MYTHTERY: Crookshanks Is Part Kneazle

Mythtery

Crookshanks is not a regular cat. Instead, he is part Kneazle, a cute magical creature that resembles a cat.

Evidence

A [Kneazle is a] small catlike creature with flecked, speckled, or spotted fur, outsize ears, and a tail like a lion’s, the Kneazle is intelligent, independent, and occasionally aggressive, though if it takes a liking to a witch or wizard, it makes an excellent pet. The Kneazle has an uncanny ability to detect unsavoury or suspicious characters and can be relied upon to guide its owner safely home if they are lost Kneazles have up to eight kittens in a litter and can interbreed with cats.” (FBaWtFT 24 – 25).

Since Kneazles can interbreed with cats, it’s likely a Kneazle bred with a regular ginger cat, resulting in Crookshanks’s fur being “thick and fluffy” (PoA 60) and his “bottlebrush tail” (PoA 377).

Crookshanks shares a few of the personality characteristics from this description. He is an incredibly intelligent and astute cat who was able to get into the Shrieking Shack safely and guide Hermione and her friends easily there:

Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook”. (PoA 336).

Not only that, but Crookshanks demonstrated the ability to detect disreputable characters very quickly too. He was the first one to suss out Peter’s true identity and was constantly thwarted whenever he tried to act on his instincts. Nevertheless, he continued to watch and listen and seized his opportunity whenever he could.

‘He’s the most intelligent of his kind I’ve ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away’” (PoA 378).

‘There’s something funny about that animal!’ said Ron, who was trying to persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers back into his pocket. ‘It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!’” (PoA 147).

When his own actions failed, Crookshanks befriended and trusted Sirius in his Animagus form and helped Sirius get into Gryffindor Tower to defeat Peter. With the ability to roam freely in Gryffindor Tower, Crookshanks was able to steal the passwords from Neville to give to Sirius. When that failed, he helped Sirius get the trio into the Shrieking Shack, where they finally discovered the truth about Peter. However, before this was revealed, he demonstrated his loyalty to Sirius during the scuffle when he “leapt onto Black’s chest and settled himself there, right over Black’s heart” (PoA 342), thereby protecting him from any spell Harry might have used. Without Crookshank’s astute ability to detect suspicious characters and his intelligence to act on this knowledge, things might have been much worse for Sirius Black.

We can read into the descriptions and match the characteristics to Crookshanks’s actions, but it was J.K. Rowling’s words that confirmed this theory as a fact:

It would be brutal and very close, but Crookshanks' Kneazle ancestry would bring him out on top. https://t.co/qLc08eGuMz

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 16, 2015

– Myth Managed

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