Chapter Discussions - Chapter Two Questions, "A Peck of Owls"

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 72040

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kelley" <kelleythompson at g...> 
wrote:
> Discussion Questions and Topics: 
> 
> Side Note:
> 
> "Fantastic Beasts" tells us that Kneazles are "sufficiently unusual 
> in appearance to attract Muggle interest" but they "can interbreed 
> with cats". One of my pet speculations has been that Arabella is a 
> Kneazle-breeder -- breeding them with ordinary cats (though it's 
just 
> as likely that she's just a 'cat person'). So far it seems we've 
yet 
> to see a pure Kneazle in canon; JKR confirmed in an online chat 
that 
> Crookshanks is part-Kneazle. 
> 
> Q1: As Arabella's "cats" do not seem to attract interest by having 
an 
> unusual appearance, are they only part-Kneazle as well? Will Harry 
> now be able to identify Mrs. Figg's cats if he needs to? Any ideas 
> how the Kneazle's ability to "guide its owner safely home if they 
are 
> lost" will come into play in canon? 

Oh, yes!  <<Standing on the bow of the USS SAD DENIAL>> Crookshanks 
has a great affection for Sirius.  Perhaps he will be the one to 
wander behind the veil in search of a lost Animagus...

 
> Q2: What ways does the Ministry have of detecting underage magic? 
> House Elves or portraits? This doesn't seem likely, so what could 
it 
> be?

I've wondered if this was something put in place as a way to keep 
tabs on Harry because of his unique situation.  Certainly it seems 
that Fred and George do not hesitate to use magic, yet we never hear 
of any consequences from the MoM. Unless, since they live in a wizard 
house, there's technically no danger of them doing something to upset 
Muggles, whereas Harry or Hermione, who live with Muggles, might do 
something, accidently or on purpose, that would have to be cleaned up 
by the MoM.  As to how this magic use is detected, who knows?

And Harry receives a note telling him exactly when he used a 
Patronus.  This implies to me that some Ministry people are on duty 
somewhere, monitoring the use of magic and writing notes to the users 
of said magic. That seems to indicate that some MoM functions are 
24/7 and not 9-5.

> Q3: Mundungus is holding an invisibility cloak; as these are rare 
> and valuable, how does he happen to have one? Is it his own, is it 
> borrowed, or is it "borrowed"? Who else might we suspect has one?

Doesn't Moody say somewhere that he has a cloak, or an extra cloak? I 
was under the impression that the people doing the guarding took 
turns borrowing it.


> Q5: Petunia says that she overheard James telling Lily about 
> Dementors years ago -- do we believe this? What might the 
> circumstances have been that Petunia was able to overhear this; 
were 
> they at Lily and Petunia's home where they lived with their 
parents? 
> Why was James telling Lily about Dementors and Azkaban? Harry 
> assumes Petunia just happens to remember this scrap of info from 
> years ago, but how likely is it that Petunia only knows "scraps" of 
> information about the Wizarding World?

Did she say it was James?  Wasn't it "that awful boy?"

 
> Q6: When Harry explains about the Dementor's Kiss, Petunia utters 
> a "soft scream". Does she know someone who received the Dementor's 
> Kiss? Is this what happened to her and Lily's parents? If so, did 
> Petunia only know that they were killed due to Lily's connection to 
> the Wizarding World, but never knew how (or why)? Could the victims 
> of the Dementor's Kiss have been someone other than their parents? 
> Who?

I'm still of the opinion that Petunia is horrified by what the 
Dementors do, and the idea that that almost happened to Dudders is 
what makes her scream.  Plus, the events of this night have made the 
idea of denying the existence of the magical world even that much 
more difficult.


> Q7: Vernon says "Why we ever kept you in the first place I don't 
> know..." Is this just a figure of speech, or does he *really not 
> know*? Did Petunia just insist that Harry stay without telling 
> Vernon the real reasons why? 

Hmmm.  Maybe so... Petunia could have used the same excuse to 
Vernon.  "He's my sister's child.  We can't send him to an orphanage -
 People will talk!"

 
> Q9: When Vernon rails against the magical world, Petunia never 
> demurs; but while he rants and raves, she stays in the background. 
> The concern has always been that they want to live a normal life, 
> that they maintain a proper and respectable appearance among the 
> neighbors, among family, in Vernon's career; this is probably true 
> for Vernon, and maybe to some degree for Petunia as well. But does 
> Petunia have another reason for keeping their connection to the 
> Wizarding World a secret? Is her behavior all this time is just a 
> facade? Is she just playing a role?

I think maybe the signs are starting to point in that direction, 
although I'm not sure if Petunia is playing a role, or if she's 
simply not admitting to all she knows about the magic world. I really 
don't like Petunia. Having her change into some wonderful, 
understanding force for good in Harry's life will disappoint me to no 
end.