blog banner romeo juliet
blog banner romeo juliet

A Tribute to the Mums of Harry Potter

What would J.K. Rowling’s brainchild be if not for all its moms? Let’s explore.

Molly Weasley Harry’s proxy parent from the very moment he realizes that Hagrid conveniently omitted directions to Platform 9 3/4. If you’ll recall, Mrs. Weasley is the one who pushes Harry trolley-first into a brick wall; she is the one who lovingly hurries he and Ron towards the Hogwarts Express (“off you go!”). And even though she has eight other mouths to feed, at least three animals to take care of, and a huge garden full of vegetation to de-gnome, *every* year she treats Harry as tenth member of the family.

Not least, she saw Bellatrix to her deserved end: being blasted to pieces by Harry Potter’s Muggle-loving, hand-knit-sweater-wearing adopted mom who ensures the last word she ever hears in this life is an obscenity.

Tonks is my momgoals. Immaculate being, model Hufflepuff. I think we can agree that there’s no space at all for criticism of this character aside from her EXTREMELY UNNECESSARY fate. Tonks falls in love with werewolf bae Remus Lupin (“I don’t care!” refers to her feelings toward his wolf-y genetic makeup), and approximately five minutes after bearing his child gets back up to drive the forces of evil into the ground.

Nymphadora gives her life so that her son can grow up in a better world, devoid of toeless rats and overzealous depots, and that is the saddest, most mom thing that ever was. The same can be said for:

Lily Potter is an indisputable 11/10 on the mom scale, having saved her only son from Voldemort’s murder stick through literally only her feelings. The Killing Curse is serious business. You saw what Mad-Eye Crouch did to that poor, unsuspecting mutant spider in GoF.

But because Voldemort underestimates the eternal bond of fam (I mean, I don’t blame him; who would’ve tested the side effects of maternal feels on the Unforgivable Curses), Harry lives. Then half-dies in book seven. Then lives again!

Hermione and Ginny

It was doubly weird to see these two in nineteen-years-later makeup (the artists got Ginevra’s haircut all wrong), but correct me if I’m wrong in saying that both of them would be particularly chill as moms. Having narrowly escaped the wrath of snakeface and his cronies probably puts you in a good position to not make a big deal out of most situations, because nothing your kids will ever experience could be a third as bad as being possessed by a sentient diary.

Both Gryffindors live up to their House descriptions (courageous lionesses) and make A+ role models for their offspring.

Voldemort: While we have no way of knowing his parenting techniques, I would guess that LV was either a) a helicopter mom, or b) a cool mom.

If we’re basing this solely on the interactions we’ve observed in canon, I’d choose helicopter. A tough love relationship that would’ve guaranteed some leash kid action had she been a human. But given the Horcruxy circumstances, I’m more inclined to go with compensatory Cool Mom. Like, “Nagini, I might have to use you as vessel to contain a piece of my hell-bound soul but I’ll totally let you stay out as late as you want and harrow some Mudbloods if you just let it happen.”

Sadly for Mom Riddle, not even the Elder Wand could protect Nagini from the determination and grit of Other Boy Who Lived. Moms can’t always be in two* places at once, I guess.

*They can be in seven, tho

Hagrid

“I’ve decided to call him Norbert. He really knows me now, watch. NorbertNorbert! Where’s Mummy?” Ron: “He’s lost his marbles.”

We can agree to disagree, Roonil. I’d argue that if anything, Norbert was welcome marble reinforcement for poor Hagrid, whose mistakes were many over the course of seven books. There’s something really sweet about Hagrid as a brooding hen, forgiving her for most things, including, but not limited to: setting his facial hair aflame, possessing an inherent nature to hunt and kill, and nearly pecking Ron’s hand off.

That last one sent the dragon off to a sanctuary in Romania. The result: Hagrid’s sobs of loss were interspersed with chuckles when Charlie Weasley discovered that Norbert was actually Norberta.

Which HP moms get a bouquet of daisies?