I've always pictured it as a hooded cloak. Looked at google images and you'll see. TBH, they are pretty much just a blanket.

 

I ask because the book names it as a cloak, but in book 3, Harry, Hermione and Ron all get under the cloak and from the way the book described it, it sounded like a blanket, not an actual cloak.

 

When reading it I recall thinking of it as a blanket, not really sure either way now.

 

See the neck? There is a knot there which you can open and it becomes blanket but otherwise it is a cloak.

 

Question: Is it reasonable to assume that Dumbledore could speak Japanese?

 

I'm pretty sure you could have Dumbledore speak Martian and not raise too many eyebrows. Still, you'd need in story justification for it, if only to overcome the kneejerk anime hate.

On the cloak topic; most cloaks were designed as both clothing and bedding, so they work pretty well in either capacity.

 

Pretty sure that it was stated in GOF that Dumbledore spoke something like 180 languages, including mermish/mermaid language. It's reasonable to assume he spoke Japanese.

 

That's in reference to Barty Crouch Sr., whom Percy attests can speak over 200, including Mermish, Gobbledegook and Troll.

Not to say the Dumbledore falls short in this area, as he also spoke Mermish and according to interviews with JKR can understand Parseltongue, even though he's not a Parselmouth.

 

Ah, thanks for the correction.

 

Anime? Nah, I was more thinking about his ICW work and how they all communicate.

 

Weird question, but depending on whether the prophecy still states that the one to defeat Voldemort is a he, then if Harry were born a girl, would Voldemort even bothered going after the Potters. Not to sound sexist or anything, but if anything the he in the prophecy would mean Neville then. Would that mean it's more likely for Voldemort to go after the Longbottoms first and then go after the Potters just to have no lose ends? Would that mean Neville is the Boy-Who-Lived and femHarry would grow up with her parents?

 

Snape - and thus Voldemort - only learned the first couple lines of the prophecy. "He" is not used in the first couple lines so as far as Voldemort knew the child could have been either gender. So yes, he'd still go after the Potters if Harry was female.

 

Are horcruxes 'updated' with Voldemorts latest personality, or are they copies of his personality at the time of creation and remain that way?

 

We don't even know if Horcruces beyond the Diary have personalities. According to Canon they're just supposed to be anchors.

 

The locket summoned 'shades' when opened, and the Diary fed off of Ginny to give itself form? Maybe their less actual fixed beings and more concepts of what Voldemort was and is stuck into something physical.

 

It seems Voldemort designed the diary to be a weapon though, with all the mentions of having intended to reopen the Chamber, in addition to the mechanisms of the diary itself, which did indeed seem geared toward that purpose.

The other Horcruxes may have been intended as simpler anchors with some built on defense mechanisms, nowhere near as offensive as the diary.

Other theories have suggested the diary was the most powerful because it was the first. Others have said it might be that Ginny put more of herself into the diary than anyone else put into the others, making it intensely powerful and giving it a greater measure of personal agency, while Ron only gave the locket enough to act like a boggart on crack.

It is weird though, that the defense mechanisms of the horcruxes seem to hinge on taking power from those who find them.

Was the ring that Dumbledore found second only to the diary? Was it purely his own desire to see his sister at play, or did the ring know that/find it out and use it against him?

As to whether they update, I'd say no, since Riddle's diary, even if it was designed to act differently, still seemed to contain Riddle as he would have been when he made it.

 

I've been re-reading the books since it's been so long mostly to re-establish myself with canon. I'm currently on book five, which is my favourite. Something has been bugging me for the last couple of books and, reading book five has made it worse. Hagrid describes giants as being as 20 plus feet, describing the 'Gurg' as being 22-23 feet with the weight of a couple of bull elephants. So, here's my question. How in the hell is it possible for half giants to exist?? I just can't see how a male giant could possibly have sex with a human female without literally ripping her in half and a human male having sex with a female giant just sounds completely ridiculous. Not to mention the mental image.

 

Ever heard of engorgio?