Crookshanks

[Seafoam Understone]

After re-reading Prisoner of Azkaban I couldn't help wonder about Hermione's cat, Crookshanks.
Just what exactly is this cat? More intelligent than the average cat that is for sure. It sensed something wrong with Scabbards from the beginning (jumping on Ron's head in the store) and went out of it's way to try and get Scabbards (Worm-tail/Pettigrew). It knew it wasn't an average rat.
So the question is... how?
Just fodder for discussion on an interesting creature in the HP world.

[Menolly]

I am pretty sure Jo answered this in an interview somewhere. If not, my son Beorn is just more perceptive than I thought.

Beorn says Crookshanks is half kneazle, based on the entry in Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them:

Kneazle
Ministry of Magic Classification: XXX
(Competant Wizard Should Cope)

The Kneazle was originally bred in Britain, though it is now expoprted worldwide. 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 agressive, 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. Licenses are required for ownerhip as (like Crups and Fwoopers) Kneazles are sufficiently unusual in appearance to attract Muggle interest.

[Seafoam Understone]

I am pretty sure Jo answered this in an interview somewhere. If not, my son Beorn is just more perceptive than I thought.

Beorn says Crookshanks is half kneazle, based on the entry in Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them:

Kneazle
Ministry of Magic Classification: XXX
(Competant Wizard Should Cope)

The Kneazle was originally bred in Britain, though it is now expoprted worldwide. 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 agressive, 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. Licenses are required for ownerhip as (like Crups and Fwoopers) Kneazles are sufficiently unusual in appearance to attract Muggle interest.

It wasn't mentioned in the books... or I totally over-looked it. I'm re-reading the entire series now and am up to OoTP. All in-so-far mentions of Crookshanks references him as a cat. Perhaps Hermione doesn't know it but I would find it unlikely since she would've noticed the subtle differences and looked them up in the library.

[Menolly]

*nod*

Crookshanks doesn't show most of the phsyical characteristics of a kneazle, although perhaps his ears are overlarge, and you are correct, it is never mentioned in the books.

But, it looks like someone on Wikipedia thinks it is the case as well...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crookshanks#Harry_Potter_and_the_Prisoner_of_Azkaban

In her third year, Hermione gets a pet cat-Kneazle mix named Crookshanks, who habitually pursues Ron's pet rat, Scabbers.[14]

14. ^ [HP3], chapters 12 and 13.

[Dragonlily]

That HP Encyclopedia is going to be quite interesting.