Scandalacious Intentions

As a young eight-year-old when First reading the books I always wanted to be a writer.

And I really put her on a pedestal of this empowered, single mom that was scribbling Harry Potter notes on the corner of a napkin.

That wrote letters back-and-forth with the actress who played Luna Lovegood, before she was even in the movies. Who empathize with her being a child of divorce.

I truly looked up to her so much.

And yes, I think her being an upper class white woman in England, I now recognize some of the problematic racial tropes in her books (which I obviously did didn’t recognize at the time because I was a kid)

But I really am grieving becoming an adult and trying to reconcile who she was to me in my childhood, with a deeply hateful person now.

That idea just doesn't hold up to scrutiny, and I'm pulling out my soap box and going on a rant.

Tonks absolutely brings the jokes in The Advanced Guard chapter. She's not afraid to make fun of herself ('did you hear me break that plate') or ask really stupid questions ('I suppose it varies, just like with wizards?'), or make fun of Mad-Eye ('you do know that's disgusting don't you?').

But, beyond 'The Woes Of Mrs Weasley' ('my head of house said I lacked the necessary qualities [...]like the ability to behave myself'), she doesn't crack jokes at the quite same rate ever again.

She's still funny, the narrative hasn't actually forgotte, it's brought up all the time ('at least Tonks is a laugh'). But it's not the key thing that she is in every single instance.

There's so much more to her.

By Christmas in Ootp, we see she's got a bit of a bite: casually threatening Stan Shunpike with violence ('say his name again and I will curse you into oblivion' muttered Tonks, menacingly') and being serious and abrupt getting the kids to school ('And [Tonks] shoved Harry forward toward the steps').

She's "bossy", in charge, and in control there and in the Advanced Guard ('“We’re not going through clouds!” shouted Tonks angrily.'). From the very beginning.

There's a vindictive, vengeful streak that rears it's head in DH ('I just wish I got her, I owe Bellatrix') whilst being very casual about violence ('we definitely injured Rodolphus').

And that stems from her almost irrational guilt complex that, whilst not the most pressing issue, is part of her struggle throughout HBP ('She thinks it was her fault [Sirius] died').

She's a solider and a fighter. The only other member of the Order who matches Tonks being in every key fight, is Remus. She's the protege of the most successful auror in the country, is known to be smart ('And she’s more intelligent,'), and commits treason the first time the opportunity comes up.

I'm not sure I'd really classify Tonks as always cheerful or always goofy in just The Advanced Guard when she is definitely 'on' and, we can assume, lightening the mood ('stop being so cheerful Mad-Eye, or he'll think we're not taking this seriously') never mind all. of. the. time.

She's just funny.

It's a one-dimensional pigeon hole that you don't usually see other funny characters (like Remus or Sirius) getting stuck in at quite the same rate that Tonks seems to.

When I say that Tonks' humour in these introductory passages is performative, I don't mean that she's not genuinely funny - because I think she must be.

Firstly, there is a lot going on for Tonks behind the scenes and, while I never want to be someone reducing female characters to their relationships with the men around them, I don't think we can discount Lupin's attraction. Not just sexually, but the draw that reels him in as a friend and colleague first. And I'm pretty sure a massive aspect of that is keeping up. Which we know she can do because...

She's clever. Cleverness does not always equal wit, I grant you, but it certainly helps. We are told that Tonks is the youngest recruit to the auror office in some time. She tells us a little about the exams she has had to pass to hold the title. Tonks might lack the ability to behave herself, but she is not lacking in conscientiousness and grit. She's a smart cookie who, while the evidence may not be in the text for me, I just know can banter with the best of them.

She's actually quite dry. This one is a reach, but I firmly believe her brief appearance as an elderly hag is a direct reference to one of Lupin's "too old" protestations. This joke has a bite to it that is present in none of her interactions with Harry.

Because she's also emotionally intelligent. Tonks can read a room. And this is where I come back to my essay on performative humour. Tonks' jokes when she is part of the Advance Guard are made to put Harry at ease. Some are at her expense because there is simply no better way to make a friend of someone in those circumstances. One exists solely to humanise Mad-Eye because she might not know what it is to be trapped in a room with a murderer wearing her mentor's skin, but I'll bet the farm that she knows what it is to be intimidated by Mad-Eye and his brilliance and expectations.

Of course, we get more of this type of humour when Harry is disappointed by his exclusion from the prefect-hood. (And he definitely is - absolutely no arguments because I don't remember the exact quote, but he has such a horrid thought about Ron that he's sickened himself.) And after this, the narrative does not require her humanising jokes. Harry develops a self-confidence that Tonks does not have to provide through deprecating humour.

Tonks' outward funniness exists to serve a purpose for her and it is largely selfless. She can laugh at herself because she respects herself. Her own humour, the brief glimpse I think we see of it behind largely closed doors, is much more subtle.