On Umbridge and the centaurs (tw: rape)
People are arguing about this again, so lemme whip out the book.
First of all, let me just say that historically, every single myth about centaurs, apart from myths about Chiron (a scholar who is basically “the good one”, and who is echoed in HP in the character Firenze), is about them raping women. They were born from Ixion’s attempt to kidnap and rape the goddess Hera — they are, on some level, an elemental manifestation of rape. That is their mythic function. JKR is well-versed in classical mythology and infused a great deal of it into this series.
Now, the centaurs carry Umbridge off into the forest. Then, in the book’s denouement, we get this passage (on page 849 of the standard American hardcover):
Since she had returned to the castle she had not, as far as any of them knew, uttered a single word. Nobody really knew what was wrong with her either. Her usually neat mousy hair was very untidy and there were bits of twig and leaf in it, but otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed.
“Madam Pomfrey says she’s just in shock,” whispered Hermione.
“Sulking, more like,” said Ginny.
“Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this,” said Ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking wildly around.
“Anything wrong, Professor?” called Madam Pomfrey, poking her head around her office door.
“No… no…” said Umbridge, sinking back into her pillows, “no, I must have been dreaming…”
Hermione and Ginny muffled their laughter in the bedclothes.
You can read this passage however you want, but I think the subtext is pretty clear? Obviously the kids don’t get it, but I think anyone who’s ever read a centaur myth or knows about centaur context can pick up what JKR is putting down here.
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I first read about this in, of all places, Cracked.com. Kind of disturbing that Hermione is laughing, because wouldn’t she of all people know the full implications?
