JKR's Crazy Badger Fettish
swythyv made an interesting comment in cjn1's essay (St. Patrick Legend in Harry Potter) concerning the connection between snakes and weasels (weasels kill snakes). Anyways, she got me thinking about JKR's general Badger fettish, and I've got some extrodinarily random thoughts on the subject.
First, let's look at what a badger is. "Badger" is actually the name for a family of animals (scientific name Mustelidae) which includes ferrets, otters, and weasels (note: these are the 3 main examples given on wikipedia). How interesting, because we see instances off each of those in Harry Potter.
1. Ferret = Malfoy (Mad-Eye turns him into a ferret. I would guess that, if Malfoy were to become an animagus, he would be a ferret.)
2. Weasel = Weasley
3. Otter = Hermione (her patronus)
Of course, Hufflepuff house is represented by a badger. Note that none of the afformentioned people are in Hufflepuff. More on Hufflepuff in a minute.
Here are the reasons JKR would give us for associating these animals with these people:
1. Ferret = Malfoy --> Ferret (v.): to hunt, to search about, to force out of hiding --> Malfoy is quite the little snitch.
2. Weasel = Weasley --> The badger symbolizes good luck in child birth. The Weasley's certainly have good luck in child birth (Note: this is not weasel-specific. The Weasley's could have been named after any type of badger and the connotation would have been the same.)
3. Otter = Hermione --> the otter is a symbol for wisdom and cleverness
I am more interested about the Badger's relationship with snakes, however. Let's again look at the people related with the badger.
1. Hermione
2. Draco
3. The Weasleys
4. Helga Hufflepuff
Of the 4, we know at least two of them directly conflict with Slytherin House.
1. Hermione = Muggleborn
2. The Weasleys = Muggle-lovers
A rift forms between Slytherin and the other founders, so we now also have a conflict between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. We do not know the circumstances, however. It is possible Hufflepuff was not the one ruffling feathers. We cannot be sure.
That leaves us with Draco. What does this say about Draco?
I bet you can guess what I'm thinking.
Draco as a ferret because of the definition of ferret (v.) is only a ploy. Granted, it fits, but I'd be willing to bet it is serving more than one purpose.
Draco isn't the Slytherin we thought he was (he might not be the picture of a Gryffindor, but, to me, this suggests he will not become a Death Eater, assuming he isn't one yet).
Let's return to Helga Hufflepuff. I said we did not know the circumstances of Slytherin's departure. I'm inclined to think that she is the one who drove him away (speculation) due to the snake/badger relationship already discussed. Hufflepuff would teach anyone. I think she would be the one who had the biggest problem with Slytherin's prejudice (regardless of its logic for the time period). I've often thought that Slytherin house and Hufflepuff house were the most alike (you've probably heard me rant about that before). Slight differences, however, would seem really dramatic.
Clashes of ideals?
Lover's spat, perhaps?
Mweh. I'm getting a bit too speculative now, ;P
First, let's look at what a badger is. "Badger" is actually the name for a family of animals (scientific name Mustelidae) which includes ferrets, otters, and weasels (note: these are the 3 main examples given on wikipedia). How interesting, because we see instances off each of those in Harry Potter.
1. Ferret = Malfoy (Mad-Eye turns him into a ferret. I would guess that, if Malfoy were to become an animagus, he would be a ferret.)
2. Weasel = Weasley
3. Otter = Hermione (her patronus)
Of course, Hufflepuff house is represented by a badger. Note that none of the afformentioned people are in Hufflepuff. More on Hufflepuff in a minute.
Here are the reasons JKR would give us for associating these animals with these people:
1. Ferret = Malfoy --> Ferret (v.): to hunt, to search about, to force out of hiding --> Malfoy is quite the little snitch.
2. Weasel = Weasley --> The badger symbolizes good luck in child birth. The Weasley's certainly have good luck in child birth (Note: this is not weasel-specific. The Weasley's could have been named after any type of badger and the connotation would have been the same.)
3. Otter = Hermione --> the otter is a symbol for wisdom and cleverness
I am more interested about the Badger's relationship with snakes, however. Let's again look at the people related with the badger.
1. Hermione
2. Draco
3. The Weasleys
4. Helga Hufflepuff
Of the 4, we know at least two of them directly conflict with Slytherin House.
1. Hermione = Muggleborn
2. The Weasleys = Muggle-lovers
A rift forms between Slytherin and the other founders, so we now also have a conflict between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. We do not know the circumstances, however. It is possible Hufflepuff was not the one ruffling feathers. We cannot be sure.
That leaves us with Draco. What does this say about Draco?
I bet you can guess what I'm thinking.
Draco as a ferret because of the definition of ferret (v.) is only a ploy. Granted, it fits, but I'd be willing to bet it is serving more than one purpose.
Draco isn't the Slytherin we thought he was (he might not be the picture of a Gryffindor, but, to me, this suggests he will not become a Death Eater, assuming he isn't one yet).
Let's return to Helga Hufflepuff. I said we did not know the circumstances of Slytherin's departure. I'm inclined to think that she is the one who drove him away (speculation) due to the snake/badger relationship already discussed. Hufflepuff would teach anyone. I think she would be the one who had the biggest problem with Slytherin's prejudice (regardless of its logic for the time period). I've often thought that Slytherin house and Hufflepuff house were the most alike (you've probably heard me rant about that before). Slight differences, however, would seem really dramatic.
Clashes of ideals?
Lover's spat, perhaps?
Mweh. I'm getting a bit too speculative now, ;P