Crookshanks

[Simon]

No: HPFGUIDX 10180

Steve wrote: "There are some who think that Crookshanks is a very
intelligent cat, and that may be (Sirius refers to him as the "most
intelligent of his kind he's ever seen," but there's no way of knowing if he
means that Crookshanks' "kind" is feline.) I'm not sure...I like the idea
that he's something else entirely and we'll all find out one of these days,
when Jo decides to tell us."

Just to disagree here, Sirius refers to Crookshanks as being a cat twice in
PoA.

The following two quotes are from PoA Ch 19:
"This cat isn't mad. He's [Crookshanks] the most intelligent of his kind
I've ever met."
"This cat - Crookshanks, did you call him?"

Both quotes clearly use the word cat to describe Crookshanks.

If he is an animagi then he is almost definitely an illegal one. Hermione
looks up the list of 20th century animagi for her transfiguration homework
in 3rd year and would have made some comment about finding Crookshanks on
the list. There is the possibility of her having chosen to keep it secret if
she knew but I reckon she would have revealed all in the Shrieking Shack.

All magical animals seem to have extended powers over their muggle
counterparts (c.f. the rats in the pet shop in PoA). So any special powers
belonging to Crookshanks are almost definitely the result of being a magical
cat rather than being something else.



Simon (slipping off before any of the other FAQ'ers compare the above to the
FAQ he has written on the Animal Characters FAQ - coming your way soon!)