Dumbledore knowing Parseltongue (was: Various theories and a question)

[oiboyz]

No: HPFGUIDX 136367

EstherS said:

> And a question:
> 'You understand him, I'm sure Harry?' said Dumbledore quietly (HBP 
UK HB
> p191 The House of Gaunt) so Harry realises they are speaking 
Parseltongue
> but does DD understand? If not who translated for him? If yes then 
how,
> when, why and what is his connection with Slytherin?

Now oiboyz:

It's possible that Dumbledore doesn't understand; nothing he says 
afterwards proves that he knew what was being said in Parseltongue.  
But I'm inclined to believe that he did know what was being said, and 
didn't need it translated for him.

You don't need a connection with Slytherin to know Parseltongue; it's 
a rare gift but no one ever said that *only* Slytherin and his 
descendants had it.  So Dumbledore could have been born with the gift 
himself, but I doubt that.

I think he understands what's being said for the same reason he can 
see Harry under the Invisibility Cloak-- he's an incredibly powerful 
wizard.  He might be using Legilimency to read the thoughts of the 
Parselmouths and get the gist of what they're saying.  Or maybe he's 
got some magic trick to understand any language.  Or maybe he studied 
Parseltongue and learned it the way people normally learn a second 
language.  Come to think of it, doesn't GoF mention something about 
Dumbledore speaking a lot of languages?  He speaks Mermish, at any 
rate.

  -oiboyz