Ron Weasley did not speak Parseltongue

[ArthurDent]

I just wanted to mention that Ron did not actually speak parseltongue at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He just phonetically tried to recreate sounds that he had heard Harry make. It was clever, yes. But he did not speak the language because he could not understand what he was saying.

It might work just as well to bring an actual snake into the bathroom and agitate it. If it speaks, you're in.

[lonewulf]

Originally Posted by ArthurDent

It might work just as well to bring an actual snake into the bathroom and agitate it. If it speaks, you're in.

Thats the thought I had reading it ... it just came across to me just as corny as someone holding up a snake wanting the door to open. To me it was just a matter of JK squeezing in the destruction of a horocrux quickly.

[Snape_is_a_stud]

Originally Posted by lonewulf

Thats the thought I had reading it ... it just came across to me just as corny as someone holding up a snake wanting the door to open. To me it was just a matter of JK squeezing in the destruction of a horocrux quickly.

i don't want to admit it but i felt it was a bit like that too...

[ronjalina]

Ron never pretended to have spoken actual Parseltounge. He told Harry that he had tried to imitate the sound Harry had made to open the Chamber in CoS (and the locket in DH, this memory would have been more fresh on his mind).

Anyway, there is a thread discussing how Ron and Hermione entered the Chamber of Secrets, can´t find it right now. Maybe this discussion would be interesting there since it is directly tied to that question.

I will try to provide the link to that thread later, I can´t find it right now.

[Proud_Slytherin]

No, he did not.

I think it is just when you repeat something in a foreign language. You can reproduce the sound, but it doesnt mean you can speak it.

However, Ron DID put attention on Harry's sounds and whispers to be able to reproduce it.

[cgold]

Originally Posted by ArthurDent

I just wanted to mention that Ron did not actually speak parseltongue at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He just phonetically tried to recreate sounds that he had heard Harry make. It was clever, yes. But he did not speak the language because he could not understand what he was saying.

Exactly. I don't know why this is difficult to comprehend. He got the idea and ran with it because he just recently heard Harry open the locket with certain sounds.

It might work just as well to bring an actual snake into the bathroom and agitate it. If it speaks, you're in.

I wouldn't attempt this but I guess it would be possible.

Cheers

[Iqen]

I doubt that Ron can speak Parseltongue. He kept muttering sounds that he heard from Harry and it actually worked.

[Azure_Skies]

But in the one of the books (god help me I can't remember which one) it states that you can't just mimic the language. You have to be able to understand it and speak it - or else it just comes out as gibberish.

Because I was always wondering how he actually got the door to open - because that was nagging thought in the back of my head - you can't open it if you can't truly speak it.

[Woolensocks]

Well in the American edition it was pretty clear that Ron just imtated the sound and that his memory came from the Locket scene in the pool (not a memory from when he was 12 year old).

And i always thought of Parseltongue as any language we know...but with fonems instead of syllables (like mandarin) . . . The way that Harry always used it automatically and unknowlingly led us t think that it was something more magical than it actaully was.

[DBear]

Yes, that part seemed like lazy writing. It would've made more sense to have Harry give the command and then have Ron do the wizarding equivalent of "record and play back".

[Pollux_Black]

I liked it. I thought it showed Ron was a lot smarter than people usually assume, both in the books and out. It also showed him taking more initiative now that his self-esteem issues were dealt with in the Locket scene.

[FingolfinKing]

It diminished the plot so much to make such a magical thing so easy to mimic. Dont you think Dumbledore would have tried it? I'm sure he could have found a book with a phonetic reading of Parseltongue.

[Hogwartian]

In the interview today she revealed that Dumbledore can speak Parseltongue and I'm inclined to believe that he learned it, as opposed to having been born with it.

[BelleSnowyOwl]

Originally Posted by Proud_Slytherin

I think it is just when you repeat something in a foreign language. You can reproduce the sound, but it doesnt mean you can speak it.

But technically, Ron was speaking Parsletounge. If you can't carry a sentence in French, but you know the word "bonjour", simply from hearing it being used, you are speaking French. It may only be one word, and you are just imitating it, but isn't that how a language is learned anyway? You hear words spoken and copy them? So that's what Ron was doing, and while he will probably never be able to have a conversation with a Basilisk, by saying that one word he was speaking the language.

[mwbashful18]

I hate that people started criticizing this as "contrived" or "stupid" because it was perfect. Parseltongue is a language, not some magical gift that nobody but Harry, Dumbledore, and Voldemort could do. What makes it strange is Harry could speak it without realizing it! He got the gift because of Voldemort's soul in him, but it left when he lost the soul piece, as Rowling confirmed in the chat. Point is, Ron had heard Harry use Parseltongue when saying "Open" because Harry had said that's what he tried before. Ron said it took a bunch of tries but he got it right. It's the same as an American hearing the word "Open" spoken in French, and then imitating it.

It was clever and it worked.

[yaxels]

Originally Posted by Hogwartian

In the interview today she revealed that Dumbledore can speak Parseltongue and I'm inclined to believe that he learned it, as opposed to having been born with it.

You got a link to the interview? I wanna see it, seems intresting.

[Dumbledoreswand]

Originally Posted by yaxels

You got a link to the interview? I wanna see it, seems intresting.

J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Mermish, Gobbledegook and Parseltongue. The man was brilliant.
Delailah: How does dumbledore understand parseltongue?
http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1156

[stark0912]

I had always been under the impression that you had to be born with the gift of being a Parselmouth, and actually make it work for you. But if, as you are guessing, Dumbledore was able to learn it, I guess it is always possible to make it work for you just by imitating the noises.

[potatoesrock]

I don't get why this is so difficult to grasp. To those people who argue that the chamber was too easy to get into since anyone can just hiss, remember that not too many people will have heard the word 'Open' said in parseltongue, or have had the ability to imitate it. Ron had heard it used by Harry recently, and he had the ability to use it.

Parseltongue is nothing more than a language. What's more, you don't have to inherit the language, you can learn it. If Dumbledore can learn the whole language (as was hinted by JK) Ron can learn one word.

[Mia_Potter]

Originally Posted by FingolfinKing

It diminished the plot so much to make such a magical thing so easy to mimic. Dont you think Dumbledore would have tried it? I'm sure he could have found a book with a phonetic reading of Parseltongue.

How do we know after CoS that DD didn't go down in the chamber? Before Harry and Ron figured out where the Chamber of Secrets was DD didn't know. The castle had been searched but it had never been found. It wasn't until Harry and Ron figured out who had killed Myrtle and where that they figured out the entrance must be in that room. And other then being curious why would DD go down into the Chamber?

To me it made perfect sense and showed how smart Ron was that he knew to imitate Harry and open the Chamber so that they could get the fangs and he even thought to take a broom with them so they could fly back up.