Name That Auror
Jan. 4th, 2007 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snorkackcatcherFirstly, welcome to the various new people on my flist, either from the Harry Potter Friending Meme 2007 or elsewhere!
Anyway, a question for you all.
If you happen to have read my "Tonks' First Case" story Nymphadora Tonks and the Liquor of Jacmel (and if not, naturally I can but encourage you to do so :D) you'll remember the Auror who works with Tonks on that case, one Cassius Scrimgeour. He was of course originally meant to be the OotP Scrimgeour, but after HBP was retconned to Rufus' great-uncle with the aid of a cunningly inserted get-out clause.
However, I'm intending to revise NTLJ and polish it up a bit, and among other things Rufus will have a more prominent role as Auror boss from the start (rather than getting the job at the end in a quick soft-shoe shuffle to match the story up with canon). That being the case, Cassius really needs to be less closely connected with him, although he still needs some sort of loose family connection to fulfil certain bits of plot -- I was thinking great-uncle by marriage would be far enough away?
But he'll definitely need a different surname to avoid putting new readers off. I'm afraid I can't do ticky boxes, but I thought I'd present the options and ask which one people thought would work best. :)
First, a quick refresher on Cassius' background: he's an elderly pure-blood, from a fairly posh and wealthy old family, but not one that took the "Black line" on things -- they regarded Muggle ancestry as "common", but had no philosophical objection to it. This, and canon, put certain constraints on what his surname can be -- it couldn't for example be Weasley, or Malfoy, or Black. Also, it would probably be unwise to make it the same name as a fairly important character -- like, well, Rufus Scrimgeour.
Options:
(1) Gamp
Pros: It's the one surname on the Black Family Tree that isn't used in the actual books, and occurs far enough back in that tree to fit Cassius' family. Carries no canon baggage because of that.
Cons: Might well acquire some canon baggage in DH. Sounds silly. (Probably another of JKR's literary references, like Mrs Norris.)
(2) Higgs
Pros: Used twice in canon in suitable contexts -- Terence Higgs, a Slytherin not known to side with the DEs (their Seeker in PS/SS), and Bertie Higgs, who goes Nogtail-hunting with Rufus Scrimgeour and could therefore plausibly be a relative.
Cons: Not confirmed as a pure-blood family (there are several Slytherin half-bloods, after all). Has now been mentioned twice, which could be setting up a sting in the tail in DH. Not as elegant as Scrimgeour.
(3) Macmillan
Pros: The right type of family -- old pure-bloods, but known supporters of Dumbledore.
Cons: Ernie is a fairly prominent character, and it might be unwise to suggest a family link to him when nothing will ever be made of it.
(4) Random surname of very minor character
(not known to be DE sympathiser or generally unpleasant)
Pros: Little or no canon baggage. Choosing a Slytherin gives pretty good odds of getting a pure-blood.
Cons: Little or no canon support either, pure-blood status generally not known for most names. Choosing a Slytherin also gives pretty good odds of getting a DE sympathiser.
(5) Invented non-canon name
Pros: A slightly safer version of (4)
Cons: If the family were as numerous as NTLJ describes them, probably Harry should have met or heard of at least one of them by now.
Suggestions anyone? :D
Anyway, a question for you all.
If you happen to have read my "Tonks' First Case" story Nymphadora Tonks and the Liquor of Jacmel (and if not, naturally I can but encourage you to do so :D) you'll remember the Auror who works with Tonks on that case, one Cassius Scrimgeour. He was of course originally meant to be the OotP Scrimgeour, but after HBP was retconned to Rufus' great-uncle with the aid of a cunningly inserted get-out clause.
However, I'm intending to revise NTLJ and polish it up a bit, and among other things Rufus will have a more prominent role as Auror boss from the start (rather than getting the job at the end in a quick soft-shoe shuffle to match the story up with canon). That being the case, Cassius really needs to be less closely connected with him, although he still needs some sort of loose family connection to fulfil certain bits of plot -- I was thinking great-uncle by marriage would be far enough away?
But he'll definitely need a different surname to avoid putting new readers off. I'm afraid I can't do ticky boxes, but I thought I'd present the options and ask which one people thought would work best. :)
First, a quick refresher on Cassius' background: he's an elderly pure-blood, from a fairly posh and wealthy old family, but not one that took the "Black line" on things -- they regarded Muggle ancestry as "common", but had no philosophical objection to it. This, and canon, put certain constraints on what his surname can be -- it couldn't for example be Weasley, or Malfoy, or Black. Also, it would probably be unwise to make it the same name as a fairly important character -- like, well, Rufus Scrimgeour.
Options:
(1) Gamp
Pros: It's the one surname on the Black Family Tree that isn't used in the actual books, and occurs far enough back in that tree to fit Cassius' family. Carries no canon baggage because of that.
Cons: Might well acquire some canon baggage in DH. Sounds silly. (Probably another of JKR's literary references, like Mrs Norris.)
(2) Higgs
Pros: Used twice in canon in suitable contexts -- Terence Higgs, a Slytherin not known to side with the DEs (their Seeker in PS/SS), and Bertie Higgs, who goes Nogtail-hunting with Rufus Scrimgeour and could therefore plausibly be a relative.
Cons: Not confirmed as a pure-blood family (there are several Slytherin half-bloods, after all). Has now been mentioned twice, which could be setting up a sting in the tail in DH. Not as elegant as Scrimgeour.
(3) Macmillan
Pros: The right type of family -- old pure-bloods, but known supporters of Dumbledore.
Cons: Ernie is a fairly prominent character, and it might be unwise to suggest a family link to him when nothing will ever be made of it.
(4) Random surname of very minor character
(not known to be DE sympathiser or generally unpleasant)
Pros: Little or no canon baggage. Choosing a Slytherin gives pretty good odds of getting a pure-blood.
Cons: Little or no canon support either, pure-blood status generally not known for most names. Choosing a Slytherin also gives pretty good odds of getting a DE sympathiser.
(5) Invented non-canon name
Pros: A slightly safer version of (4)
Cons: If the family were as numerous as NTLJ describes them, probably Harry should have met or heard of at least one of them by now.
Suggestions anyone? :D
