Inappropriate charms on a goat

[amanitamuscaria1]

No: HPFGUIDX 158719

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "abergoat" <adescour at ...> wrote:
 
> Abergoat writes:
> snipsnip He cannot be so blind
> as to not recognize Mundungus though.  Do you have an explanation 
for
> Aberforth not being part of the second Order? I don't buy the 'he 
is a
> spy' idea given that he has his picture taken with the first Order.

AmanitaMuscaria now - I can't remember if Aberforth is ever 
identified as the barman if the Hogs Head in the books - I know JKR 
confirmed he was, but does anyone in the books know he is? Otherwise, 
I would have thought he might be in disguise, polyjuiced, or 
otherwise not evidently Dumbledore's brother. The bar, as far as I 
remember, isn't a Death Eater haunt, but a place where underhand 
characters of all sorts congregate - and as, I believe it was Sirius 
says about Mundungus, it's useful to have people like that on your 
side, they hear things others wouldn't. So the Hogs Head would be an 
excellent listening post ...

 
> And why would the bar continue to be popular with Death Eaters once
> Aberforth was exposed as covorting with the Order? Even if no one 
knew
> he was Dumbledore's brother? (I idea I find highly unlikely given 
the
> media attention Dumbledore says Aberforth's persecution received. I
> imagine it received such attention BECAUSE Aberforth was exposed as
> Albus's brother.)
>  
> I'm sure there is a good answer, the question is whether we will 
find
> it before book seven comes out.
> 
> Finwitch wrote:
> > As for his goats - my fav. theory is that his inappropriate charm 
> > was to get bezoars out of their stomachs without harming the 
goats.
> > It was 'inappropriate' only because the charm was experimental 
and 
> > not controlled by the Ministry...
> 
> Abergoat writes:
> 
> Love this idea...do you think Snape learned about bezoars from
> Aberforth? This would explain why Hogwarts has a supply of bezoars,
> Slughorn says they are very rare and one shouldn't rely on having
> access to one.
> 
> Abergoat
>

AmanitaMuscaria again - Bezoars were identified in medieval alchemy, 
and probably before then, as cures for all poisons in Real World. So 
Flamel would have known of them, as would Dumbledore and, no doubt, 
Aberforth. I seem to remember reading something a very long time ago 
about how there was quite a trade in fake bezoars, and the skill was 
in either obtaining one yourself, so you knew it was from the stomach 
of a goat, or identifying a real one from fakes for sale ...
I do like the Mycroft - Sherlock comparisons very much, but I believe 
it was the Diogenes Club that Mycroft co-founded and frequented?
Cheers, AmanitaMuscaria