What, what, WHAT!?

Did we not, a while back, confirm that a wand is needed to transform?

 

I'm sorry - re-read 'Prisoner of Azkaban' and tell me exactly how Sirius escaped again.

 

Dumbledore learned parsceltongue? When? Why didn't I know this?

 

In HBP, during Riddle's memory at the Gaunt shack, the Gaunts speak Parseltongue -- which Harry understands, of course, but in an interview JKR confirmed that Dumbledore understood it as well.

 

This is a major pet peeve of mine.

Where exactly in the books did you read Dumbledore being described as the Leader of the Light?

I've seen this many times, people describe Fawkes as a Light creature, Order of Phoenix as the Light Side. However, as far as I remember, nowhere in canon is the word Light even mentioned. While there is obviously Dark Arts and Dark wizards, a Light counterpart is never mentioned.

And when was that?

And if you do believe that one needs a wand to transform then how do you explain Sirius escaping from Azkaban.

 

He made one. 12 inches, newspaper pulp, rather stiff. Core was animagus spunk.

You see, the paper that Fudge gave him was critical for execution, not motivation. If he had the means to escape, it's hard to imagine he waited twelve years or so to drudge up the desire to do so.

 

More importantly, why are we still allowed to put icons beside post names these days? The big blue question mark makes me uneasy.

 

I hate it when she does that. States random facts about the character in interviews that have no baring to her stories, and only serves to fuck up fanfiction.

Okay, fine. People can learn parseltongue. What the fuck was everyone so damn afraid of then? Maybe Harry just learned the language from someone, then. Why'd they all just assume that he was the heir of Slytherin?

 

I suppose I should mention JKr said that Dumbledore can only understand, not speak, the language.

Perhaps the sounds are not those a human can normally make.

 

Then how do you explain Ron speaking it in DH?

If you can understand the language and can speak out the words, then you can effectively speak the language.

 

I can approximate the sound of a Chinese greeting "Ni hao" but this does not mean I can speak Mandarin Chinese, or understand tones as a native speaker would.

 

That isn't to say you can't learn Chinese though.

Which is the same with parseltongue I guess. There is no magical barrier stopping someone from learning it, as sad as that is. I always pictured it as a language you either knew or you didn't, end of story. Apparently that's not the case

 

Oz: keep trying and you might actually succeed in trolling me.

As for your post, as usual, you've missed my point. My point is that approximately imitating one simple word =/= speaking a language. So "Ron can speak parseltongue" is clearly an exaggeration.

 

Learning =/= speaking, necessarily. Or at least, that's not the association Taure's making.

If I go into my highschool French class, and learn how to count to ten in French, then:

a) At the moment of learning, when I'm parroting the teacher or textbook, I am speaking French. Therefore,
b) I can learn French. However,
c) If someone asked me what languages I know, I would not be able to claim that I speak French.

As for learning it, I think Dumbledore, unlike a parseltongue, always hears hissing - that's the real magic of the language. There's always a running translation of what the different hisses mean, whereas a parseltongue just hears their native nonmagical tongue. For example, Herpo the Foul was a Greek parseltongue, but I doubt he "heard" the snake language in English like Harry did.

 

But you can learn Mandarin Chinese, if you wish to.

Exactly the point I was trying to make. If Ron can speak or imitate one word, then it follows that he can learn to speak other words. Also, we know that people can learn to understand parseltongue (Dumbledore). Then it follows logically that Ron can possibly learn to speak parseltongue.

You couldn't speak French, because you know only ten words in French. This wasn't the point I was trying to make. I'm not saying that Ron knows or can speak parseltongue other than imitating one word. I'm simply saying that I don't see what stops Ron or anyone from learning how to speak parseltongue.

Also, Dumbledore could understand parseltongue. Following your analogy, if you can understand French, when someone speaks it to you, then logically it follows that you can speak it too. You may not be able to get the pronunciation perfect but you would be able to do it. So, Dumbledore should be able to speak it to.

 

I kind of like the Ranma 1\2 method of dealing with transformations; that is, if you have a non-human transformation you leave all your shit behind, and when you transform back you are bare ass naked. Makes for some good comedy.

Imagine if it was like that in Harry Potter:

The kids are sitting in their first ever Transfiguration class and there is a curious tabby cat on the desk. Everyone studies it intently, when.....OMFG NASTY OLD GRANNY TITS!! MY EYES! *an heroes*

Would make a decent crack fic.