Fannish 5: Five Unfortunate Uses of Pregnancy

[gehayi]

From fannish5: Five unfortunate uses of pregnancy as a plot device.

CAUTION: HERE BE SPOILERS. A lot of them, really.

In no particular order:

1) Phoebe Halliwell's pregnancies on Charmed.

Comments

[ravenclaw_eric]

Merope Gaunt is described as being, frankly, ill-favored, and Tom Riddle, Sr. already _had_ a nice girlfriend. TR dumping his GF to take up with someone who was apparently considered lower than dirt by everybody in the area, and with whom he only had a species in common, is explicable only when you remember that Merope G. was a witch.

I'm a guy myself, and I've watched guy behavior for decades, and I can't think of a single case of anybody doing anything like that.

That said, it is unlikely that Merope could have brewed a love potion...could she have used the Imperius Curse? With her charming relatives gone, she might have been able to lay hands on one of their wands, if she didn't have one herself. And she wouldn't give one toss about the rights of any mere Muggle...she was a Gaunt, and a pureblood, and that alone made her far better than any Muggle.

I tend to equate Merope with the equally-tragic Mayella Ewell, in To Kill a Mockingbird...while I feel terribly sorry for both of them, their actions caused irreparable harm

Part 1

[gehayi]

Merope may have been a witch. However

Re: Part 1

[ravenclaw_eric]

As far as Merope's relationship with her father and brother goes, I don't think you understand psychological dominance...what Modesty Blaise's right-hand man Willie Garvin called "the old P.D." in A Taste for Death.

If Marvolo and Morfin had bullied and dominated Merope from her earliest memories, it wouldn't matter how powerful a witch she might potentially be...she'd have it burned into her brain that they were stronger and there was nothing she could do. This is also called "learned helplessness." When my Mom was going for her Master's in child psychology, I read a lot of her texts, and I read about tests on dogs, using electric shocks. Once the dogs got it into their heads that there was nothing they could do, they would just endure the shocks, even if escape was perfectly possible

Part 2

[gehayi]

Could she have cast Imperio? She probably knew it; I can't picture her father and brother not casting it on her. But magic in the Potterverse takes confidence, strength of will and training. It's doubtful if Merope had had the training, and when we saw her in the Pensieve, she hid her face, spoke indistinctly, scuttled away from her father and only admired Tom, Sr. from a distance. Such behavior doesn't scream willful self-confidence to me

Re: Part 2

[zelda_queen]

Regarding Merope's ability to use magic, I suspect that that's why the love potion was speculated as the thing that was used on Riddle Sr. From what I understood of the HP universe, you don't actually *need* magic to brew potions, so long as you can acquire the ingredients and keep everything going properly.

Actually, while the book is never certain, I believe Rowling did confirm the love potion thing in an interview. She said that the fact that Voldemort was conceived under a love potion contributed the tiniest bit to his inability to feel or care for love, though she also said that it really didn't excuse or cover any of the horrible things he did, or his hatred and inability to feel love.

Still, I see what you're saying. Very interesting to think about.

Re: Part 2

[gehayi]

From what I understood of the HP universe, you don't actually *need* magic to brew potions, so long as you can acquire the ingredients and keep everything going properly.

That's popular fanon--it makes sense to everyone but the author. Rowling says that a Muggle couldn't possibly brew a potion successfully, even if she had the right ingredients and prepared it properly.

Actually, while the book is never certain, I believe Rowling did confirm the love potion thing in an interview.I do tend to ignore interviews; Rowling has been known to contradict both other interviews and her own canon in interviews. Once the last book came out and Hermione's middle name was stated to be Jean (not Jane, as Rowling had said in interview after interview), I figured that was confirmation--interviews are not canon and should not be taken as such

Re: Part 2

[zelda_queen]

Really? When was that ever in the books? O_o I know that The Tales of Beedle the Bard confirmed that Muggles couldn't use magic even if they had a proper wand, but nothing on potions

Re: Part 2

[ravenclaw_eric]

You have a good point about Imperio. However, potion-making might have been one of Merope's many, many chores...charmers like her sweet brother and loving daddy would likely see potions as "women's work" and beneath their male dignity.

*pausing to imagine Severus Snape's reaction to that sort of attitude...and giggling*