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

[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.