Serpents and Parseltongue

[Judy]

No: HPFGUIDX 46890

Grey Wolf said, in regards to whether animals can be evil:
>>>>I have from time to time heard of animals which 
will attack for "the pure pleasure of the hunt" 
(for example, velocirraptors in Jurasic 
Park), but I have never actually seen such
animal in real life, nor (I think) have ever 
heard of such species.<<<<


My cats (and my ankles) would disagree.  
However, I don't see my cats as evil when 
they attack my feet; I feel they are not able to
understand that they might hurt me. 
So, I basically agree with Grey Wolf's idea 
that animals can't be evil.  But, does JKR think this? 
This bring us to Grey Wolf's next comment: 
>>>> Yes, the way the series are going, I think JKR has somewhere in
her list to demeonstrate that snakes are not bad<<<

But, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them repeatedly connects
snakes with Dark Wizards.  I think JKR *is* setting up some animals to
be strongly good (phoenixes) while others are strongly evil (snakes.)
 This helps to establish the intrinsic goodness of Dumbledore (and
perhaps Gryffindor house) while showing the intrinsic evil of
Voldemort and Slytherin (both the wizard and the House.) It may not be
fair to paint snakes as evil, but it is strongly implied in the
books.  


Julie asked:
> And, will we see wizards who can speak other animal languages, for 
> good and/or evil?

Well, it seems that animagi, while they are in animal form, can
communicate with their own kind of animal, and perhaps with other
kinds.  Peter got information on Voldemort's location from other rats,
in addition to Sirius communicating with Crookshanks.  Just how much
of a conversation one can have with a particular animal will depend on
the animal's own intelligence level, of course. 

AnimalLover!Judy