On the subject of Slytherins - Daphne Greengrass

[jotwo2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 131415

Miss Greengrass, pure-blood Slytherin student in Harry's year has 
existed for JKR for a long time.  She's on the master list of 
students glimpsed in the BBC documentary Harry and me.  However, the 
ordinary reader as opposed to the obsessive fan will have only 
noticed her once, in OOP, when she was taking a practical exam at the 
same time as Hermione.  This was her first appearance in canon, but 
it may not be her last.  Here are my speculations about her.

Green is obviously the colour of Slytherin.  However green also has 
associations of respect for nature.  Grass, of course, is a plant.  
Daphne is a name for the laurel or bay tree.  The subject connected 
with plants and the environment is Herbology.  As NEWTs are elective 
classes, maybe it will no longer be just Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors 
studying together.  Perhaps Harry and the reader will become more 
familiar with Daphne Greengrass in this way.

This character's first name is interesting.  She was originally 
called Queenie in JKR's list of students.  Queenie has overtones of 
royalty, and a belief that some people are better than others because 
of their birth and lineage.  This would fit a Slytherin pure-blood.  
Now that JKR has changed her name to Daphne, I wonder if there are 
different implications for this character.

Daphne features in Greek mythology.  She was a beautiful nymph, the 
daughter of Peneus, a river god.  She was a hunter who dedicated 
herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and like the goddess, 
refused to marry.  Apollo, a sun god, fell in love with Daphne, but 
she spurned his advances.  She fled and he pursued her through the 
woods.  She prayed to her father for deliverance, and as Apollo 
approached she was changed into the laurel tree.  Apollo was grief-
stricken and made the laurel his sacred tree. 

The laurel or bay tree is said to be so holy that it protects all 
beneath its shade from lightening.  It belongs to the family 
Thymelaeceae, in the order Myrtales.

I'm trying to work out what relevance this legend could have to the 
plot or to Daphne's characterisation.  Could it be a hint that 
Voldemort will try to recruit Daphne Greengrass but that she will 
reject joining the side of evil?  

Although JKR has a vast knowledge of names and plants, does she 
realise that the laurel has connections with the myrtle?  (Myrtles 
belong to a different family, the Myrtaceae, but the same order.)  
Daphne's a pure-blood and Moaning Myrtle was a Muggle-born, so they 
can't be genetically related.  Could there be a link with someone in 
Myrtle's time?  We know Olive Hornby's brother got married.  Did 
Olive herself marry and thus change her surname?  Or did the she or 
her brother have children that married into the Greengrass family?  

Even if there is no direct connection, JKR has told us that we will 
see Moaning Myrtle again (World Book Day chat 4th March 2004).  
Myrtle was a victim of Voldemort.  Does the plant name link mean 
Daphne will meet the same fate?   

The only other theory I can think up for JKR naming this character 
after a tree is very far out.  Hannah Abbott believed in POA that 
Sirius Black got into the castle by turning himself into a bush.  She 
was totally wrong about Sirius, but if there are animagi, could there 
possibly be wizards and witches who can turn themselves into plants?  
In JKR's world, anything is possible.  

To conclude, as fans are often speculating about whether there will 
be any good Slytherins, I think Daphne Greengrass could be a 
candidate.

JoTwo