Arabella Figg (Was: Dumbledore's family)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 166518

Kemper wrote: <snip>
> As I awoke an hour ago, I realized another characteristic that
Arabella and Albus share: courage. Albus' is obvious. Arabella is
the first line of human defense for Harry in his early childhood at 4
Privet Drive (as one must rule out the Dursleys). It's true that she
doesn't rush in to assist Harry with the Dementors, but she knows she
can't and she is also probably aware that her 'help' may result in
Harry's death as he would fell compelled to keep her as well.
Arabella, knowing/sensing that dementors are attacking and unable to
/see/ them, does not run in fear. She stays to be of assistance when
she can. 

> Kemper, who's favorite minor character is Mrs. Figg (she's so
intriguing: what's her story, who was Mr. Figg, what happened to him,
how did she end up in the Order) but who's probably the lone member of
Figgy's: the Mrs. Figg Fan Club.  club ::sigh::

Carol responds:

No, you're not. I love the scene where she batters Mundungus with
catfood cans (wish it hadn't been taken out of the movie--sorry, List
Elves!) and I'm very fond of Figgy. Her courage and her loyalty to
Dumbledore are admirable, and she's able to live comfortably in two
worlds, in marked contrast to Filch. (I don't suppose she says things
like "The cat's among the pixies now" or "We might as well be hanged
for a dragon as an egg" when the Dursleys are around, though!)

I don't think she's Dumbledore's sister (she's nowhere near his age,
as far as I can determine), but she could be his niece or something
like that. I once tossed out the suggestion, based on her tartan
slippers, that she might be related to McGonagall, but that's pretty
slim evidence, I realize. Still, if she's not related to Dumbledore or
to someone he knows, how would he come to know about her, or Filch,
either? Does he go looking for Squibs to take into his protection? It
seems unlikely.

Anyway, it's interesting (to me) that Argus Filch also wears tartan at
one point (in the GoF scene where Snape is in his grey nightshirt??)
and that Argus and Arabella have the same initials. And there's that
shared affinity for cats, which may or may not be a trait of Squibs in
general. (Could Mrs. Norris be one of the part-Kneazle cats that Mrs.
Figg bred, like the similarly named Mr. Tibbles?) Maybe Argus and
Arabella are brother and sister. Their ages also seem to be similar
(close to McGonagall's, I would guess) though their personalities are
very different. Had Figgy been a witch, she would certainly have been
in Gryffindor, whereas Filch would probably have been in Slytherin if
he were a wizard. (Side note: I think Umbridge was also in Slytherin,
much as I hate to say it because I don't want to view Slytherin as the
"evil" house.)

I'm with you in vastly preferring Arabella to Argus. I've stated
fairly frequently that I think Mrs. Figg is the character who will
perform magic at an advanced age in DH, probably on Privet Drive as
Harry turns seventeen. Better her than Filch (at Hogwarts), and the
Muggle Dursleys have been ruled out. (I never thought it was them in
the first place.)

How did Mrs. Figg get into the Order? Dumbledore must have put her
there because he trusted her and he needed someone who could pass as a
Muggle. And that, of course, came in very handy after Godric's Hollow.
Which leads me to wonder at what point Arabella moved into the
Dursley's neighborhood. It can't be coincidence that she lives there,
can it? Maybe she was on stand-by, just in case something happened to
the Potters. (I would hope that she and her cats were watching over
the fifteen-month-old Harry as he slept on the Dursleys' doorstep.
Dumbledore must have taken some sort of precautions to keep him from
waking up and wandering off.)

Carol, wondering what Crookshanks thinks of Mrs. Norris, whom he must
have encountered on his sojourns around Hogwarts