Owls

[Zarleycat at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19579

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Vicky Ra" <andromache815 at h...> wrote:

>   On a totally unrelated topic, I wonder how owls know where to 
deliver letters. I don't recall people specifically telling them who 
to give letters to. Also, I've noticed animals can understand human 
speech in the Potter world. Buckbeak understood Malfoy when he called 
him a brute, and Hedwig is very expressive of her rage toward Harry 
when she comes back from her long journey delivering Sirius's letter, 
only to find him ungrateful. Any thoughts?
> 
>   Vicky
> 
The best answer I can come up with is that it's magic.  After all, 
who (or what) would train the owls that one can use (rent?) in the 
Post Office to deliver mail?  How would the owls, or the tropical 
birds Sirius uses to send Harry mail in GoF, know where to go if 
they've never been there before?  And, at the end of PoA, when Harry 
reads Sirius' letter to him on the train, it says something to the 
effect of "If you need me, send a note.  Your owl will find me."  How 
would Hedwig have any idea of where to find someone she has never 
looked for before who is now out of the country?  

It has also seemed to me that some people are more attuned to the non-
human speech of animals.  Hagrid certainly seems to have an 
understanding of all sorts of creatures, although I'm not sure that 
it is of a communicative nature.  He may simply be one of those 
people who is good with animals.   Sirius seems to have more of a 
communicative bond with Crookshanks than anyone else does, including 
Hermione.  Can this be explained by the fact he's an Animagus, or is 
there some other power being exhibited here?  Pettigrew is also an 
Animagus, but I don't believe we've seen him in communication with 
animals.  

Marianne, who'd love to be able to enlist the aid of her lazy cats to 
perform certain tasks around the house