Cockroach cluster

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 126524


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mhbobbin" <mhbobbin at y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> I've always been troubled by the many references to cockroaches in 
> inappropriate places--such as candy, and as Lupin's solution to 
> making the Boggart go look ridiculous.  What is funny about a 
> cockroach???
> 
> ...edited...
>
> Maybe in her mind, a  cockroach is associated with humor.
> 
> mhbobbin

bboyminn:

Well, on one hand, it's the oddness and absurdity of it. Remember
Cockroach Cluster are mentioned along with Blood Flavored Lollipops.
So I think part of it is to reflect the unusual tastes of the wizard
world. 

Of course, we must consider that candied insects are actually not that
uncommon. So while it reflects 'unusual tastes' in the wizard world,
it wouldn't be that unusual for people to actually each them.

I looked for the reference to Lupin, Boggarts, and cockroachs and
couldn't find it, but I would speculate that part of what makes the
anti-Boggart charm effective is not the humor in the converted shape,
but in the contrast. The humor in turning a big woolly bear into a
cockroach, is in turning something large and fierce into something
small and helpless. Ok, it's not a big laugh, but to each his own.

So, again, it's not cockroachs themselves that are funny but the
context and contrast in which they are applied in the story.

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn