Why doesn't anyone hear Harry hissing at the zoo?

[hermeeownninny]

Doesn't it seem a bit weird to you that no one can hear Harry hissing to the boa constrictor at the zoo? Just imagine, you're walking past the snake tank, and there's this kid speaking a combination of latin and elvish (that's what parseltongue sounds like to me from the movie) to the glass.

Speaking of parseltongue, was that really Daniel Radcliffe and Christian Coulson speaking it? Or a computer voice? I read an interview with Chris Columbus in which he said they had an oxford professor invent parseltongue, but if that's the case, then why does everything they say sound the same? And they should have at least given us subtitles (lotr did!), but no matter, readers of the book know what they said anyway.

"speak to me, slytherin, greatest of the hogwarts four. . ."

[harryton]

maybe becuase nobody was around him, and kids can be loud,so i dont think anyone would hear him.

[Remus Lupin]

Well I hate to sound mean but, prehaps no one really cared. I mean, i've seen kis hissing at snakes and roaring at tigers and stuff. If anyone did hear him, they probably thought he was just playing around.

[Camo]

In the book, didn't Dudley's friend hear Harry talking to it?

Also, about that part in CoS where Harry speaks parseltounge with no subtitles, I think that was just supposed to add to the story, that we didn't know what Harry was saying, unless of course you read the books beforehand. We were supposed to be scared like everyone else in the room was.

[Camo]

In the book, didn't Dudley's friend hear Harry talking to it?

Also, about that part in CoS where Harry speaks parseltounge with no subtitles, I think that was just supposed to add to the story, that we didn't know what Harry was saying, unless of course you read the books beforehand. We were supposed to be scared like everyone else in the room was. I don't know if I explained that well.

[GodricSlytherin]

Well. I doubt anyone would care. Everyone would think he was just a weirdo. And people are too busy going on their own way paying attention to other things. Not me. I would be like. What are you doing?!

[WhiteSlash]

First the parelltounge part. I think so, even though I knew what he and Tom were saying. The noise kinda scared me.(Not more than the spiders, it just sounded weird) It sounded like those black riders except freakyer.

Also, maybe they just saw him looking at the snake and heard little murrmurs you know. Maybe he was talking loudly enough for them to here what he was saying.

[Machtyn]

the feeling I got from the books is that most people saw a large constricter loose in the hallway. Many people wouldn't know if it was poisonous or not, but I digress. My point is, that in this confusion, people wouldn't notice a boy who was hissing at the window. If they had, I hold with the other comments, people would see an 11 year old teasing a snake.

[GlassRoses314]

First off, no one was really paying attention. Second off yes it was really them, and they were not saying the same things over and over again. Harry says different things at the Duelling Club and when he opens the Chamber. It just sounds similar. Then when Riddle calls the Basilisk, it's totally different. And why would we even need subtitles?

[Muggleborn]

To other people, harry was just a 11-year-old kid who tried to do the silly thing:"pretending" to talk to the boa. Even they really heard him hissing, they wouldn't blame him, he's just a kid.

btw, I really enjoy hearing they said the parseltongue in the movie, it's funny.

[Essbee]

SsssarSSSSserrrsssarrrSSSS

That's me agreeing in Parseltongue.

I wonder what Parseltongue looks like written down? Not that snakes get a lot of chance to do any writing, but I'm sure that if there was a language that only Salazar knew he would have taken the time to write it down so that he could have his own private thoughts recorded that no-one else could understand!

As for the snake in the zoo, I don't know. Perhaps he was talking quietly? Or there was no-one next to him? The book says that Dudley and co wandered off because they thought the snake was boring, who knows how far they wandered before they came back?

[Qeomash]

Dang it! Someone already beat me to this topic.

Originally posted by Essbee
I wonder what Parseltongue looks like written down? Not that snakes get a lot of chance to do any writing, but I'm sure that if there was a language that only Salazar knew he would have taken the time to write it down so that he could have his own private thoughts recorded that no-one else could understand!


