[HPforGrownups] Re: Dumbledore the parselmouth?

[Kim]

No: HPFGUIDX 151292


Finwitch:

It hardly matters if Dumbledore could (There's no record if he could)
but I don't think so. Dumbledore always has been observant, however.
You know, the way he seemed to just know things... (Read some Sherlock
Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to know how power of
observance plays a part...)

Dumbledore can certainly observe that whisper, even if the person
whose memory it is merely heard it, and deduce that it was
parseltongue from other things such as the clearly stated status of
being descendants of Salazar Slytherin.

Kim (Me):  This post makes me think about the basilisk slinking through the 
pipes of the castle.  I've always wondered why the other students and 
teachers couldn't even hear the snake hiss, though Harry wasn't always alone 
when he heard it.   While Harry could hear it plainly enough to understand 
the words he was saying.  Now I also wonder why a very observant Dumbledore 
didn't hear the snake hiss and understand the language, as well.  He's all 
through the castle all the time.  Or maybe it's just that the trio, and 
especially Harry, are very "lucky" and always in the right place at the 
right time.  Or it's just an oversight by the author who's trying to get a 
gazillion elements of a long and wonderful story all packed into 7 books and 
sometimes has to just ask us to overlook some inconsistencies.
Kim