Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch...

[pauraque_bk]

Because mctabby brought it up -- HP characters who have been known to cry, in no particular order.

1. Cho (OotP 21)
2. Hermione (PS/SS 10)
3. Lavender (PoA 8)
4. Peter (PoA 19)
5. Winky (GoF 9)
6. Hagrid (PoA 15)
7. Molly (OotP 9)
8. Dumbledore (OotP 37)
9. Trelawney (OotP 17)
10. Dobby (CoS 1)
11. Ginny (CoS 17)
12. Pansy (PoA 6)
13. Petunia (OotP 2)
14. Mundungus Fletcher (OotP 5)
15. Kreacher (OotP 6)
16. Harry (PoA 12)
17. Neville (PS/SS 9)
18. Quirrell (PS/SS 15)
19. Lily (PS/SS 12) [Of debatable relevance -- it's Harry's vision in the Mirror.]
20. Myrtle (CoS 8)
21. Filch (CoS 9)
22. Flitwick (CoS 16)
23. Hannah Abbott (OotP 27)
24. Bellatrix (OotP 36)
25. Parvati (OotP 26)
27. McGonagall (PoA 15)
26. Snape (OotP 26) [In flashback, as a small boy.]
27. Oliver Wood (PoA 15)

Please share any additions or corrections. ("Verge of tears" doesn't count.)

Of course, these examples range from full-on hysterical blubbering to a Dramatic Single Tear.

Draco is still not on the list.

Comments

[ptyx.livejournal.com]

Harry wipes a tear from his eye at the end of OotP. Does it count?

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Harry actually cries three times: once at the end of SS, once in PoA and once in OotP. All very subtle references, but he definitely sheds a few tears.

[pauraque]

Citations! I can't find any of these.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

All page numbers from the US hardback editions:

SS, page 299: "Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the windowsill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet."

PoA, page 240: "Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn't see."

OotP, p. 856: "The sun had set before (Harry) realised he was cold. He got up and returned to the castle, wiping his face on his sleeve as he went."

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm such a girl. Just reading these makes me sniffle.

[abigail89.livejournal.com]

Heck, I puddle up when Harry's sad, even in fanfic. I'm a t00b, I am.

[ptyx.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Thanks for reminding me.

[oursadhearts.livejournal.com]

He also cries in GOF, doesn't he? In the hospital wing, as Mrs Weasley hugs him, and just before Hermione catches Rita Skeeter in beetle-form?

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Well, he's definitely working himself up for a big cry at that point, yes -- his eyes are prickling and his throat is constricted, etc. -- but I don't think he actually starts crying. And then, of course, Hermione totally distracts him and he never quite gets around to it. I didn't mention it because Eo specifically said being on the verge of tears doesn't count.

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm about to point out the obvious. (Subtlety, thy name is not Rot.)

It seems boys -- and "real" men -- don't get to cry in HP. Going by your list, male tears have come from a house elf, a sentimental giant, a very, very old man, and a character whose tears are meant to signify his degradation. JKR isn't doing much to break with stereotypes, is she?

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

::points to ptyx's post::

Aha! A tear from Harry... but it's quickly wiped away, man-style.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

I always tended to grind my teeth every time Hermione seemed "on the verge" or actually burst into tears.

Teleogram (I actually saw that recently--a kind of fish!): Rat to Rot

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

I almost think Harry's tears count extra, though. Obviously it's a big part of his character that he's proud and has all kinds of boyish dislike of seeming weak or whatever--Lupin's gift is being terribly tactful about exactly that. But he's also the only character we see from the inside, so he's on a different order than the others. And these moments--doesn't he also cry at the end of GoF, or tear up at least? At any event there's that moment when Molly hugs him and he realizes he can never remember getting that kind of hug in his life. He doesn't want anyone to know, but honoring that side of his character, making it clear that he can cry and grieve and wants his mum and still be a real live boy, even a brave sports hero--it's like Rowling knows the conditions of possibility for representing the gooey creamy center of an adolescent boy, in a way that will sell and not seem too sweet to the audience.

Also, other characters can be cartoonish (e.g. when Hermione "wails."): not Harry.

Re: Teleogram (I actually saw that recently--a kind of fish!): Rat to Rot

[pauraque]

I do like the way it's handled with Harry. It would be unrealistic for him to *never* cry, given all he goes through, and equally unrealistic for a kid like him to cry openly or often.

Re: Teleogram (I actually saw that recently--a kind of fish!): Rat to Rot

[arwencordelia.livejournal.com]

I can see Harry having the idea that crying openly isn't a good thing reinforced by living with the Dusleys. Though years of living in that kind of environment could have made him resigned to his "fate", Harry is instead defiant with the Dursleys - and becomes more openly so with each book. He may have learnt very early to hide any effect the Dursleys' treatment had on him. Perhaps his way of fighting back was to not let them see that their unkind words bothered him in any way.

Re: Rot to Rat

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

I agree about Harry. Besides the usual boyish dislike for tears, he's had a rough life in which tears simply had no place. Know what I'd love to see, though? Weeping -- real, cathartic weeping -- at some point in the series' denouement. Not just for the ruins of his own family, but for, I dunno, the overarching sorrow of the human condition; the irrationality of war, bigotry and all the rest. The weeping of a young man who's seen too much, too soon, and still opts to embrace life in all its terrible glory.

