Mrs. Figg, Crookshanks

[Kelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 15491

Hi all--

I've been trying for days to get caught up, and can't seem to get any 
closer than three digests behind.  So, if I'm repeating someone 
else's thoughts or post, my apologies.

Back in the middle of September 2000, someone made a cross-post from 
hpslash.  This post contained info that an HP fan learned of from JKR 
at the Edinburgh Book Festival.  I don't know when the festival 
occurred, but I'm speculating that it happened before GoF came out, 
because apparently the question of 'is Mrs. Figg Arabella Figg?' 
hadn't come about yet.  JKR stated that Mrs. Figg IS a squib.  (Other 
info in that post was that Godric's Hollow will be important, the 
fact that Harry has Lily's eyes will be important, and that JKR 
warned to 'keep an eye on Snape'.  None of that seems very revelatory 
so many months later though, does it?)  In one of the online chats 
from October, JKR was asked what the deal with all the cats was, and 
this person listed Crookshanks, all Mrs. Figg's cats, Mrs. Norris, 
and so on.  JKR said that they would also figure importantly (or at 
least that there was something to the 'all the cats' thought), but 
that she couldn't really say anything about it.  Given that now we 
have learned of Kneazles, my first thought was of course, that 
Crookshanks is at least part Kneazle.  My next thought when the Mrs. 
Figg thread came up was that Crooks may perhaps be from a litter of 
one of Mrs. F's cats.  Maybe all her cats are Kneazle or part.  Maybe 
she breeds them.  My FB is loaned out, so I can't refer back to the 
description, but if Mrs. F is there to keep an eye on Harry, which is 
what I think, then an army of Kneazle-cats with their ability to 
spot 'unsavoury characters' seems quite helpful.  And, regarding Mrs. 
Figg, I can't see that there's any way that Vernon might know she's 
part of the magical community.  As desperate as he is in SS to keep 
Harry from learning the truth about everything, there's no way that 
he would leave Harry in the care of 'one of them' knowingly.  Lastly, 
as a side note about the future female DADA prof, JKR just confirmed 
that there would be one, not any word on what book she'd be in...

Kelley