Kappa - is Snape or Lupin Correct?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 97400

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...>
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "khilari2000" <hannah at r...> wrote:
> > Lara:
> > > 
> > > Question # 4:
> > > I think Our Dear Severus was trying to find something wrong with 
> > > what Luin gave as information. He might just say that to say 
> > > something to the contrary of what Lupin said. It could be that 
> > > Kappas also "went to" Mongolia, ... but can be found everywhere 
> > > in many different countries. 
> > > 
> > 

> > ???????:
> > 
> > ... I am not sure whether Snape being wrong about kappas is 
> > irrelevent. I agree it is unlikely to have a bearing on the story,
> > but it bothers me just because it seems a strange mistake to make.
> > If he was trying to pick holes in Lupin's teaching, surely 
> > claiming that Lupin was wrong when  any student could verify ...
> 
> 
> Carol:
> It's possible that it's JKR who made the mistake. ... I really doubt
> that she intended for Snape to be wrong there. It's not in 
> character, and as you say, the students, especially Hermione, would 
> have caught it. "Excuse me, Professor Snape, but turn to page 394. .
> . ." 
> 
> Carol


bboy_mn:

Did you know that one of the most common rats in the USA is the
Norwegian rat? 

The Kappa is a Japanese Water Demon, and Mongolia is a lot closer to
Japan than England is. It's reasonable that Kappas exist in many parts
of the world, but they would seem more likely to NOW exist in secluded
areas like Mongolia rather than in heavily populated areas like Japan
or Britian.

Since we don't know what the student's paper said, it's difficult for
us to determine if Snape was actually wrong. Maybe the student paper
was referring to where in Europe you would most commonly find a Kappa,
and Snape was referring to where in the world at large. In that case,
both Snape and Lupin would be correct.

I think Snape was just looking for any excuse to discredit Lupin, but
I don't think in doing so he would fabricate totally false
information; perhaps misleading, but not totally false.

Don't know if that helps the discussion at all, but that's where I stand.

bboy_mn