There's always the font, Parseltounge (which is used a bit on this forum, and can be found at Dark Mark.com (http://www.darkmark.com/).

Yes, Piers Polkiss heard Harry talking to the snake. I have the feeling he probably heard Harry hissing and the snake doing odd stuff just before he screamed, "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

[dracofan]

Do you think the boa will turn up in any of the future books?

[Lee]

I doubt it.

[Jessie]

Well, maybe ppl just thought that poor Harry was out of his mind. He was only about 11 at the time, anyway.

[Mad Macca]

I think that because Harry, at that time, was in a Muggle place, the people around him weren't wizards, so they wouldn't have been listening for anything like it, unlike a wizard who would probably recognise it straight away. The people around him might have thought it was just the snake hissing and it sounded funny like it was sick, i dunno.

[Stallion1]

If someone did pass by maybe they thought he was just a disturbed little boy.

[Sredni Vashtar]

Frankly, I wouldn't really bat an eye at some kid hissing in latin to a snake. This is probably because I have a tendency to talk to animals in pet stores and zoos like they understand me. I had a nice conversation with a positively gorgeous little Chinese water dragon the other day. Of course, he just looked at me. But then, so did half the people in the store.

The reaction I get from people when I talk to the animals is probably about the same as Harry would get while speaking to a boa: sidelong glances, and people pointedly trying to ignore something weird going on.

At least he doesn't say, "I won! I won!" when he gets money out of the ATM. :D (I still want to do this. It's fun to freak the mundanes).

[dorcasderr]

And the funny part is that Harry was completely unaware he wasn't talking English. If people HAD looked at him strangely he would really have been confused...Besides zoos are kind of noisy, ehoey places and Harry was speaking in a low, conversational tone, so it's doubtful anyone paid him the least bit of attention.

[Silk E Smooth]

Every time I've been to the Zoo (And that's a lot) there is always a big group in front of the snake displays. But the feel I get from the book, is that there wasn't really a lot of people around. So it's possible no one noticed, till piers. But of course there could also be so many people that they just didn't hear or notice him because it was so loud.

[GryffindorSeekerHP]

You people are great. lol. I love you all!
I agree with all of the above.

I read somewhere that the Parstletongue wasn't even special effects. They actually made an alphabet, or whatever. It's prettycool.
And on the font thing, yeah, I saw that font on Death-curse.com also.

[marspeach]

They probably heard him but didn't care. Kids do weird things. Muggles wouldn't know about Parseltongues so they just thought he was playing around or something.

[devildevine]

I agree with Remus. I hear kids mimicking animals all the time, so people wouldn't have paid too much attention. The noice that a gorup of kids can make is extremely loud so I doubt anyone would have heard him other than Piers anyways.

[I heart Sirius]

Yeah I agree with everyone plus they're Muggles. They go at great lenths to ignore magical type stuff. Arthur Weasley says something too that effect.

[CentaurFirenze]

I think if anybody did hear them they would either disregard it or think it was a snake somewhere else instead of a kid.

[rikuownsyou]

:evil: well becasue if you look around Harry their isnt anybody around so he probaly could talk like that because..their was no one around. Now we probaly couldnt hear him because people that havent read any of the books didnt know that he was parselmouth so to us it was just the normal voice..no hissing sound:rolleyes: I never thought that in the second movie that it was Harry hissing in parsel tounge. I thought it was comuterised and all Harry had to do was act like it..yup thats what I think.;)

[fawkesthepheonix]

Hehehe, this is a funny thread!

Actually I wondered about that myself, but you guys are right: it would've been too loud, and no one would've cared if some nutty kid was hissing at a snake. (Wonder how many kids have tried to talk to snakes since the movie...)

As for the actors and speaking Parseltongue, I found this clip. Dan talks about talking in Parseltongue near the end.

Parseltongue (he sounds a bit confused) (http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/harry_potter/daniel_radcliffe.htm)

Enjoy!

P.S. This might be a bit obvious, but you need to click on the first link (it says "click here," under the first question.

