Rating:
G
House:
HP InkPot
Characters:
James Potter Lily Evans
Genres:
Essay
Era:
The First War Against Voldemort (Cir. 1970-1981)
Spoilers:
Order of the Phoenix Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling Interviews or Website
Stats:
Published: 07/17/2006
Updated: 07/17/2006
Words: 855
Chapters: 1
Hits: 906

What's My Line?

JoTwo

Story Summary:
Discussion about what the occupation of Harry's parents might have been.

Chapter 01

Posted:
07/17/2006
Hits:
906


What's My Line?

By JoTwo

There was once a panel game on British TV called What's My Line, in which celebrities had to guess contestant's occupations from the clues they were given. Fans have to do the same for Harry's parents. We know that their careers must be significant because JKR hasn't answered the question directly. All she's said is that James inherited his fortune and didn't need a job that paid well. She also said about Harry's mother and father "both of them are very important in what Harry ends up having to do". (The Connection interview 1999).

The first thing to consider is, did James and Lily do the same or different jobs? I've read suggestions that as he was so good at Quidditch James became a professional player. However, this seems like a fanfic idea, and I can't see what plot importance this would have. As Lily had a nice wand for charmwork there were arguments that she was involved with inventing charms. (According to the Harry Potter Lexicon there was a Committee for Experimental Charms, but JKR did not include it among the Departments at the Ministry of magic in OOP, so she could have changed her mind.) After HBP it's been suggested that Voldemort thought Lily could be useful to him as she was good at Potions, and that maybe she was a potions brewer. However, this seems unlikely to me as Voldemort already had an excellent potion maker in Snape.

I'm think that James and Lily had the same job, because it's less likely that two separate occupations could be essential to the plot. Furthermore, having a married couple work together, is a shorthand way for JKR to demonstrate that they were emotionally close and compatible, and of equal abilities and intelligence. There is already a precedent for husband and wife having the same job in the books, as Neville's parents were both Aurors.

Speaking of Aurors, this seems to be the most popular guess for what the Potters did for a living. However, I do not think that they were Aurors for several reasons.

Firstly, we have already met lots of Aurors, past and present. If she can tell us that Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and the Longbottoms were Aurors, why would JKR need to hide that this was the Potters' occupation?

Secondly, Harry has expressed the ambition to become an Auror himself, and nobody has commented that he is following in his parents' footsteps.

Thirdly, referring back to Frank and Alice Longbottom, making the Potters Aurors would be an unnecessary duplication.

Fourthly, and finally, I don't think Lily and James were Aurors, because they would be the same as too many other characters. As the hero's parents, they need to stand out as unique.

I did wonder whether the Potters were alchemists. As Nicholas Flamel was the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, it was obvious that this is a rare occupation. Also just because he's the only known successful alchemist, doesn't mean there aren't others. Dumbledore was Flamel's partner. Hagrid said James and Lily were close to Dumbledore, so he could have taught them about alchemy.

In the very early draft of PS that's one of the hidden extras on JKR's website, there is a scene of the Trio discussing Flamel. Harry states that the Stone was found in his parents' safe at Gringotts.

JKR also states on her site that she cut out a servant of Voldemort called Pyrites, whose name means Fool's Gold. This name suggests that he could have been an alchemist, especially as in the cut scene between the Trio, Hermione mentions a book called Alchemy Ancient Art and Science by Argo Pyrites.

I theorised that perhaps she cut out Pyrites so that Voldemort could originally go after the Potters, because they had made a Stone. However, JKR shot this theory out of the water in HBP, when she introduced the idea of Voldemort using Horcruxes to gain immortality instead. Unfortunately, there's now no reason for the Potters to be alchemists.

The idea that seems to be gaining in popularity now is that the Potters were Unspeakables, who were studying either Death or Love. People have pointed out that the Veil seems to be some kind of gateway between Life and Death. (Plus in real life, people who believe in an afterlife often refer to the Veil as a dividing line between the physical and the spiritual worlds.) As Voldemort fears dying and is practically immortal, it would be logical for knowledge of Death to feature in book 7 as part of his downfall. Again, Dumbledore is always going on about how Harry has the power of Love, which will help him defeat Voldemort. Love is studied in a locked room at the Department of Mysteries. When asked in the Mugglenet/TLC interview if we the readers would be going back to that room, JKR was non-committal. I take that as being a yes then.

So, I'll plump for the Potters being Unspeakables. The only mystery about their occupation for me now is whether they were studying Death, or Love, or both.