Harry Potter Fans discussion

New Discussion! Ignoring what we eventually found out about Scabbers, and now know, whose side were you initially on when you first read the book? Did you agree with Ron or Hermione in this situation? Thank You Francesca for this idea!

At first I felt sympathy for both of them. Given that we were all used to Scabbers, I didn't want him to be hurt, and I could understand Ron's frustration. But it is in a cat's nature to be enticed by rodents, and I still liked Crookshanks. And I thought that Hermione would have had a hard time keeping him cooped up in Hogwarts... he's just too smart

True! Though, I am on Crooskanks's side...

I could understand where they were both coming from because, obviously, it is in a cats nature to chase after rodents and there wasn't much Hermione could actually do about it. It's not like she could control the cat and as a cat Crookshanks had free roam but, on the other hand, Ron may have complained about Scabbers but he was still his pet and Ron thought he'd been eaten by Crookshanks.

To be honest, I did feel like Hermione could've been at least a bit more sympathetic towards Ron. I understand her impulse to defend her cat and I applaud it (as a cat person, it is in my nature to generally stand on the side of the cat no matter what the situation, and knowing what we know later I wish Crookshanks had eaten him) but Ron thought he'd lost his pet and, rather than comfort her friend, she got defensive and stubbornly refused to acknowledge that it could've been her cat that ate him and instead acted like Ron was being silly to be upset over Scabbers. On the other hand, Ron was also being stubborn and refused to admit that it could've been another cat or that Scabbers could've run away but he was upset and I think that clouded his judgement.

I go with crookshanks, primarily because I love cats

I felt pretty bad for Scabber before I knew he was Pettigrew, and wanted revenge with Crookshanks, but I was pretty suspicious about Scabbers later, and I got the feeling in my stomach that this rat is more dangerous than I think.
And then when Crookshanks was in Sirius's lap, I was pretty sure Crookshanks wasn't this evil disguise. So, yeah, call me on Team Crookshanks.

Francesca wrote: "I could understand where they were both coming from because, obviously, it is in a cats nature to chase after rodents and there wasn't much Hermione could actually do about it. It's not like she co..."

Yes! totally agree!

Crookshanks, because I like cats and well, Scabbbers was Pettigrew.