So what's the deal with owls? I know that it is pretty commonly accepted that post owls in Harry Potter use magic to track their targets down and deliver mail, but does it ever say that in canon?

It seems like if that were the case, there would be no need to address the envelope, but they do anyway. The Hogwarts letter are addressed in a ridiculously specific way in-fact. I feel like it could be possible that the owls just go to the address and deliver the mail. This idea is supported by Molly's statement about Dumbledore being on top of things by sending Harry's letter to the Burrow instead of Privet Drive.

That also makes it easier to understand how someone can be hard to find in the wizarding world. Otherwise, the Ministry could have just sent Sirius a letter to find him. Fanon invents things like owl redirection wards to fix this hole, but Hedwig found him to deliver mail easily enough.

Hedwig is actually the biggest problem for this idea, actually. She is ridiculously smart for an owl. I think that is even remarked upon in the books (though it has been a long time sense I read them. I might be mixing up canon and fanon). I like to imagine, instead, that she goes through an entire detective process to track down clues to the location of her targets any time Harry sends a letter that is just addressed to "Hermione," or something.

 

We see that owls have long lifespans, the ability to read or understand who the recipient is, and locate the correct recipient. Hell, they understand human addresses. This is beyond the capabilities of normal animals, so the presumption is that they are altered by either proximity or ancestry to be more intelligent. The simplest solution is the most likely. Magic.

 

Sure owls are magic. They'd need to be to be so smart and fast. My question was whether it is ever stated in canon that they have a magic ability to find their recipients.

And, yeah, if there isn't some magical ability for owls to find their recipients, then Hedwig is super impressive.

And am I remembering right that Hagrid pulled an owl out of his pocket in the shack when he first met Harry?

 

Ah yes, owls. One of my favourite apparently nonsensical entities in canon, for the reasons outlined above in the OP & by @Lord Ravenclaw.

My take on it is that all owls are magical, which allows for their ridiculously quick travel times, but that Hedwig at least has a certain amount of magical ability (from her being Harry's familiar? Another ill-defined entity here…) that directs her towards her target regardless of the address as long as it has some sort of relationship with Harry, while regular post owls have to be given an address and deliver their freight to that address. There is a reason, after all, that there is no avalanche of Daily Prophets and other assorted mail in Diagon Alley every morning. IIRC, Hedwig also turned up on a French beach with a letter for Hermione in PoA. She did turn up in France, though, which is really the main point here.

As for that prickly matter of Sirius's hideouts, I would imagine that this works in the same way. Hedwig is able to find him because of her special abilities and Sirius's relationship with Harry, while the Ministry is helpless without an address. As for the exotic bird that pops up briefly at the beginning of GoF, it could have been instructed to wait for a reply and return to its original location.

 

Yes.

From Pottermore: Owls

That's not an ill-defined entity, that's an entity that were never suggested to exist in that form in Potterverse.

 

Don't give me some Pottermore bullshit and call it canon. When I said "canon," I meant those 7 books. Or 8, if you want to include Fantastic Beasts.

 

To quote myself.

 

They gotta have a certain magic ability otherwise it just doesn't make sense tbh

pic related

 

Because i'm a dumbass still getting used to this website

 

No, the reason Pottermore isn't canon is because it isn't in the books. People read the books. Most people don't read Pottermore, or any other setting guide.

I decided a long time ago that the books were the only source of canon for me. I did that because of the differences between the books and the movies, and because I shouldn't have to troll through every dumb-ass interview Rowling gave to figure out how something works. Things like the fidelius charm, which she obviously didn't put a lot of thought into. I don't care how much retconing she has done with words of god.

 

And that matters how?

And your opinion matters how? This is Rowling's series, her toys and her sandbox.

Present me this obvious lack of thought.

There is almost no retconning on Pottermore, and what is is subtle and for better.

 

Canon refers to the official content of the original source. The books are the original source. Any extra-book sources that Rowling creates are just her way of trying to come up with answers to questions that she never considered while writing the books, or ways to fill in plot-holes that have been pointed out to her. And of course it matters whether people actually read it.

That is your biggest mistake. Rowling wrote the books; she doesn't administer the fandom. These aren't her toys; she's the toy maker. These are our toys. And the sandbox operates on our rules.

Alright, James or Lily should have been their own secret keeper. It was clearly shown in book 7 that it was possible. Also, the Philosopher's stone should have been hidden under a fidelious charm.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

 

Question: if Rowling packaged up her pottermore writings and published them as a book rather than a website, do they suddenly become canon in your view.

 

Only if it had a plot and was a story in the Harry Potter Universe. I'm not really happy considering Fantastic Beasts canon.

This is all off topic, though.

Owls.

 

To me it seems Owls in HP world have some form of Intellectus (referring to the concept from Dresden Files).
They just know.

 

Tbh if you don't consider pottermore cannon then owls just doesn't make sense , they just do what they do when they do what they do

 

No, it doesn't. That definition is astronomically idiotic. If we followed it then what? Only information from the first volume of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly would be canon for main Marvel universe (I know it wasn't even Marvel then)?

[quotes]And of course it matters whether people actually read it.[/quotes]

Most of the people haven't visited Sahara, that doesn't invalidate Sahara's existence.

But fandom doesn't matter here, it's about canon.

It actually wasn't clearly shown, but then anyway, they could have Dumbledore and that also would be a great choice. Plot of the series runs on character stupidity, but we are talking about setting information here. And Pottermore does nothing to confirm or deny that they could throw Fidelus on themselves. Actually, Pottermore only details the nature (hiding secret inside a living soul), exact situation of the secret when everybody dies and how can you get to know a secret.

[quote[Also, the Philosopher's stone should have been hidden under a fidelious charm.[/quote]

It would be a poor bait then.

Well, setting aside the second part, the "There is almost no retconning on Pottermore" is objective truth. But you would know nothing about this because you haven't read it and yet chose to speak about it.

You won't get better answer than you already got. The Pottermore article doesn't retcon anything, it just fills existing gaps in information. And even without this article what was shown in the books clearly confirms that owls can just find people.