Good Cats, Bad Cats and Imperfect Cats in the World of Furry Potter
The human has been quite preoccupied lately with her little writing project and I just thought it was time to remind her (and all my friends) that she is not the only literate creature in the house! True, Big Blonde and Smiley Dog have little use for books except for chewing on them, and in one unfortunate incident from Big Blonde's youth, peeing on them. But GretaCat and I enjoy them nearly as much as the human does. GretaCat's interests tend toward pulling them off the bookshelves as she climbs, but she will curl up on the human's lap and read one from time to time. She especially likes the Collected Works of Sneaky Pie Brown and her human.
I, however, am the other writer in the house and it is time I had my say about this whole Furry - I mean Harry - Potter business. Sure, the human is spending a lot of time thinking about the motives and relationships of the human characters. I suppose one has to forgive her, she is after all professor of human psychology, but she has totally overlooked the important issue of J.K. Rowling's apparent pathological aversion to cats. The only other creatures who are so maligned in the series are ferrets (Really! Draco Malfoy! It is an affront to small mammals everywhere); rats (Pettigrew! Now what kind of children's author would make a boy's beloved pet into the villain of even one book in a seven-part series?! I am surprised that my human would even consider reading these things) and back-ended skrewts (and they don't even exist!) My evidence for the cat-hatred rampant in the series? Whereas all cats should rightfully be considered not only Good but Perfect, Rowling gives us a decidedly mixed bag of kitty exemplars:
Bad Cats: 1. THOSE AWFUL SIMPERING KITTENS ON THE DECORATIVE PLATES IN DOLORES UMBRIDGE'S OFFICE! A DISGRACE TO JOYFUL KITTENHOOD! 2. (Okay, I spent a few minutes chasing my tail and I've calmed myself. It always works for me. You should try it some time on a bad day -- if only you had tails!) Dolores Umridge's cat patronus at the Muggle Registration Commission. No self-respecting cat would accept only providing comfort to the prosecutors and not the victims of a hearing such as this one. A real cat patronus would curl up on the lap of every accused person and purr as loudly as possible.
Imperfect Cats: This is a category that I find it painful even to consider possible, but taking my human's rather generous view of imperfect rather than loathsome people, I suppose I could put Mrs. Norris here. She does provide a lot of assistance and comfort to her poor lonely Squib owner, even if he is a thoroughly unpleasant guy. Plus, she does get petrified which doesn't seem like it would be fun, so we feel sorry for her.
Good Cats: Well Crookshanks, of course! In fact both GretaCat and I have crushes. He is so brave and Ron abuses him so much. It's just not fair.
So that's it. And least 3 instances of really disagreeable kitties and only one of a good one. I considered counting Professor McGonacall in the good cat group, but she really doesn't seem to take as much advantage of her ability to be a cat as she might. I can't wait for my human to take up an interest in a more appropriately cat-loving fictional world!
I, however, am the other writer in the house and it is time I had my say about this whole Furry - I mean Harry - Potter business. Sure, the human is spending a lot of time thinking about the motives and relationships of the human characters. I suppose one has to forgive her, she is after all professor of human psychology, but she has totally overlooked the important issue of J.K. Rowling's apparent pathological aversion to cats. The only other creatures who are so maligned in the series are ferrets (Really! Draco Malfoy! It is an affront to small mammals everywhere); rats (Pettigrew! Now what kind of children's author would make a boy's beloved pet into the villain of even one book in a seven-part series?! I am surprised that my human would even consider reading these things) and back-ended skrewts (and they don't even exist!) My evidence for the cat-hatred rampant in the series? Whereas all cats should rightfully be considered not only Good but Perfect, Rowling gives us a decidedly mixed bag of kitty exemplars:
Bad Cats: 1. THOSE AWFUL SIMPERING KITTENS ON THE DECORATIVE PLATES IN DOLORES UMBRIDGE'S OFFICE! A DISGRACE TO JOYFUL KITTENHOOD! 2. (Okay, I spent a few minutes chasing my tail and I've calmed myself. It always works for me. You should try it some time on a bad day -- if only you had tails!) Dolores Umridge's cat patronus at the Muggle Registration Commission. No self-respecting cat would accept only providing comfort to the prosecutors and not the victims of a hearing such as this one. A real cat patronus would curl up on the lap of every accused person and purr as loudly as possible.
Imperfect Cats: This is a category that I find it painful even to consider possible, but taking my human's rather generous view of imperfect rather than loathsome people, I suppose I could put Mrs. Norris here. She does provide a lot of assistance and comfort to her poor lonely Squib owner, even if he is a thoroughly unpleasant guy. Plus, she does get petrified which doesn't seem like it would be fun, so we feel sorry for her.
Good Cats: Well Crookshanks, of course! In fact both GretaCat and I have crushes. He is so brave and Ron abuses him so much. It's just not fair.
So that's it. And least 3 instances of really disagreeable kitties and only one of a good one. I considered counting Professor McGonacall in the good cat group, but she really doesn't seem to take as much advantage of her ability to be a cat as she might. I can't wait for my human to take up an interest in a more appropriately cat-loving fictional world!