Amortentia and re The morality of love potions/Merope and Tom Sr.

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 152295


> Carol responds:
> Here, Potioncat. I'll join your tennis match--which may not be to your
> advantage considering how vehemently some of my opinions have been
> rejected lately.

Potioncat:
With Alla too, we have a foursome! There's room for more...

snipping Carol's very eloquent post.

> Carol:
> As for Merope (who, I agree, must be giving Tom Sr. repeated doses of
> the love potion to sustain his "love"), I feel nothing but pity for
> her. She has been treated all her life with abuse and contempt, and
> she thinks she loves the handsome young Muggle on the hill. For her,
> it's like a fairy tale. All she has to do is give him a bit of love
> potion and they'll live happily ever after. 

Potioncat:
I pity Merope as well. JKR really turned the tables didn't she? We
were expecting a woman who had been cruely used by her husband.
Instead we have two victims. Three, actually. Or thousands if you
count the WW.

Carol and Alla gave oppsite opinions about Tom's responsibility to his
son. I realised after I posted the question that it would go wildly OT
if it took off at all. I have to say, I agree with Carol on what Tom
ought to do, but I'm not sure society would impose it, under the
circumstances.

Who remembers the book, "Maggie" or "Maggie, a Girl of the Streets."?
It's about a young woman who finds herself in a similar position to
Merope, written in the 1880s, early 1900s by a famous dead
guy.(American, I think.) At any rate, having made the great offense of
becoming pregnant, she was left on her own, deserving of all her
problems. I think she ended up just like Merope. Dead.

Why do you suppose Tom Riddle, Sr. never re-married? (Other than JKR
thought 3 people sitting in the dining room were quite enough for a
teenager to take out?) Did he know Merope had died? Did he know where
the baby was? Again, did he know there was a baby?

Now, back to love potions themselves. Why did Slughorn have a steaming
cauldron of Amortentia sitting on the very desk of teenagers? Let's
see, he had Polyjuice near the Ravenclaws, Felix Felicis on his desk,
Veritaserum near the Slytherins and Amortentia near the
Hufflpuff/Gryffindor table. Seems like a dangerous combination of
potions for Slughorn to have sitting out. Any of them could have been
slipped into a vial by a cunning student. I wonder if JKR had any
meaning to that arrangement in her mind?

Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. Already made
and affecting the students as soon as they sit near it.  Harry smells
a combination of scents, one at least is firmly connected to the
Burrow. He found it to be the most seductive scent ever, and even Ron
was grinning lazily. Then Ron seems to be competing with Harry for
Hermione's approval. Hermione starts to tell what it smell likes to
her, after announcing its aroma depends on "what attracts us", then
stops in mid-answer. Right after Potions they go to lunch, and Ginny
joins them. Harry notices she smells like the scent in the Amortentia.

Hmmm...seems the most powerful love potion in the world works by
inhalation. It doesn't cause love of course, but creates an obsession.
Does anyone else wonder about the coincidence of this as the story
goes on? 


Potioncat, who originally thought things worked out the way they were
supposed to, all on their own, but who isn't so sure now.