Scabbers/Dumbledore/Forbidden Forest/Hermione's Age

[datalaur]

No: HPFGUIDX 39739

Most of the names seem to have some meaning... why was "Scabbers" 
chosen for Peter's rat form?

While I don't think Dumbledore is infallible, I can't believe that in 
2+ years, he never twigged to James, Sirius and Peter's becoming 
Animagi.  

Even given that Harry is allowed to do risky things, isn't it pretty 
odd about that night detention in HPSS?  I mean, they *know* unicorns 
are being killed and wouldn't they guess the blood's being drunk due 
to some portion of it being missing?  What with the Stone at 
Hogwarts... Isn't it very odd that Hagrid splits them up, sending off 
Harry and Malfoy?  Harry was in real danger of being killed... or was 
he?  (Surely Malfoy was in no danger from his father's Master.)  Was 
the centaur's appearance fortuitous, or was he "on guard"?  This 
whole scene is very confusing because we are to believe in either 
deliberate risk-taking by Dumbledore (to what end?) or that no one 
could figure out why someone would be killing unicorns.  Even so the 
Forest is very dangerous... why make 2 first years to go off on their 
own, in the dark, without even Hagrid's protection?  Suppose they had 
run into Aragog or something similar?  

What if any is the significance of Voldemort's spirit passing thru 
Harry and knocking him out, in HPSS?  Or was that just the movie?  
Sorry don't have a book handy to check.

There was some discussion about the kids' age the other day.  I 
couldn't read it all, but doesn't Hermione have to be significantly 
older than Harry, since he got his Hogwarts letter on his 11th 
birthday, which was not too long before he actually left for school?  
For Hermione to know all she knew, didn't she have to have a lot more 
time to 1) deal with the news that she was a witch and that there was 
a school and 2) do all that studying / learn to do spells?  To me, 
assuming she also got her letter on her 11th birthday, she had to be 
at least 6 months older than Harry, if not nearly a year, to learn 
all that stuff.  (I thought students aren't allowed to do magic 
outside Hogwarts... how did Hermione the Muggleborn learn to do 
spells - like the repair of Harry's glasses, on the train - before 
she came to Hogwarts?  

well that's enough questions for right now.  I would like to hear 
your ideas about these areas.

"datalaur"