Dumbledore the parselmouth?

[kateydidnt2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 151182

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Jazmyn Concolor <jazmyn at ...> 
wrote:

> >  
> >
> On WHOSE word do we have for this?  Ron's?  Ron has been shown 
> repeatedly ignorant before of his own world, so why should we take 
his 
> world for it that its the mark of a dark wizard?  Hermione?  She 
gets 
> all her facts from books and as we have seen from Lockhart's books, 
many 
> things in WW books might be taken with a grain of salt.  If so, why 
> isn't Harry a dark wizard just for the ability to speak it?
> 
>

Well, Ernie also mentions this. In book two: "Hannah," said the stout 
boy solemnly, "he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of 
a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to 
snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

So while no it doesn't mean anyone with the ability is automatically 
a dark wizard, there are a number of very infamous Parselmouths. It 
is a stereotype--all societies have them. Just like Hagrid's 
pronouncement, "there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who 
wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one," when Hagrid knows this is 
just not true (at this point we know that Hagrid thought Sirius was a 
Death Eater and was not a Slytherin).

As for Dumbledore being a Parselmouth?
"Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the 
great Slytherin himself" -Tom
"His own very rare gift, Parseltongue" -Dumbledore
"It's not a very common gift."-Ron
I doubt it, but it does make me wonder (again) what witches and 
wizards do who are from the UK but do not go to Hogwarts do--given 
Tom's statement (taken at face value) none of the Gaunt family went 
to Hogwarts.