Dragons....

[blaise_42]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C7163
From: blaise_42
Subject: Re: Dragons....
Reply To: [Yahoo! #7142] Re: Dragons....
Date: 8/18/00 6:53 am  (ET)

<<I idly wondered about this, too. I do think that much has been
done to establish snakes as semi-sentient (i.e. Nagini). I wonder if
the theoretical link between snakes and dragons will ever be touched
upon. Can dragons understand Parseltongue?>>

I've wondered about this many times, but have never been able to work
it out. Certainly snakes and dragons are connected in general mythology
(the word is even the same in some languages e.g. ancient Greek).

As Parseltongue is rare and is looked on as evil, it wouldn't surprise
me that even if dragons could speak it, the fact would not be known to
many. But Harry has encountered dragons several times now, and he's
never tried to speak in Parseltongue to them, and it hasn't happened
spontaneously the way it does when he's speaking to a snake.

So I'd say that dragons probably can't speak it, or else JKR is saving
up this fact to spring it on us at a later date!

~Blaise.