question about crookshanks

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185789

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "zanooda2" <zanooda2 at ...> wrote:
>
Carol wrote:
> 
> > Since, as Montavilla points out, Sirius must be communicating 
with him in some complex way, I thought at first that he would do so
as Padfoot, but it appears that Crookshanks (like Filch's cat, Mrs.
Norris, and Mrs. Figg's cats) understands human language.
> 
> 
> zanooda:
> 
> Crookshanks may understand human language, but does Sirius
understand cat language :-)? Sirius says that Crookshanks "told" him
about Peter leaving blood stains on Ron's sheet. I think your first
assumption was correct and Sirius communicated with Crookshanks  in
animal form (is there some kind of animal language? Snakes have
theirs, after all :-).

Carol responds:
Leaving Parseltongue out of the equation, I think you may be right
about an animal language that Animagi can speak and understand in
their animal form. Wormtail, for example, learns from various small
animals that he speaks to in Albania about a shadow that possesses and
destroys small creatures like themselves. Whether those animals are
rats or snakes or squirrels or skunks is not clear. Also, of course,
Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail could communicate with each other, and
apparently with werewolf Moony in their Animagus forms despite being
members of very different species. Yet they can also understand their
own human language (Scabbers appears to have been eavesdropping for
years) just as Crookshanks and the other cats I named can.

It seems that Crookshanks initially met Padfoot in animal form and was
suspicious of him as he had been of Scabbers, but it can't be simply
the Animagus form that aroused his suspicions because he ended up
befriending Sirius Black in human as well as animal form but retaining
his hostility toward Scabbers and actively trying to catch him or help
Sirius get to him 9the stolen passwords, which he could only have
retrieved on Sirius's instructions.

Here's my theory. Padfoot first made clear, possibly by transforming
in Crookshanks's presence, that he was no threat, either as dog or
man, to Crookshanks. He may have talked with him in that form to get
to know him and understand whatever Crookshanks had to say (when
Crookshanks was reporting for duty, so to speak--the bloodstains would
be one example). However, there was clearly no human-style
introduction: "Hi, I'm Crookshanks." "Pleased to meet you. I'm Sirius
Black, but you can call me Padfoot." Otherwise, Sirius would have
known Crookshanks's name.

Since we know from Crookshanks's behavior (paying attention when Ron
says that Scabbers is in his pocket) that he understands human
language, I suspect that Black communicated to him in human form when
he had detailed instructions to give. Animal language probably
wouldn't contain phrases like "a list of passwords to Gryffindor." But
when he needed to understand Crookshanks' communications, he would
have needed to transform into a dog.

Still, a cat who can use animal language to convey a concept like
"bloodstains on the sheets"? My ability to suspend disbelief is
becoming a bit strained. Best not to think too much about it.

Carol, who wonders if Sirius Black would have been a little less
lonely and depressed if Hermione had left Crookshanks with him in 12 GP