Croaker and Bode

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 171632

As we know, minor characters mentioned in passing sometimes show up
later in the books. As we also know, characters' names also sometimes
reflect their character--or, it seems, their fate. In GoF, Arthur
Weasley points out people he knows to the kids as they wait for the
QWC to begin. Two of these people are Croaker and Bode, whom Mr.
Weasley identifies as Unspeakables ("No idea what they get up to"). We
later learn that they work in the Department of Mysteries, which
studies such mysteries as Love, Time (including Prophecies foretelling
the possible future), the Mind, and Death. Neither name bodes well for
the character, "Bode" meaning to foreshadow or portend a future event,
usually something bad, and "Croaker" suggesting "croak" (to die). (The
Lexicon suggests that "croak" means to habitually predict evil, but I
like my etymology better.)

Broderick Bode, reintroduced in OoP, lives up to his name, having been
Imperio'd by Lucius Malfoy and ordered to remove the Prophecy orb from
its shelf. Knowing that he can't remove the Prophecy, Bode fights the
curse, temporarily loses his mind, and is sent to St. Mungo's, where
he starts to recover but is strangled by a Devil's Snare given to him
as a Christmas present, no doubt by a Death Eater (Lucius in
disguise?). Given his name and Malfoy's expectation that he could
obtain the Prophecy orb, I'm guessing that he worked in the Hall of
Prophecy.

It seems odd to me that JKR would introduce Bode and Croaker together
but follow up only on Bode. Given Croaker's name, it seems likely that
he works in the Death room and somehow studies what's behind the Veil.
(Either that, or he's just going to live up to his name by dying,
which seems hardly worth the trouble of bringing him into the story.)
Does anyone think that Croaker will somehow aid Harry in passing
through the Veil without dying? Any other thoughts on why JKR
mentioned him along with Bode in GoF?

Carol, thinking that if Lily was an Unspeakable, Croaker probably knew
her (and, like Slughorn, would recognize her eyes in Harry's)