Dementors -- talking?

[maidne at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26426

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., blpurdom at y... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., caliburncy at y... wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Mindy C.L." <mindyatime at j...> wrote:
> > > I am just reading my brand spankin' new copy of the POA in 
> > > paperback and I was struck by something in one of the earlier 
> > > chapters -- it was something to the effect that the Azkaban 
> > > guards told the MOM officials that Sirius Black was muttering 
in 
> > > his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts, He's at Hogwarts." I thought that 
> > > the dementors can't talk!!! Can they? Or perhaps only to the 
MOM?
> > 
> > Yep, noticed that too when I first read the book and thought it 
was 
> > too bad: there's something so much more chilling about silent 
> > villains.  But I suppose it's almost as chilling that they can 
> > talk, but simply choose not to.  Anyway, I think we have to 
assume 
> > from this that they can, unless there are other Azkaban guards 
that 
> > are not Dementors--for which there is basically no evidence that 
> > I'm aware of.
> 
> It doesn't have to be verbal communication.  Someone at the 
Ministry 
> may be able to communicate telepathically with the dementors, or 
the 
> dementors may have sent a written communication via owl to the 
MoM.  
> I'm not ruling out talking, but there's more ways to communicate 
than 
> verbally.  If there were non-dementors for guards they would also 
> have to be non-human (perhaps some breed of troll) in order to be 
> immune from the dementors.
> 
> --Barb

This discussion raises a few questions in my mind.  1)  Why would the 
dementors pay any attention to what the prisoners mutter in their 
sleep?  2)  Are (were) the dementors aware of Harry at that point, 
and again, why would they care what a prisoner was thinking about 
him?  3)  If they were not specifically aware of Harry, why would 
they take notice of the "He's at Hogwarts" line?  4)  Who would want 
to communicate telepathically with a dementor?

Susan