Okay. My question is, how does Ginny get to take a pygmy puff to Hogwarts? I thought in the first book it said that only a cat, an owl or a toad were allowed as pets at Hogwarts. Going along with that, how did Ron get to take Scabbers, his rat, for the first three years?

thats a good question i always wondered that

Yeah... if you read a lot, you tend to notice contradictions in even the best books

This is very true. There are whopping contradictions in so much of literature, but you know, I think that makes them even more intriguing. The fact that there's so much information that even the author can't keep straight sometimes.

well, maybe new rules now that...i don't know? i don't remember anything pets not allowed aside from owl and cats? toads?...

I don't think its anything to do with new rules, think about it, jk has made a few mistakes in the books hasn't she? She's still an amazing author and I would be no where without Harry potter, but all authors make a few, if not one mistakes. It's no big deal though.

Maybe the rules are really relaxed?

I'd have to agree..
ALSO if you think about it they mention that Scabbers was Rons OLDER brothers rat..WHich means that they took Scabbers to school also right?

So yeah I'd have to go with the rules being relaxed..
I don't nessacarly think it was a 'mistake' that Rowling made..maybe she was just trying to show that Hogwarts is just like other schools..meaning they have set rules/guidelines/suggestions of what to bring..Maybe the cat/owl/toad where just the most popular 'pets' to bring? Or maybe the cheapest? Or maybe those were the only thing sold at their 'pet' shops?

Just something to think about.. BUT I don't remember them ever saying they "couldn't" bring anything but those three pets..

Well, the way it was worded in Harry's letter, I think it was clear that they could only bring one of those three animals:

"Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad"

I think the capital letters emphasizes that they can bring only one of those three animals. Sometimes we have to admit that writers make mistakes too. With a little one like this, I'm willing to overlook it.

Well a rat is just a rat, and a Pygmy Puff is very small. I don't think those two really are paid much attention to and no one cares that they're there. They just can be because they're small. The owl, cat, or toad are magical animals they can bring.

Also, maybe the rules were changed after WWW was opened to students could bring Pygmy Puffs.

I think that J.K. Rowling changed many things, besides this, in the series. For example, I'm currently rereading OOTP and in this book, Dumbledore's deluminator is known as a 'put-outer', just as it was in the first book. It was only in the final novel that she changed things.

J.K. had a lot on her mind concerning the books and if this is a mistake, it was a minor one.

However, it's possible that, just like at any school, the administration is sometimes forgiving and lax to students. Besides, toads and pygmy puffs are small and manageable; it's not like a student attempted to bring in a labrador or a cobra, I guess.

Well it's not exactly a pet is it? It's just s toy thing that you can play with. Because he pets that are allowed are a cat, a rat, a Toad and an owl. And they're all animals. But a pymgy puff isn't an animal. It's just something that the weasleys created.

Of course it's an animal o.O
It's alive, so why wouldn't it be?
Plus I think one of the twins said that these creatures were miniature versions of other creatures (forgot their exact name), which they bred - anyone got the part of the book there? I only got the german versions ^^

Well I don't think it is an animal because magical creatures aren't classed as animals they're classed as creatures. And that's what a pymgy puff is. Animals are only things that exist in the muggle world. (well of course they exist in the magical world too) such as cats, dogs, mice and horses etc. And things such as bowtruckles, grindylows and pmgy puffs only exist in the magical world so therefore they're not really animals. If you know what Im trying to get across.

Aah, right, I see your point, that makes sense!
That's probably it