Parselmouth

[kausarqadir]

in the chapter VANISHING GLASS when Harry potter was standing in front of Boa Constrictor..... i noticed one thing. it wasnt Harry who started talking.
first we are told that the snake was just there where dudley commented "Bored" and left. then we find snake turning towards Harry and harry thought that it has winked to him.
then we are told that HP talk to snake and it replied.

my question over here is
did snake feel that a Parselmouth is standing in front of it?

[Weasleyfanforever]

What I always thought was that snakes are always speaking, in parselmouth, and that just whenever there is someone that can understand them is it noticed. I don't think that snakes can tell if someone is a parselmouth, but that is an interesting question...

[Boing]

I don't know that the snake necessarily "knew" Harry was a Parselmouth, but perhaps only Parselmouths can understand a snake's facial expressions as well. Perhaps Harry was more in tune with the snake in that sense - whereas someone else might not have noticed the wink . . .

On the other hand, that's an interesting theory - because why would a snake wink at a person anyway? Or was it just that it was the snake's personality and as I said above, just Harry noticed . . .

[Padma Patil]

hmm, I'm thinking that maybe the snake just mutters to itself and Harry overheard it. Think about it, if you were stuck in a cage all day 24/7 you'd start to get irritated (for lack of a better word) too.

I don't have the books with me now, does anybody know what the first thing the snake did was?

[Hermione]

Harry began the talking after the snake gave him the "I get this all the time" expression.

I think snakes can sense a parselmouth, it makes sense. Animals can sense things a lot of the time, it's unexplainable but they just know things. My dog knew when I was sick and wanted to cuddle with me A LOT.

Since I think a small part of snake is inside a parselmouth, I think the snakes can sense that. So they will begin a conversation. Here's a wacky theory, maybe they don't know Harry is human. There's research that was dogs see their human masters as other dogs. Maybe snakes see all humans as snakes and just a few of them speak back to them.

[cindyqtpi]

That is a Wacky theory about Snakes seeing humans as other snakes. but i like it none-the-less!!

realistically, i like the theory about the snakes always making gestures or expressions, and people just not noticing them.

[Weasleyfanforever]

I don't think that snakes would see peole as snakes as well, I think it really is just too out there for me. I know the theory has been applied to dogs, but really, no one can get into the mind of a dog or a snake at the moment, so I don't think that either can be totally proven. I am still of the mind that snakes are talking all the time, [perhaps to other snkaes, but in this circumstance, to itself because it has been cooped up for so long, and that it just so happens that when a parselmouth comes along, they can understand the snake...

[kausarqadir]

I know the theory has been applied to dogs, but really, no one can get into the mind of a dog or a snake at the moment, so I don't think that either can be totally proven.

that's really weird. Now i really dont want to be the master of a dog, if it has to sense me as a dog. sorry Meri :D
but i wont go for this theory too. because even if dogs take their masters as other dogs, then y dont they fight with them, or bark on them. (as they do for other dogs). :rolleyes:
Now, i would really go for the snakes doingthe gestures. and obviously the person who want to observe and note down soemthing will note down.
but still, i think that snake could have done that in front of Dudley, who was wanting it to do something. but when he didnt, dudley called it BORING.

[Alz]

I am inclind to think the snake was prolly just chatting to himself and the fact Harry seemed to adjust and maybe engage him seemed to get the snake to react and speak directly to him.
I'm not sure - Harry wasnt speaking parselmouth back then - if anything JKR was laying down a clue to later books and also out first introduction to the concept of parselmouths.
I think that whole scene was only added to set the foundations that were used in later books - might be a lesson there for us all not to disregard the parts of the story we think are just padding :D