Harry potter book question

Why was Ron weasley allowed to have a rat when on the supple list it only says a cat or toad or owl?

I'm not entirely certain. I think it's explained that it was deemed a creature of reasonable size and no one really minded it too much.

Ok thanks I think I can work with that.

Also, Percy had taken it to school before Ron so it's possible Percy requested and received special permission when he first went to school.

He's not the only one with exceptional pets: If you remember, Lee Jordan had a Tarantula and Ginny had a Pygmy Puff.

It might be that the rules on pets are rarely enforced or that exceptions can be made.

Probably it was small enough that nobody really bothered to enforce the rule. Who cares?

And as others have pointed out, there's other evidence of this (Lee's tarantuala and Ginny's pygmy puff).

I don't recall. Did it say ONLY these animals are accepted or just that those are the ones generally used by students? Gah, I need to go look at my book.

The list simply states that students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad. I suppose it's up to interpretation if that sentence means to specifically limit which animals can come or if it is simply emphasizing that only one may be brought per student, but it is not required. It it interesting that it never was clarified in the books, even in passing.

Yeah, just what everyone else says. It's okay, it doesn't really matter as long as it's like, I dunno, a crocodile.

I'm so confused as to the purpose of this thread, but I agree with the consensus. It's just recommended to have those three animals, but it really doesn't matter.

Additionally, they did not want students bringing like Unicorns or dogs or anything. :)

I've always assumed that this was JKR's foreshadowing to the fact that the 'rat' isn't really a rat.

I'd rather think, that this animals were most common and some pupils would have more than one of them. So it should read "Either an owl or a cat or a toad", so that nobody would bring an owl, a cat _and_ a toad.

Moving to Fans and Critics

I always thought of the pet list as a mistake on Rowling's part. You know, something she overlooked. But maybe not.