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On the old ‘extra stuff’ section of JK Rowling’s website, there was a bit about Mafalda (Prewett?) who was, in an earlier draft of Goblet of Fire, meant to be this accountant1 cousin’s daughter (now gone from the website, but still findable on the Wayback Machine; link taken from this answerthis answer). That section mentions in a somewhat offhand way that,

On the old ‘extra stuff’ section of JK Rowling’s website, there was a bit about Mafalda (Prewett?) who was, in an earlier draft of Goblet of Fire, meant to be this accountant1 cousin’s daughter (now gone from the website, but still findable on the Wayback Machine; link taken from this answer). That section mentions in a somewhat offhand way that,

On the old ‘extra stuff’ section of JK Rowling’s website, there was a bit about Mafalda (Prewett?) who was, in an earlier draft of Goblet of Fire, meant to be this accountant1 cousin’s daughter (now gone from the website, but still findable on the Wayback Machine; link taken from this answer). That section mentions in a somewhat offhand way that,

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Janus Bahs Jacquet
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But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being an accountant3a Squib/accountant be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 If Ron had said something like, “Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we don’t see him much, what with him living in the Muggle world and all”, that would have been much more understandable to me, and wouldn’t have implied that accountant cousin is persona non grata in the Weasley household.

3 And possibly a Squib, though we don’t know if perhaps he was just disillusioned with the magic world and preferred living in the Muggle world for his own reasons.

But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being an accountant3 be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 If Ron had said something like, “Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we don’t see him much, what with him living in the Muggle world and all”, that would have been much more understandable to me, and wouldn’t have implied that accountant cousin is persona non grata in the Weasley household.

3 And possibly a Squib, though we don’t know if perhaps he was just disillusioned with the magic world and preferred living in the Muggle world for his own reasons.

But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being a Squib/accountant be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 If Ron had said something like, “Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we don’t see him much, what with him living in the Muggle world and all”, that would have been much more understandable to me, and wouldn’t have implied that accountant cousin is persona non grata in the Weasley household.

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Janus Bahs Jacquet
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As we all know, this plot thread never came to be, so we never really hear more about the accountant cousin, and his daughter doesn’t exist at all. But even if it had not been binned, it doesn’twouldn’t quite explainhave explained Ron’s statement. Molly’s aunt Muriel had also been very rude to the Weasleys in the past, and most likely continued to be so until her dying day, but she is always present as a part of the Weasley family. She is, in fact, talked about rather a lot perhaps exactly because she’s so unpopular, particularly with the children.

Of course, a second cousin is not as close a relation as an aunt—but that’s no reason to actively “never talk about him” the way Ron implies is the case.2 Ron’s statement rather implies that the cousin’s job as an accountant is the reason he’s not talked about. Accountant cousin’s Wiki article interprets this as fact and states that his profession embarrassed the entire Weasley family.

But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being an accountant23 be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 If Ron had said something like, “Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we don’t see him much, what with him living in the Muggle world and all”, that would have been much more understandable to me, and wouldn’t have implied that accountant cousin is persona non grata in the Weasley household.

3 And possibly a Squib, though we don’t know if perhaps he was just disillusioned with the magic world and preferred living in the Muggle world for his own reasons.

As we all know, this plot thread never came to be, so we never really hear more about the accountant cousin, and his daughter doesn’t exist at all. But even if it had not been binned, it doesn’t quite explain Ron’s statement. Molly’s aunt Muriel had also been very rude to the Weasleys in the past, and most likely continued to be so until her dying day, but she is always present as a part of the Weasley family. She is, in fact, talked about rather a lot perhaps exactly because she’s so unpopular, particularly with the children.

Of course, a second cousin is not as close a relation as an aunt—but that’s no reason to actively “never talk about him” the way Ron implies is the case. Ron’s statement rather implies that the cousin’s job as an accountant is the reason he’s not talked about. Accountant cousin’s Wiki article interprets this as fact and states that his profession embarrassed the entire Weasley family.

But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being an accountant2 be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 And possibly a Squib, though we don’t know if perhaps he was just disillusioned with the magic world and preferred living in the Muggle world for his own reasons.

As we all know, this plot thread never came to be, so we never really hear more about the accountant cousin, and his daughter doesn’t exist at all. But even if it had not been binned, it wouldn’t quite have explained Ron’s statement. Molly’s aunt Muriel had also been very rude to the Weasleys in the past, and most likely continued to be so until her dying day, but she is always present as a part of the Weasley family. She is, in fact, talked about rather a lot perhaps exactly because she’s so unpopular, particularly with the children.

Of course, a second cousin is not as close a relation as an aunt—but that’s no reason to actively “never talk about him” the way Ron implies is the case.2 Ron’s statement rather implies that the cousin’s job as an accountant is the reason he’s not talked about. Accountant cousin’s Wiki article interprets this as fact and states that his profession embarrassed the entire Weasley family.

But considering the Weasley family’s sense of blood-is-thicker-than-water and lack of blood-supremacy, combined with Arthur’s obsession with everything Muggle, why would being an accountant3 be a reason not to be talked about in the Weasley family?

2 If Ron had said something like, “Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we don’t see him much, what with him living in the Muggle world and all”, that would have been much more understandable to me, and wouldn’t have implied that accountant cousin is persona non grata in the Weasley household.

3 And possibly a Squib, though we don’t know if perhaps he was just disillusioned with the magic world and preferred living in the Muggle world for his own reasons.

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