HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY
and My CrackPotter Cat Theory

Chris' parents sent me the audio book version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so I had something fun to open for my birthday this morning. Thanks!

I've been re-listening to the books to prepare for this summer's seventh and final book. I just finished book three, Prisoner of Azkaban, so I need to step it up.

Listening to Azkaban again gave me a pretty crazy theory. Check this out (disclaimer: as always, since I've only ever listened to the books and haven't seen the words on the page, I'll probably misspell everything):

-Author Rowling has stated in interviews that she is not introducing any new major characters in the final novel, but some very minor characters will have large roles.

-Book six ends with the mystery of who is "R.A.B."? Those are the initials of of the person who stole the hawcrux Harry and Dumbledore thought they had found.

-Is R.A.B. Regulus Black, Sirius' brother? He was a Death Eater who was supposedly killed when he turned on Voldemorte. Did his turning on Voldemorte involve stealing the hawcrux? I relistend to Book six with Chris in the fall and was surprised how often Regulus is mentioned. His name keeps coming up, even though we've never met him.

-Or have we met him? Remember, Rowling said she's not introducing any new characters, so Regulus must already be in the series.

-One of the best parts of Azkaban, in my opinion, is the revelation that Scabbers, who had been in the first two books as Ron's rat, was actually Peter Pettigrew, the fiend responsible for betraying Harry's Parents. Will book seven give us a similar revelation of a character being more than we realized?

-In Azkaban, Lupin explains that the animage spell is extremely difficult and can go horribly wrong. Can "horribly wrong" mean that a wizard, fleeing from Voldemort after betraying him, accidentally traps himself as a cat?

My theory: Hermione's cat Crookshanks is Regulus Black!

This would explain why he's such an insanely smart cat, why he repeatedly tries to attack Scabbers (whom he recognizes to be Pettigrew), and why he befriends Sirius even though Sirius is in dog form.

So, what do you think? Too crazy? Is Hermione's beloved cat actually Harry Potter's deceased godfather's presumed dead former Death Eater brother trapped in an animage spell gone wrong? R.A.B. = Crookshanks. Stranger things have happened...

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