Snape and Magic Dishwasher. Was: Re: DD and the rat:

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 117181


Carol earlier:
> <snipped by finwitch> 
> > I don't dispute your point that there's something odd about
Scabbers from the beginning. I just don't think Ron's (and the
rule-loving Percy's) having him as a pet is a violation of the
rules--though it may bend them a little.
> 
> Finwitch:
>  
> The list of pets are suggestions, not rules. The pets found on the
> list are indeed pets most likely to be found - with Owl and Cat on
the list, Brown or Patil didn't dare bring her rabbit along. (Some
> owls/cats EAT rabbits, you know).
> <snip>

Carol:
Exactly. As I said in the portion of the post that you snipped, "We're
never told that first-years can't bring rats (only brooms are
expressly forbidden, and McGonagall gets around that one). They
[rats]'re just not on the list of pets that first-years are likely to
bring." I also listed dogs as pets that were unsuitable but not
expressly forbidden and Lee Jordan's tarantula as a pet that was
permitted but not on the list.

IOW, rats are not forbidden, any more than tarantulas are. They're
just not on the list. I was conceding that having a rat *might* bend
the rules a little, but my main point was that the list is not
exclusive. Or, as you put it, the list is a suggestion, not a rule.
(The only rule, IMO, is the limit of one pet per student--note the
capitalized ORs. If a student brings a cat *and* an owl, one of them,
probably the owl, will be sent home.)

Carol