What else don't the professors know?

[Sacred Guardian]

yeah, i'm american, so i don't know for sure, but i think it would mean either really large or really small, like out of size

[Violet]

I think that Crookshanks is probably part kneazle - his reaction towards scabbers suggested that, whilst also his appearence.
It would be too obvious for him to be an animagi, as we have now seen it in sirius, rita skeeter and mcgonagall.

[saberkitty]

i just thought you guys should know, JK Rowling answered this question on her improved website, http://www.jkrowling.com/

[spoiler]
he's half and haf[/spoiler]

[Herminny]

I think that Crrokshanks will play a big part in helping Harry or someone in the upcomming books, "ability to lead one home", "occasional aggressiveness" and of course the ability to figure out suspicious charactors.

If Crookshanks doesn't help somebody out heaps then he will, i'm sure provide valuable clues

[Groo]

you could be right, but i dont think so

this is just my gut feeling but i think that JKR having used Crookshanks extensively in PoA will not use him again. She hardly played any part in the 2 succesive books. but only time will tell

[Alice I]

i just thought you guys should know, JK Rowling answered this question on her improved website, http://www.jkrowling.com/

[spoiler]
he's half and haf[/spoiler]

Hello and welcome to B&O
Thanks for the link.
I personally did not know that JKR had her own site but I suppose she would wouldn't she?

As to the origional question posted over a year ago,
I would be quite suprised if there wasn't something going on at Hogwarts under the radar so to speak.

My guess is that either Filch is not all he seems or of course the more obvious choice of Snape.

There have been theories out their that Professor Sprout is playing both sides but I just don't see her as a major player as after five books she has only had cameo appearences (?sp)

[pallas artemis]

I have my doubts about Snape's true loyalyies but I think that if their is going to be a traitor at Hogwarts it'll be someone like Sprout or Sinistra that we've rarely seen, not someone we've already suspected before.

[Athena Appleton]

Couple things (I never noticed this thread before! )

1. I think Neville was on the receiving end of a memory charm gone bad. Something having to do with what happened to his parents. Remember, Bertha Jorkins had a really good memory (according to Sirius) before she was subjected to heavy memory charms, and then she was forgetful to the point of being ditzy.

2. I think, if you've read Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them, you'll see that it's quite obvious Crookshanks is part kneazle. Here's something to ponder, though... Not many people/things are described as having yellow eyes. Is it possible that Mrs. Norris and Madam Hooch have something in common?

3. I don't think for an instant that anything is suspicious of Professor Sprout. I think that Snape is really what he seems to be, a not nice good guy. I think the mysterious teacher with a name that is VERY similar to "Sinister" (Prof. Sinestra) is definately someone to keep our eyes on.

[Aberforth]

I think that could be a red herring. Sinestra means left-sided or left-hand. Unless this refers to the professor's political preference I don't think it will be important. We haven't even met this teacher in 5 books, and I doubt Harry will continue with astronomy since we never really focussed on any of the lessons and the attempted capture of Hagrid during their OWL will no doubt affect their marks.

Sinestra is also a star in the constellation Ophiuchus which has something to do with snakes (I think ophidian means snake).

However, I think that we may be looking too much into the meaning of the names of some of the characters, as this would lead to unoriginal story lines - Remus Lupin having a twin called Romulus (which JKR confirmed was not true on her website) for example. I don't think all JKRs story lines will come from ancient mythology.

[Alice I]

I don't think all JKRs story lines will come from ancient mythology.

I agree with that.
How boaring and un-origional would that be?
JKR is talented enough to come up with her own story line rather than copying from other texts.

[Athena Appleton]

I do agree with that, but Rowling does put emphasis on names, and a lot of times, the names can be a hint to the character or the storyline... For example, Voldemort (or vol de mort in French) means something about immortality or escaping death (I don't have my books handy), which is a clue.

I don't know for sure, but if another teacher turns out to be bad, I would look in the direction of Professor Sinistra...

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

About Snape: I'm not sure if I believe whether he's a direct spy or if he uses some other means to spy on Voldemort's gang. Another thing: In GoF, while Crouch/Moody has Harry in his office and he's telling Harry that it was he who put his name in the Goblet, he mentions Snape. But he doesn't say anything bad about him. See what I'm getting at? Crouch/Moody said he HATED Death Eaters who went free, so wouldn't he completely despise turncoats, like Snape (if he is). But Crouch/Moody doesn't say anything like "that darn Snape playing my Voldemort wrong." This leads me to believe that Snape is still in Voldemorts inner circle and acting as a spy for the Order.

[Athena Appleton]

well, how successful of a spy would he be if everyone knows he's a spy? it's not exactly something you put on your business card...

i think snape's a very good spy, using occlumency to keep voldemort from knowing what he is, being a meanie anyway, and everyone is in the dark about it.

also, think about the timing of it. snape didn't have to be a spy for the whole past 15 or 16 years. there was a good break in there when it wasn't necessary for him to be a spy. crouch/moody got in trouble a while ago, but even if he really was a death eater for quite a while before doing that (which I don't really think he was), the time he was exposed to snape in snape's spying days prime (before GoF) was relatively small, maybe a few months...

did that make any sense? it's too late here!!!!

[Phinea Rogue]

Sinestra means left-sided or left-hand.

...

Sinestra is also a star in the constellation Ophiuchus which has something to do with snakes (I think ophidian means snake).

As for Sinistra, while searching for some material for 'A Clockwork Orange' I came upon a name - Maria Ludovico Sinistrati or Sinistrani - and found out he was a demonologist. I guess it's possible that this name has darker connotations... What does she teach?

[Athena Appleton]

Sinistra (I'm not positive if it's a she or a he) teaches Astronomy.

The hard thing about Rowling's uses of names is that she uses names that have meaning, but it's hard to determine which way to go with it.

Just like this, Sinistra could take the left-hand or left-side thing, but it could also totally take the sinistra-sinister thing... If it was the former, I would think it wouldn't be that big a deal, maybe a quirky thing we'd seen throughout the books. I'm much more inclined to believe that Sinistra's name was chosen because of the similarity to the word sinister, and possibly what you just said about Clockwork Orange.