Ghoulish musings,

[mellienel2 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 25587


> Ghoul
> M.O.M. Classification: XX
> 
> The ghoul, though ugly, is not a particularly dangerous creature.  
It 
> resembles a somewhat slimy, bucktoothed ogre, and generally resides 
> in attics or barns belonging to wizards, where it eats spiders and 
> moths.  It moans and occasionally throws objects around, but is 
> essentially simple-minded and will, at worst, growl alarmingly at 
> anyone who stumbles across it.  A Ghoul Task Force exists at the 
> Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to 
> remove ghouls from dwellings that have passed into Muggle hands, 
but 
> in wizarding families the ghoul often becomes a talking point or 
even 
> a family pet.  

The thing I wonder about the ghoul is not whether or not it's 
dangerous, but whether it knows things. How scabbers got to live with 
the Weasleys? Other things about the past? Who knows. It could very 
well be just a harmless scene-setter JKR threw in about the Burrow. 
But we know her scene-setters can often be violently important plot-
bits, dont we? :-)