half-human Ferret (was: Sirius reservations

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 80105

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mochajava13" wrote in 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/79860 : 

<< Something's up with Crookshanks; very bizzare. (My pet theory 
about Crookshanks is that he's either an animagus related to 
Mundungus or some kind of half-human offspring. >>

My pet theory of Crookshanks was that he was McGonagall's feline 
offspring, until JKR revealed in an interview that he's half Kneazle. 
Kneazles are explained in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,
but right now it's easier to reference the Lexicon: 
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/bestiary_h-m.html#Kneazle : "Cat-like 
creature, very intelligent. The Kneazle can detect unsavory or 
suspicious persons very well and will react badly to them. However, 
if it takes a liking to a Witch or Wizard, it makes an excellent pet 
(FB). The Kneazle has spotted fur, large ears, and a lion-like tail." 

<< Can a human that's been transfigured into an animal reproduce with 
that animal? Like ferret-Malfoy, could he have mated with a female 
ferret while a ferret? Kind of gross, but they would be an animal at 
the time.) >>

A human transfigured into an animal is different from the Animagus 
transformation, not merely because Animagic is wandless, but also 
because Animagic lets you keep your mind (as well as your clothes and 
the things in your pockets). Keeping his mind: The introduction to 
Quidditch Through the Ages (sorry, this is from memory) said that 
before broomsticks, the only way a wizard could fly was either if he 
was an Animagus with a winged animal form, but they are very rare, or 
if he had been transfigured into a flying creature such as a bat, but 
then having only a 'bat's brain', he wouldn't remember why he had 
wanted to fly in the first place. (Keeping her clothes: we see 
McGonagall do her Animagus transformation in front of class, and if 
her clothes had fallen off when she turned into a cat and she had 
been naked when she turned back into a human, someone would have said 
something.) So I assume that a  human transfigured into an animal 
could reproduce with natural animals of that species, but if the 
transfigured pregnant female animal was cured of being transfigured, 
resumed his or her human form, he or she would no longer be pregnant.

But I have elaborate theories about Animagic procreation ... to 
summarize, I believe that a female Animagus can transform throughout 
her pregnancy and her fetus safely transforms with her. There is only 
one or occasionally two fetuses, even if she an animal that usually 
bears large litters. The time of pregnancy adjusts itself to the form 
she is in, so the cat Animagus can cut her pregnancy down from nine 
months to forty days by spending it all in cat form. However, whether 
her offspring is born human or animal doesn't depend on what form she 
was in at conception, but on what form she was in when she went into 
labor (for the sake of there being a risk of having an animal baby, 
she can't transform while in labor). The animal offspring of an 
female Animagus is an unusually intelligent animal. I haven't figured 
out how this works for a witch who turns into something other than a 
mammal or bird, something that doesn't have a pregnancy, maybe not 
even internal fertilization.