Mandatory mandrakes (Was: Albus Dumbledore: the myth and the man)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97474

> Annemehr wrote:
> Perhaps a simple explanation is that mandrakes are indeed hard (and
> expensive) to get, so that Professor Sprout only manages to do so,
> say, once every five years or so.  Thus, when she does have mandrakes,
> she teaches them to every year's students who haven't already seen
> them.  The only problem with this theory is that, as far as I know,
> mandrake plants are not actually that rare.  On the other hand,
> *magical* mandrakes may indeed be rarer than mundane ones, similar to
> wand trees and normal trees.

Carol:
Which leads me to wonder, are there magical owls and regular owls, or
are all owls magical? Could the owls in the Forbidden Forest be
trained by a wizard to be post owls, or are they the animal equivalent
of Muggles, who can't understand human speech, much less find a
recipient without an address? 

And what about cats? Are Mrs. Norris and Mr. Tibbles magical cats
(with or without a bit of Kneazle in them like Crookshanks) or just
ordinary housecats who have an uncanny bond with their Squib owners
(and, in Filch's case, a physical resemblance as well)?

I'm thinking, too, of the obviously magical, tail-skipping black rats
in the pet shop in Diagon Alley in PoA, which were said to have a
longer lifespan than common street rats like Scabbers appeared to be.
Admittedly Peter was able to talk with ordinary rats in his animagus
form--in fact, their stories of a shadow that possessed small animals
led him to Voldemort--so they're pretty intelligent for nonmagical
animals, but I still think that with rats, at least, some are magical
and some aren't. I'm less sure about owls and cats. And for that
matter, toads, the third animal on the approved pet list for first-years.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

Carol