[Moonchild]

I think Harry didn't need to speak so loudly at the zoo. Animals are more sensitive to higher frequencies so all Harry would have to do is whisper. Besides, I don't think he would have wanted others to hear him talking to a snake. . . he would have looked crazy!

[kaioticgirl]

I'll have to use Stan Shunpike's reason for this:
"Them? They don't hear nuffink properly!"
(I think that's the quote...I"m not sure)

It seems to fit best

[Amadeus]

maybe because they are non-magical?
they don't know that such thing as parseltongue exists at all

[mafiawizard]

Doesn't it seem a bit weird to you that no one can hear Harry hissing to the boa constrictor at the zoo? Just imagine, you're walking past the snake tank, and there's this kid speaking a combination of latin and elvish (that's what parseltongue sounds like to me from the movie) to the glass.

Speaking of parseltongue, was that really Daniel Radcliffe and Christian Coulson speaking it? Or a computer voice? I read an interview with Chris Columbus in which he said they had an oxford professor invent parseltongue, but if that's the case, then why does everything they say sound the same? And they should have at least given us subtitles (lotr did!), but no matter, readers of the book know what they said anyway.

"speak to me, slytherin, greatest of the hogwarts four. . ."
They were probably paying attention to their own children or and did not hear him or maybe it was too loud. Don't forget Harry did not speak very loud. Plus muggles do not know about parseltongue so they would not know what he was doing they probably thought he was playing around or being silly because that is what some boys his age do.

[jordmundt6]

Yeah isn't this a zoo in London that draws large crowds are you really going to stop and and tear yourself away from your own gaggle of family members to listen to one solitary kid softly hissing at a boa constrictor? Besides he said all of maybe three sentences to it before Piers yelled and Dudley elbowed his way in front of Harry.

[Windstar]

I would imagine that every one was so involved in their own situations that they paid no attention to one scrawny boy off looking at a sleeping snake.

If anyone did hear, they probably didn't take any note of it, because of all the excitement of the snake being released.

If they did hear, and did take note of it, they probably just thought Harry an odd child, hissing at a snake in an enclosure.

[dobby_rocks]

well as some have said its not like people were around him, they wouldnt have been paying attetion, even had he the dursleys may have , others woudlnt have thought anything of it. Duds friend didnt hear harry hissing but saw that he appeared to be converisn with the snake

[Elizabeth B]

I think dracofan is right. The boa will come back. There is a bond between hm and Harry, not unlike the bond between Harry and Dobby or even Harry and Wormtail. Perhaps he will battle Nagini in book seven. The existence of Parseltongue does seem to indicate that all snakes are magical creatures. I don't think that the boa constrictor is a mere detail in book one. JKR could have waited until book two to show us that Harry is a parseltongue. No. He'll be back. . .

[Windstar]

I'm not so sure the boa will be back, although it is an interesting theory. It would make sense though....

[hesdead-dealwithit]

Is there a bond between him and Harry? Did the boa even escape? Don't you think he would have been caught and brought back to the zoo? I'm sure the boa isn't in Brazil right now and is back in captivity. I don't think there's any bond between the two, and I don't think we'll see the snake again.

[[Pretty]_[Unicorn]]

Well HP was very quiet when he was talking to the snake and there didn't seem to be anyone near him. Also what someone said prior, you see people hissing at snakes, roaring at tigers, stuff like that and the muggles didn't find it weird.

[Alorra Spinnet]

_[Unicorn]']Well HP was very quiet when he was talking to the snake and there didn't seem to be anyone near him. Also what someone said prior, you see people hissing at snakes, roaring at tigers, stuff like that and the muggles didn't find it weird.

I've wondered how Piers Polkiss knew Harry was "talking" to the snake when all he should have heard was hissing.

[Windstar]

Maybe Piers just assumed that Harry was "talking" to the snake because he was hissing at the snake and the snake was hissing back.

It is weird though, how Harry's parseltonguedness isn't mentioned as being a parsel mouth until waaaayy later.

Didn't JKR know what she was going to call people who could talk to snakes till later?

