cousins are 
people you see once a decade or several times a year (like our 
family).  But I think that rather than having some deep meaning for 
the plot, the idea that Molly has a second cousin who's a Muggle 
fits into the backstory that JKR has developed on the Weasleys' 
marriage but doesn't necessarily intend to share with us.

I just read today someone's response on this list to the question of 
Harry Potter's appeal, and part of the answer was that JKR took such 
time to develop her characters before writing.  She knows the 
biographical facts that inform many of their actions.  And so I 
believe that the existence of Molly's Muggle cousin has something to 
do with her attitude toward Arthur's obsession.  We'll probably 
never know, since it's not important to the Horcrux hunt, but it 
makes the Weasleys' marriage more than a one-dimensional parenting 
partnership.

hpfan_mom










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