witches of the world (was: Lavender vs Hermione)

[Cyril A Fernandes]

No: HPFGUIDX 160511

Cyril.

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ibchawz" <ibchawz at ...> wrote:
>
> Betsy Hp:
> Hmm, I grant that both scenes showed that each woman loves their
> child(ren). But Molly was dealing with a mere possibility and fell
> apart. Narcissa had to face up to, and deal with, that fear
> becoming real.

Cyril.

Narcissa was crying on Snape's floor for a situation in which she
believed the worst for Draco. But the cause of fear was not being
enacted at that point of time. It was only the fear that Draco would
not be successful, and therefore would have to face LV's wrath
sometime in the future.

Molly was crying, *NOT ONLY* because she was expecting something bad
to happen to her family - but because she was actually seeing all of
them dead, one after another. So her worst fears were coming alive in
front of her. I would put her situation to be at a much higher trauma
level at that point of time. After all, seeing is believing <g>

Sure - Narcissa was crying because the big bad Voldie had threatened
her son (and possibly also her husband). I do not see how Molly's
situation is any lesser with Voldie putting her entire family
constantly in *Mortal Peril* (IIRC that was the status on her clock,
albeit in HBP). For sure, we do not see the clock showing this status
in OoTP, but then, they are not in the Burrow in OoTP, so, no reason
to believe that it was any different. After all, LV was back, even if
most of the WW did not believe so.

> 
> However... One thing that isn't fair is that we've not seen Molly
> dealing with a child in actual danger. She's not been given an
> opportunity to show how she'd handle an honest to goodness crisis.
> In many ways Molly is dealing with the more stressful *waiting* for
> the crisis to come.
> 
> So while Narcissa has had a chance to show her courage, poor Molly
> is left at home clutching her clock. And I won't say that Narcissa
> would handle the clock better, or that Molly would deal with an
> actual crisis worse. (Or, well, I guess I have, but I recognize
> that I'm not being fair when I do so. <g>)
> 
> That Narcissa has had her trial gives me something to like in her.
> That Molly has not... well, I'm left without a reason. So I guess
> in this case it's really apples and oranges. It's not fair for me
> to judge Molly until she's had her day. (And there are plenty of
> other reasons for me to dislike Molly. <eg>)
> 
> ibchawz responds:
> Actually, Molly Weasley has seen many of her family members in 
> immediate danger.
> 
> Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets and the writing on the 
> wall indicated that her skeleton would lie there forever.  
> 
> In OotP, Arthur was attacked by Nagini and nearly died.  Both Ron 
> and Ginny were present and participated in the battle Department of 
> Mysteries.
> 
> In HBP, Bill was attacked and severely disfigured by Fenrir 
> Greyback.  Both Ron and Ginny participated in the battle at Hogwarts.
> 
> I would classify these instances as "actual danger".  I'm sure I 
> could come up with additional instances if I tried.  Perhaps these 
> facts will assist you in your judgement of Molly.  Unless, of 
> course, the "plenty of other reasons for me to dislike Molly" have 
> already influenced your judgement to a point of no return.
> 
> ibchawz
>


Cyril again:

Just to add to the above comments by ibchawz, Molly has been seeing
her family in danger for quite some time. She lost two brothers
already (in VW1 IIRC). She faced a traumatic time during the QWC, even
when she was not personally present.

Quote from GoF (Chapter Mahyem at the Ministry)

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"
Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front
yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers,
her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet
clutched in her hand.
"Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried -"

She has been facing the short end of the stick for many years when it
came to things caused by LV and the DE's. In the couple of instances
that she is present with a member of her family attacked (Arthur in
OoTP in St Mungo's and Bill in HBP), she does not come off at all as
weak in any way.

At the start of HBP, Narcissa was facing it for a very short time so
far. She seemed to crack a lot earlier.

At the end of the day, both are mothers, and extremely protective
about their families - so on that scale (protecting their families), I
would not rate any one better/worse than the other.

However, the one difference that I see is that Molly is not afraid to
discipline her children (and her husband) when required. She holds
them accountable for their actions. As a mother, she rates far higher
than anything else Narcissa is ever shown to do. But she is also
beside them when required. Can't ask anything more from a mother.

JMO,
Cyril.