Who will perform magic "late in life"? (Was: Theory on Petunia)

[abergoat]

No: HPFGUIDX 156558

Carol wrote about Filch and Figg:
>(They could even be
> sister and brother since they have the same initials--compare Amycus
> and Alecto--and Mrs. Figg's tartan slippers match the tartan scarf 
> or whatever it was that Filch wore when he had a headcold. I'm not
> betting on that connection, though, as the "evidence" is so trivial
> and has nothing to do with the prediction.) 

Trivial it may be but that was a good catch about the tartan...and it
is a really fun idea. We have reason to believe that Neville couldn't
do magic because of the way his grandmother berated him (or just
trauma from the death of his parents) not giving him the necessary
confidence so there is good reason to believe there might be a whole
family of squibs, made so by their horrible parents giving them no
confidence in themselves...

But it is a stretch ;) And stretching is SOOOO healthy.

Carol wrote:
> IMO, Mrs. Figg doth protest too much. Her words strike me in the 
> same way that the narrator's "He [Harry] would never forgive Snape. 
> Never!" does--i.e., an overly strong assertion likely to be 
> disproven in later books. 

Abergoat writes:
That is a really convincing argument. I'm almost sold!

Carol wrote:
> Also, I think that most young readers 
> would get more satisfaction from seeing magic performed by the 
> batty old cat lady who was snubbed at Harry's hearing than seeing 
> it performed by the mean old caretaker who wanted to flog the Twins
> and kept chains in his office in hopes that the old punishments 
> would be restored.

Abergoat writes:
But that may be what makes Filch more likely. I suspect JKR wants to
help young readers understand that nasty people don't always lose in
the end. Unfortunately that is life. Voldemort will get his and is
just what he appears to be. But Snape and Filch may not be, horrible
though they are.

Abergoat