The House of Gaunt

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 151042

Peggy wrote:

This shouldn't be surprising, given all
> the obscure languages Dumbledore understands.  As for how he
> understands it, well, how does he know anything that he knows?  He
> seems to know a lot.  He even speaks Mermish (cf. GOF second task). 
> How does he know Mermish?


Potioncat:

I agree that DD speaks/understands Parseltongue. I think he even 
makes a comment about it himself in his own way. Sorry that I can't 
go searching for the canon, but I know DD says something to Harry 
along the line of, "you've learned that some great (good?) wizards 
can speak parseltongue." 

That seems to counter what we learned in CoS, that Parseltongue is a 
sign of a Dark Wizard. I recall several threads on this list 
wondering how or why that would be a trait of only Dark Wizards since 
it seems to be a natural skill, not a learned one. I also wonder if 
Harry really got the ability from Voldemort or if it is natural to 
him.