Skip to main content

harry potter - Do owls have to have training?




How do owls in Potterverse know how to deliver letters? Is there some sort of training they go through before being out in the field? Can any owl be used, or are there only specific breeds that are more suited for the task?



Answer



I haven't found any explicit mention of owl training in the books yet, but in the sixth movie the Quibbler classifieds lists "Owl Training" (here, on the upper left), and I'm not sure that witches and wizards would need to train owls for anything other than delivering mail.


As for the owl breed, there's no indication that some owl breeds can't be used to deliver mail, but certainly some are better at it than others. Hedwig, for example, is an exceptionally intelligent and adept owl (as noted by a number of people in the books) given that she somehow knew that Harry had gone to the Leaky Cauldron in the third book, and that she could always find Sirius in the fourth book. This seems to be a sort of sixth sense of direction that owls have, just like Thestrals. There's speculation that owls must have a special affinity to magic for this sense of direction, and that not all owls do.


Also, obviously a stronger owl is generally more suited to long distance mail while smaller owls can't travel as far. We see this in the stark contrast between Pigwidgeon, who considers it a great feat to deliver a small letter from the Burrow to Hogwarts, and Hedwig, who can regularly make several day long trips without the slightest difficulty (and who clicks her beak with contempt at the way Pigwidgeon flutters around with joy after a delivery). Also in the third book, we hear of the owl postal service in Hogsmeade which colour-codes owls based on how far they can travel and how long it will take for them to arrive at their destinations.


So I'd say that owls most probably need to be trained, but some can have particularly good navigational intuition that just makes them better at delivering mail. Owl size also matters, but the breed shouldn't, I think.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more