The Knight of Walburga

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 169517


> > Pippin:
<snipped>
 Stress like that would make anyone old beyond their 
> > years, and she must not have been terribly stable to begin 
> > with. 
> 
> Goddlefrood:
> 
> It's a possibility, but Walburga was really not old at all by WW 
> standards. The degeneration noted in her portrait is, IMO, far 
> more than simply stress or worry induced. 

Pippin:
What degeneration? She's described as "old", with yellowing
skin (the artist in me thinks the varnish must be deteriorating --
the curtains would indicate that the medium is sensitive to light)
and drooling. Harry is  fifteen, and at that age everybody over 
forty looked old to me. Her hair is apparently hidden by a cap, 
so I suppose he's judging by the appearance of her skin and eyes. 
That can deteriorate very rapidly with stress. Of course one can
drool at any age. 


Goodlefrood: 
I also would disagree  that she was unstable. 
A pure blood extremist and married to her 
second cousin, yes, but not necessarily unstable.

Pippin:
If she was ranting like that in life, and she must have been, because
she was apparently acting much the same when Sirius left home at
sixteen, then surely she was unstable. Madness in the family 
would make it easier to understand why people thought
Sirius had gone mad, too.

I thought JKR meant the Knights of Walpurgis were the Death
Eaters in an earlier version of the story, not in an earlier time
*in* the story, if you know what I mean. Like Strider was 
once a Hobbit called Trotter.

Pippin