Horteus Ebekenezer apparently has the ability to "commune" with animals (here, "commune" means to "communicate intimately with"). He devised a magical spell which allows you to hear animals talking? The spell is called "Vocarum Animale", quasi-, fake Latin-sounding words meaning *some*thing like "animal callings" (but it's nonsense-Latin, don't worry about it). How it works? You'll see later in the book... :)