Parseltongue *spoilers*

[shmeep]

Okay, I've been slowly making my way through HBP again, trying to pick up on things that may have escaped me the first time (and there are always a lot of little things that slip by when you read these books).

Here's something that may be a biggie. Parseltongue is a really rare (and often evil) talent. Voldemort spoke it and his grandfather and uncle spoke it around the house and Harry can speak it. In Chamber of Secrets, Hermione makes a point to say how rare it is to find someone who can talk to snakes so, other than Harry and Voldemort, we really don't know who else can even understand it.

Got it so far, right? Now, here's the thing. When Dumbledore shows Harry those memories, many of them include entire scenes in which all the important information is spoken in Parseltongue. How did Dumbledore understand those conversations himself? How did he know they were even important? Who translated them? Was he showing Harry information to which even he was not entirely privy?

I can't help but to think that this particular point has some significance to the plot that I just can't see yet. Any theories?

[housemouse]

admin said:

Okay, I've been slowly making my way through HBP again, trying to pick up on things that may have escaped me the first time (and there are always a lot of little things that slip by when you read these books).

Here's something that may be a biggie. Parseltongue is a really rare (and often evil) talent. Voldemort spoke it and his grandfather and uncle spoke it around the house and Harry can speak it. In Chamber of Secrets, Hermione makes a point to say how rare it is to find someone who can talk to snakes so, other than Harry and Voldemort, we really don't know who else can even understand it.

Got it so far, right? Now, here's the thing. When Dumbledore shows Harry those memories, many of them include entire scenes in which all the important information is spoken in Parseltongue. How did Dumbledore understand those conversations himself? How did he know they were even important? Who translated them? Was he showing Harry information to which even he was not entirely privy?

I can't help but to think that this particular point has some significance to the plot that I just can't see yet. Any theories?

So are you thinking Dumbledore might be a parselmouth? Hmmm, I have always thought he might be an animagus. Maybe he transforms into a snake. I am going to have to re-read HBP and see what else sticks out on this subject.

[mlm828]

It's possible Dumbledore is a parselmouth. Not all wizards with this ability are evil, and he does have extraordinary powers.

However, I think the more likely explanation is that Dumbledore learned the content of the memories when he obtained them. In the process, he spoke with the persons whose memories he obtained and would have learned the content of the memories in this way. If the person was not a parselmouth (e.g., Ogden), he might not have learned the full content. If the person was a parselmouth (e.g., Morfin) he could have learned the full content of the memory, because that person would know it and could tell him.