But then again, maybe because Harry didn't know that he was a wizard till later, she couldn't actually use the word "parseltongue". Especially since Harry didn't even know what the word meant until Hermione and Ron told him after the dueling incident. Since the book is being told mostly from Harry's point of view.

[Drusilla]

Zoos tend to be pretty loud,and I don't think anyone would've paid much attention to a kid standing near the glass.And he was probably speaking quite softly,anyway:I don't think anyone really heard him,if he didn't want to be heard.Piers Polkiss probably just saw Harry,it isn't very likely that he heard him speak Parseltongue or he would have been a lot more detailed with his description of just what Harry did.

[Morgan LeFay]

Well, I did it myself yesterday and believe me or not, the snake moved when I started hissing (don't laugh, I was desperate to force the snake to move). The thing is, no one really payed attention to what I was doing. I think it could be the same in PS.

[jasper]

maybe because they are non-magical?
they don't know that such thing as parseltongue exists at all

I agree. Harry is a goofy looking little kid at the zoo. So he's hissing at a snake- so what? Just a kid playing around if any muggle is watching.

[FreyaCrescent]

I think Piers might have thought Harry was talking to the snake because he would have been moving his mouth and the snake had risen up to look at him. Or perhaps he was just cracking a joke after Vernon's huge rant about flying motorcycles.

The zoo's a pretty loud place, even in the reptile house. All the kids shouting "Ewww, it's all slimy!" in front of all the displays and everything. Nobody probably cared about it. Loads of little children stand in front of the cases or cages and imitate the animals, no-one else would have looked twice.

Very perceptive question though.

[miri]

I think Harry was probably a very little 11 year old too, and wearing clothes waaay too large for him, making him look even smaller. People may have thought he was as young as 9. 9 year olds are allowed to wander around in their own little worlds, talking to animals, etc.

I also think that Harry had learned how to talk quietly and avoid attracting attention to himself (almost house-elf like :lol: ). After all, I can't see the Dursleys encouraging him to chat.

So a quiet little kid, seemingly entranced by a snake. Not exactly the sort of thing that attracts attention. It was probably only when Piers went up to him to taunt him that he realised the Snake was paying him any attention back. I can well imagine him and Dudders whispering to each other and deciding that saying Harry was speaking to the Snake would maximise his punishment.

[Pyro Duo]

I think he would have looked just like an ordinary kid. Or maybe it's to signify that Harry is ignored by the world really. That nobody notices him and such.

[Kimmetje]

I like the nobody noticing thing. I think that that is true as most people don't always watch everyone around. I mean if I walk into a shop I don't watch every person there. Also, Harry was standing with his back to the other people and there was a lot of noise of people talking.

[fleur magique]

Dudley's friend Piers noticed him. In the car on the way home he mentioned that Harry was talking to it. But other than him, he was probably just ignored by everyone else. And besides most people can't be concerned about some little kid who is pretending to talk to a snake.

[Tonks04]

Its a muggle zoo, so they probably just thought that he was pretending o talk to snakes, but Piers did notice him though.

[RemusLupinFan]

I got the impression that Harry was pretty much alone when he was talking to that boa constrictor. And I agree the reptile house was probably a noisy place, especially with Dudley and his friend around. I don't think anyone noticed Harry or paid much attention to him, that is, until the snake attracted Piers' attention. It says in the book: "Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't."

[LouisaB]

I think that they probably thought he was just messing about if they heard him at all. Take any kids to the zoo and you will see then trying to talk to the animals with whatever noise the animals make. Okay...11 is a bit old to be doing that but some kids will carry on with it for longer than others.

Slightly off topic...Incidentally in the film - which zoo was that meant to be? Someone told me it was filmed at London Zoo but when I went there (admittedly some years ago) the reptile house was very VERY dark. I have somewhere in a cupboard a photo of a snake hatching there and it was so dark you can hardly see it.

It was also surprisingly noisy in there if I recall correctly...so maybe they just couldn't hear Harry anyway.