The uses of beast fable, was Hagrid the animal abuser

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 166204

Carol:

> It seems clear to me that some animals, e.g. Hedwig 
> and the other post owls, including even Pigwidgeon, 
> are magical, and others, such as Lavender's bunny, 
> Binky, are not. Mrs. Figg's part-Kneazle cats are 
> magical, as is Crookshanks (and Mrs. Norris, apparently), 
> but it's not clear whether all cats are magical. The 
> same, IMO, applies to snakes. It appears that Nagini's 
> venom has magical properties and that she is herself 
> a magical creature (as the Basilisk certainly is, given 
> its ability to kill or Petrify with a look), but I don't 
> think that the python in SS/PS is magical. (Harry can 
> talk to it only because of *his* magical gift of 
> Parseltongue.) Crups are magical; ordinary Jack Russell 
> terriers are not. Fluffy is presumably magical, given 
> his three heads and the effects of music on him, but 
> Fang has no magical properties that we know of. He's 
> just a big, slobbery boarhound. Trevor might have magical 
> properties as a potion ingredient, but we've never seen 
> him demonstrate any magical abilities as a pet.  Abraxan 
> Flying Horses and Thestrals are magical, but the horses 
> on a Muggle farm most likely are not.

> All this is to say that some animals, including post 
> owls, have magical abilities in JKR's world, and some 
> are just ordinary animals.  I fear that it's the 
> ordinary ones that get Vanished or turned into pincushions.

houyhnhnm:

Well, duh! (slaps head)  Other species besides humans are 
divided into magical and Muggle populations.  It's clear 
now.  I just never saw it before, even with the evidence 
of the black rats and Trevor the very ordinary toad, as 
well as Fang the ordinary dog, right in front my face.  
I knew the mythological (and made up) beasts were 
magical, but I assumed all the other animals were 
supposed to be real animals and I thought it was 
stupid the way Rowling had them behaving.  Just goes 
to show, you can always learn something new.

Carol:

> Carol, now wondering whether Hagrid "flew" to the 
> hut on the island in SS/PS on a Thestral, which 
> flew back to the Forbidden Forest after dropping him off

houyhnhnm:

It is about the only possibility.