[HPforGrownups] Jo's Squib error?

[Vivamus]

No: HPFGUIDX 123725

> Luckdragon:
> On Jo's website under "Miscellaneous" she states that 
> Arabella Figg never saw the dementors that went after Harry 
> and Dudley in the alleyway in Little Whinging, however; at 
> Harry's trial Mrs. Figg says she saw the dementors gliding 
> towards the boys and goes on to describe them. Is Mrs. Figg 
> lying or has Jo made another (Colin Creevey Camera) error?

Vivamus:
Mrs. Figg was lying.  Here is the quote:

'A Squib, eh?' said Fudge, eyeing her closely. 'We'll be checking that.
You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Weasley.
Incidentally, can Squibs see Dementors?' he added, looking left and right
along the bench.
'Yes, we can!' said Mrs Figg indignantly.
Fudge looked back down at her, his eyebrows raised. 'Very well,' he said
aloofly. 'What is your story?'
'I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop at the end of Wisteria
Walk, around about nine o'clock, on the evening of the second of August,'
gabbled Mrs Figg at once, as though she had learned what she was saying by
heart, 'when I heard a disturbance down the alleyway between Magnolia
Crescent and Wisteria Walk. On approaching the mouth of the alleyway I saw
Dementors running -'
'Running?' said Madam Bones sharply. 'Dementors don't run, they glide.'
That's what 1 meant to say,' said Mrs Figg quickly, patches of pink
appearing in her withered cheeks. 'Gliding along the alley towards what
looked like two boys.'
'What did they look like?' said Madam Bones, narrowing her eyes so that the
edge of the monocle disappeared into her flesh.
'Well, one was very large and the other one rather skinny -'
'No, no,' said Madam Bones impatiently. 'The Dementors. describe them.'
'Oh,1 said Mrs Figg, the pink flush creeping up her neck now. They were big.
Big and wearing cloaks.'
Harry felt a horrible sinking in the pit of his stomach. Whatever Mrs Figg
might say, it sounded to him as though the most she had ever seen was a
picture of a Dementor, and a picture could never convey the truth of what
these beings were like: the eerie way they moved, hovering inches over the
ground; or the rotting smell of them; or that terrible rattling noise they
made as they sucked on the surrounding air.
In the second row, a dumpy wizard with a large black moustache leaned close
to whisper in the ear of his neighbour, a frizzy-haired witch. She smirked
and nodded.
'Big and wearing cloaks,' repeated Madam Bones coolly, while Fudge snorted
derisively. 'I see. Anything else?'
'Yes,' said Mrs Figg. 'I felt them. Everything went cold, and this was a
very warm summer's night, mark you. And I felt. as though all happiness had
gone from the world. and I remembered. dreadful things.'
Her voice shook and died.
Madam Bones's eyes widened slightly. Harry could see red marks under her
eyebrow where the monocle had dug into it.
'What did the Dementors do?' she asked, and Harry felt a rush of hope.
They went for the boys,' said Mrs Figg, her voice stronger and more
confident now, the pink flush ebbing away from her face. 'One of them had
fallen. The other was backing away, trying to repel the Dementor. That was
Harry. He tried twice and produced only silver vapour. On the third attempt,
he produced a Patronus, which charged down the first Dementor and then, with
his encouragement, chased the second one away from his cousin. And that that
is what happened,' Mrs Figg finished, somewhat lamely.
Madam Bones looked down at Mrs Figg in silence. Fudge was not looking at her
at all, but fidgeting with his papers. Finally, he raised his eyes and said,
rather aggressively, That's what you saw, is it?'
That is what happened,' Mrs Figg repeated.
'Very well,' said Fudge. 'You may go.'

Vivamus:
I read her testimony as her lying, but having been coached by DD.  If you
read carefully what she says, she first says that squibs can see dementors,
then that she saw the dementors running -- which Harry thought was a dead
giveaway that she hadn't really seen them, because they glide, not run --
but then describes what happened without referring to herself.  She did
accurately describe the attempts to drive the dementors off, as well as the
feelings produced by dementors.  

When Fudge asks her directly if that is what she saw, she doesn't answer his
question, instead saying "That is what happened."   I take this to mean that
she saw Harry and Dudley and what they did, but not the dementors, although
she felt them.  DD would have questioned her about it, and figured out what
the dementors were doing, and coached her on it.

While some may think it unethical to lie, someone has just tried to have
Harry (the only hope for the WW) soul-sucked, and Fudge is trying to throw
Harry into Azkaban, where it probably will happen to him.  If the presence
of dementors is not established in the court, DD might not be able to
protect Harry.  I think DD is absolutely right to coach Mrs. Figg to lie in
those circumstances.

Vivamus (an act deontologist [but his cat Snickersqueak is a pure hedonist])