CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 4: The Leaky Cauldron

[AmanitaMuscaria]

No: HPFGUIDX 189491



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "wildirishrose01us" <wildirishrose at ...> wrote:

> 6. Did you notice the strange fact that Scabbers was much too long-lived? What did you think it meant?
> 
> Marianne:
> 
> Having had pet rats myself, mine only lived an average of 2 or so years.  Three years was a ripe old age for a rat.  I thought maybe the Weasley's kept him alive by magic.  They wanted to keep him around for a while.  Well if you take LV out of the picture in the beginning, for many years Scabbers was a good pet to the Weasley's, considering he was a coward.  Or it never occurred to the Weasleys that he lived so long.  Having a busy household like the Weasley's probably nobody thought about how long rats lived. 
> > 
> > Please add any questions you may have.
> > 
> > Nikkalmati
> 
> 
> Questions:  Would wizarding money accumulate interest.  If it did, perhaps that's why Harry would have so much money after sitting there for so many years.

AM now - Didn't JKR say somewhere that James's family had been rich, so he didn't have to work? He didn't have time to spend much, so Harry would have inherited a large amount anyways.
 
> 
> Maybe I've asked this before.  I don't think it was explained how Scabbers ended up in the Weasley family.  Maybe they bought him.  Maybe he just appeared at the house one day, and the Weasleys figured he had good manners so he stayed????
> 
> Marianne
>

AM now - I wondered, too - Snape makes a big deal to Bellatrix of his having stayed at Hogwarts for the years Voldemort was gone, and thus having useful information for Voldie, and as we know, Snape _was_ forgiven. I'm sort of surprised Peter didn't play the information card - he must have heard a great deal from Arthur and Molly. Ah, well, I guess his personality just makes everyone want to kick him.