questions on FBAWTFT

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 96865

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "khilari2000" 
<hannah at r...> wrote:

> 
> 1 What does the House Elf Relocation Unit do? If it helps freed 
house  elfs find work why does Winky not appear to have 
recieved any help?<

Pippin:
Her former employer had sacked her. Without references, no 
one would take her on. I think the HERU mostly tries to find 
places for House Elves whose families have gone extinct.

Looking for work with Dobby might not have been such a brilliant  
idea. Freed or not, it seems House Elves still keep some sense 
of obligation toward their former household. I can't imagine any 
wizard who would trust the anti-Dark Arts Crouches wanting an 
ex-Malfoy Elf, and vice versa. --Except Dumbledore, who trusts 
where a lot of people wouldn't.

Khilari: 
> 2 Dementors do not appear in the book. Does this mean they 
are  classified as beings? Or are they spirits?
> 
> 3 Ditto for poltergiests.

Pippin:
I think that JKR decided that Newt omitted a category as 
irrelevant to his topic, because she wasn't ready to have us think 
about it yet. IMO, there are spirits (lower-case 's') who have no 
legal status, lacking either the sentience or the desire to 
participate in wizard government. There is no need to mention 
them in FBAWTFT - the spirit world has never needed Magic to 
conceal itself from mortal men. 

In this category I would put the ghost horses of CoS, the 
Dementors, Poltergeists, and the 'force' which inhabits the 
Locked Room at the MoM. In my view, the ghost horses are no 
more intelligent than live horses are.  Dementors are about as 
sentient as Trolls: capable of following orders but liable to get 
out of control. Poltergeists are intelligent and can converse with 
wizards, but are only interested in making mischief. Peeves, 
interestingly, is unhappy with his outsider status and wants to be  
considered the equal of a Hogwarts ghost.

As for the 'force,' or should that be The Force <g>, I believe Lily 
invoked it to save Harry from Voldemort and it protects him still. 
But we won't learn about that until Book 7, for sure.

Khilari: 
> 4 Why does Snape not know where kappas are found? In POA 
he says they  are more commonly found in Mongolia, but in 
FBAWTFT they are  described as japanese water demons.<

Pippin:
I think this is supposed to show that Snape's knowledge of 
DADA is deep but not broad. He knows a great deal about 
offensive and defensive magic, but not much about obscure 
demons in faraway lands. That doesn't keep him from 
considering himself an expert in the entire field, of course <g>.

Pippin