Re: Rot to Rat

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't hold my breath. Harry's not really one for the big picture, is he; I think we'll have to leave that kind of weeping for Resonant and co.

[webbapettigrew.livejournal.com]

I don't know about that...it takes a big man to cry.

...and an even bigger man to laugh at that man.

[pauraque]

Dung Fletcher cries too, but he's a figure of fun.

[maidenjedi]

Are there "manly men" in HP? If we're not counting Dumbledore, I'm not sure there are.

[pauraque]

What's your definition of a "manly man"?

[maidenjedi]

I don't really have one, beyond the good ol' boy imagery, and then only in a slightly derogatory sense. But if the "real men" in HP haven't been doing the cryin', who has been, is my question. I mean, I think that Dumbledore's a pretty decent male role model, and his age is immaterial. But apparently it disqualifies him from being a "real man" in the comment above.

[exbentley]

"They should sack him straight away" said Pansy, who was in tears. [PoA 91, AUS version] - from when Buckbeak gets Draco.

[exbentley]

And yes, harrowed is a word. I'm sorry about the mp3s, I hate it when stuff like that happens. Ah, technology. I guess we have to take the good with the bad...

[pauraque]

I deleted them on purpose, I'm afraid. Needed the room.

[paradox01.livejournal.com]

McGonagall
"sobbing even harder than Wood" (PoA 15)

[pauraque]

I thought she might have one in there somewhere. She does the "verge of tears" thing a lot.

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

I guess that would include Oliver, too, then?

[pauraque]

Did I not put him? Silly me.

[paradox01.livejournal.com]

Yes. *headdesk* I cant believe I didnt see that. Cheers to observant readers! =D

[wolfie-thu.livejournal.com]

Snape apparently cries in the "Seen and Unforeseen" flashback, but as he's a wee sprog at the time, I'm not sure if that counts.

[pauraque]

Oh, good one. We can only hope this doesn't grant people license to write weepy HP/SS scenes...

More tears

[annecatherine.livejournal.com]

Neville (PS/SS 9 and 11) - "Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him." and "Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes."

Quirrell (PS/SS 15 and 17) - ""All right -- all right --" he heard Quirrell sob." and "But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing -- I thought Snape was threatening you...." [Harry]
For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.

Lily (PS/SS 12) - I don't know if this counts because it's Harry's vision from the Mirror of Erised. "Bright green -- exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time."

Moaning Myrtle (CoS 8) - "Don't lie to me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face, while Peeves chuckled happily over her shoulder."

Filch (CoS 9) - "Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs" and "Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry.

Flitwick (Cos 16) - "Professor Flitwick burst into tears."

Re: More tears

[annecatherine.livejournal.com]

Cedric Diggory's father (GoF 37) - "Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview."

Hannah Abbott (OotP 27) - "All the fifth-years were suffering from stress to some degree, but Hannah Abbott became the first to receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school now."

Bellatrix Lestrange (OotP 36) - "For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Harry could not see why: the hall was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped
under the witch statue, and the baby phoenix Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor."

Parvati (OotP 26) - "Lavender and Parvati were both crying quietly, their arms round each other."

Re: More tears

[pauraque]

Thank you very much!

[carylic.livejournal.com]

Surely Cho should have been (OotP 21-40) or something :D But wow, I'd forgotten a few of these ... Great list idea.

[pauraque]

Hee. Yes, she does let the waterworks flow quite a bit. She's also, as mctabby pointed out in her post, the only character who's been known to weep hysterically on her love interest's shoulder.

Your icon is hypnotic. What did you use to achieve the water effect?

[carylic.livejournal.com]

Ulead GIF Animator I think ... it's got this effect thingy somewhere called 'lake' (vague memory of its name) ...

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Molly also cries in GoF 36:

"Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed his bed-covers unnecessarily."

She seems like the teary type, sort of.

[pauraque]

Yeah. As far as characters who could be described as likely to weep openly, that'd probably be limited to Molly, Hagrid, Lavender, Cho, and a few others.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

Draco doesn't cry, but his eyes "water" in pain. Clearly, this is just a short step to weeping piteously on Harry's shoulder. Or something.

Also, it appears that JKR has a hate-on for criers.

[teawithvoldy.livejournal.com]

Harry has cried...well shed a tear or two but quickly controlled himself. I think it was in POA during Remus teaching harry to make a patronus and in OOTP when Harry was at the lake, morning Sirius's death.

[madameceleste70.livejournal.com]

Do you mind if I link to this in my new community, hp_canon_finder?

[pauraque]

Link away!

[fizzingpop.livejournal.com]

Oh, why'd you have to go and point out that DM hasn't cried yet (or isn't on the list yet, anyway)? Now we're gonna get another horde of those fics. You know--the one's where "DM has never cried before because his daddy beats him" pieces of shite.

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Though wee Draco does not cry in canon, it doesn't mean he never cries when we're not looking. Isn't there something about him that just screams 'temper tantrum'? >:)