[HPforGrownups] Re: In Defense of Molly Weasley (Long)

[Lee Kaiwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 175082

Hoo, boy, I must be an absolute lunatic to jump into the middle of THIS 
conflagration. But what's life without a little adventure :-)

First, I will note that I lack the proper -- umm -- "packaging" to ever 
be a housewife, so I'll not be touching THAT debate with a mile-long pole.

Second, at risk of annoying BOTH sides in this little discussion, I'm 
going to go out on a limb and say everybody's got a point. I do note, 
for one thing, that initially a few students DID try to help, but Molly 
explicitly waved them off ("No, get back! Get BACK! She is mine!"), and 
the fact that she and Bella were hardly dancing a slow waltz certainly 
explains at the least a certain hesitancy of the onlookers to get 
involved. We're told Harry, wanting to help, was "unable to be sure he 
wouldn't hit the innocent" (though what happened to all those Shield 
Charms he had be throwing around, I'm at a loss to explain).

As to our precipitous discovery of Molly's dueling skills, I guess that 
doesn't bother me too much. JKR indisputably -- and most pronouncedly in 
DH -- displays a penchant for ad hoc plot devices, so Molly's sudden 
discovery of dueling mastery where none had previously existed would be 
in character with the author's tendencies on the one hand. But on the 
other, this *particular* plot device (and I *do* think it was a plot 
device) doesn't strike me as too inorganic. Molly always seemed to me to 
be a bit of a bubbling cauldron on the verge of exploding -- the flash 
of anger in the eyes, papered over with a sweet motherly voice; you 
always knew you crossing her -- *particularly* where her mothering 
instincts were concerned -- was playing with proverbial death.

So for me the sudden revelation of her fighting skills felt more like a 
pleasant surprise -- a secret waiting to be trotted out at the most 
dramatic moment -- than an OOC moment.

On the other hand, that whole "hundreds of people lined the walls, 
watching the two fights" bit absolutely has that made-for-the-movie 
feel, as if somebody suddenly switched from The Action Channel to ESPN, 
with the two armies suddenly transmogrified from deadly enemies to 
circus audience, gawking and craning to see what's going on in the 
center ring. The whole unable-to-help rationalization would have made 
more sense if they were still pre-occupied with doing each other. But 
instead we find DEs and DAs obsessively intent on finishing each other 
off one second suddenly making nicey-nicey and shouting, "Hey, down in 
front!" the next. 'Scuse me, but I believe you're in my seat.

Now, given that the whole scene was apprently written with one eye on 
the movie (that's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it works in 
the book, too), here's what I really would have liked to see:

"Oh, bloody hell!", Molly muttered as she spotted Ginny in the midst of 
the fray.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Mrs. Weasley tossed aside her wand as she ran and, lowering her head, 
she charged straight at Bellatrix with all the force of a raging bull. 
Bellatrix spun on the spot, the laughter dying on her lips as she tried 
desparately to swing her wand arm around. But before she had time to do 
more than register a look of shock, Molly's cranium connected with her 
sternum. The impact sent Bellatrix's wand flying as the two combatants 
crashed to the floor.

Now THAT'S a "You go, girl!" moment!

Lee Kaiwen, Taiwan