CHAPTER DISCUSSION: CH 2, "A Peck of Owls" (slightly modified repost)

[corinthum]

No: HPFGUIDX 82872


> 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? Mrs. Figg and Filch are the 
only 
> Squibs we've met (that we know of); does Mrs. Norris fall into the 
> part-Kneazle category, too? Or is she a transfigured person unable 
> to change back? (Was that why Filch was taking the Kwik Spell 
> course?)

I personally don't believe either Arabella's cats or Mrs. Norris to 
be part-kneazles.  Although FB doesn't go into detail on the physical 
appearance of half-kneazles, they must retain some of the physical 
characteristics of the kneazle.  Harry thinks to himself that 
Crookshanks is odd-looking or ugly or something along those lines 
when he first seems him in the shop, and Crookshanks' physical 
appearance is often mentioned in the folowing books.  Mrs. Norris and 
Arabella's cats, on the other hand, are never described in such 
terms.  As Harry is usually in a negative frame of mind when thinking 
of Mrs. Figg and her cats, one would expect him to make note of any 
abnormalities concerning the cats ("Harry always had to stay with 
crazy Mrs. Figg and look at pictures of her ugly cats", or similar).  
Also, Harry often mentions Mrs. Norris' eyes but little else about 
her physical appearance seems unusual.

Also, in meta-thinking terms, too many kneazles would ruin the plot, 
in my opinion.  Keep in mind that Crookshanks hasn't been revealed as 
a part-kneazle to Harry and Co., or to the majority of readers.  Why 
turn every cat Harry has ever met into something magical (kneazle or 
animagus)?  Sometimes a cat is just a cat.

That said, I don't think it's a coincidence that both Squibs we've 
been introduced to have cats as their constant companions, and seem 
to treat them as friends and confidants rather than pets.  Perhaps 
squibs have a special ability to communicate with cats, or animals in 
general?


> Q4: Petunia says that she overheard "that awful boy" telling Lily 
> about Dementors years ago -- James? Snape? Someone else? 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 this person 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?

I think that "that awful boy" referred to James, simply because she 
made the comment in a frantic attempt to explain, or rather excuse, 
her knowledge.  She may be much more calculating than I believe, but 
I don't think she had time to think "Now let's see, when did I first 
learn about Azkaban?  Ah yes, I overheard Wizard Doe speaking to 
Lily, but if I say Wizard Doe's name then Harry might suspect my true 
involvement in the wizarding world, and I couldn't possibly lie, but 
if I just refer to him as that awful boy they'll all assume I'm 
talking about James...."  More likely, she doesn't remember the exact 
time and place that she learned this, but panicked at the thought 
that her husband and son might think she had intentional knowledge of 
anything magic.  She quickly threw out a "Just overheard them 
speaking, entirely unintentional, really" and added a little insult 
to James just to be safe.  (And by safe, I mean oh-please-don't-think-
I-actually-care-about-anything-magic-related, not oh-please-don't-
suspect-my-deep-cover-spying-for-the-wizarding-world-facade.)  

However, I don't think she's telling the truth about simply 
overhearing James and Lily.  Not the whole truth, anyway.  As you 
commented in another question, Petunia is constantly being described 
as nosy.  Do you really think she would just sit back and ignore Lily 
when she was home from Hogwarts?  Petunia's comments throughout the 
books make me think she constantly tried to convince her parents to 
stop Lily's witch-training and to sever ties with the wizarding 
world.  My guess is she spent every holiday spying on Lily in an 
attempt to find evidence to support her view, much like she does to 
her neighbors now.  In the process, she may have picked up a 
considerable bit of knowledge about wizarding culture, probably more 
than she herself realizes.  I think she seemed just as genuinely 
surprised as the rest of the Dursleys at her own knowledge of 
Azkaban.  And I think this unintentional knowledge may end up being 
very important in the future.

-Corinth