Re: Showdown at Hogwarts

On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:40:15 +0100, cwlNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Green-Eyed
Chris) wrote:

In article <9el4t2lds7086sps8q8utm2e2tl570ks3h@xxxxxxx>, gjw@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:48:56 +0100, cwlNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Green-Eyed
Chris) wrote:

In article <2kd2t2t83t9f8gndschsnirf919qf1tpvu@xxxxxxx>, gjw@xxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:30:52 GMT, "DaveD"
<davedn1DELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

But would magical folk even bother with
using official Registry Officers or church weddings? It will be interesting
to see how JKR plays that one!


Lily (and/or James) seemed to have an appreciation of church rituals.
According to Rowling, they put themselves in danger to sneak out at
the height of Voldemort's reign of terror to baptize baby Harry (JKR
actually used the verb "christian" for the event.) So she (or he) may
have also wanted a church wedding.

Either you are seriously slipping or you have your tongue in a wicked
cheek and are just trying to start something, well knowing how quickly any
references to Christianity turn into flaming wars around here.

You really must learn to keep up with JKR's comments...

Rowling was asked about "Harry's godfather", Sirius.

Since a godfather is the adult who is present (alongside the parents)
at a child's baptism, some on this group (including me) had speculated
that Harry had indeed been baptized. Others disagreed, assuming that
the word "godfather" was used in a more general sense, and that no
such ceremony could be assumed. Another argument was also made, that
most Brits don't take their religion seriously, so that even if there
had been a baptism (christianizing), it would have been merely an
excuse for a social occasion/party.

Since a baptism usually involves both a godfather and a godmother,
Rowling was asked if Harry also had godmother. Her reply was
informative. She said no, because Harry was baptized at the height of
Voldemort's reign of terror, and it was too dangerous for social
occasions. So they just brought along Sirius when they went to
christian Harry in a small ceremony.

Here is the exact quote:

Q. Does Harry have a godmother? If so, will she make an appearance
in future books?

JKR: No, he doesn?t. I have thought this through. If Sirius had
married? Sirius was too busy being a big rebel to get married. When
Harry was born, it was at the very height of Voldemort fever last time
so his christening was a very hurried, quiet affair with just Sirius,
just the best friend. At that point it looked as if the Potters would
have to go into hiding so obviously they could not do the big
christening thing and invite lots of people. Sirius is the only one,
unfortunately. I have got to be careful what I say there, haven?t I?

Your point is well taken, but JKR's retrograde comments are generally as
valuable as an overdose of U-No-Poo. As used in the books, I have always
understood the word "godfather" as being analogous to a male sponsor at
baptism. We first learn of this relationship in PoA, Ch. 10, when Fudge
says: "Then they named him godfather to Harry." There is no indication of
a ceremony.

That's what a baptism/christening is - a ceremony (usually a brief
one). The godfather (and usually a godmother) attend the ceremony and
pledge to raise the child in the faith if something happens to the
birth parents. (Of course, Sirius was in Azkaban, so he was in no
position to do anything with baby Harry after the Potters were
killed.)


Pushed to the extreme, even JKR's use of the word "christening" in the
quote could be understood as giving a name by a ceremony suggestive of
baptism.

What??

Rowling repeated basically the same answer in a Leaky Cauldron
interview in 2005. Here's the wording to that one:

JKR: "At the time that they christened Harry, they were in hiding.
This was not going to be a widely attended christening, because he was
already in danger. So this is something they were going to do very
quietly, with as few people as possible, that they wanted to make this
commitment with Sirius. And ? yeah. Can?t say much more."



.