The Animagus Clothing Cop-Out

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 24991

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> wrote:
> Cindy:
> > I'm still puzzling over this issue of what animagi take with them 
> when they transform.  It seems they keep their robes.
> 
> Animagi are common figures in fantasy novels (as I mused a couple 
of months ago), and every time a fantasy author decides to toss a 
couple into the plot, they hit that age-old problem of What To Do 
About Their Clothes.  Arguments about "but it's Magic!" aside, I 
would argue that only the person's body should transform into the 
animal, with any clothing, objects carried, etc. left hanging 
ridiculously from the animal's body (picture a wolf crammed into 
Lupin's patched robes) or falling to the ground, unable to be held by 
a hoof or wing or paw.  


The clothing issue is prevalent in superhero comicbooks (slightly OT 
Confession: I used to read DC and Marvel Comics). For example, why 
didn't Reed Richard's (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) or 
Elastic Man (in the DC Comic world) clothes rip whenever they used 
their stretching power? Or why didn't Kitty Pryde's (of the X-Men)
clothes remain behind whenever she used her power to go through solid 
objects? Or when Nightcrawler transports why does his clothes 
transport with him? Or why did the Atom's (DC Comics) clothes shrink 
and grow with him? Or why Clark Kent doesn't look obese since he's 
wearing his superman clothes and cape beneath his Clark Kent clothes?

IIRC, in the Marvel Comics world, they explained the Reed Richards 
developed some sort of super-material with a loose molecular 
structure allowing more flexibility and durability and all the 
superheros (and super villians) use that material or some form of it 
for their super-clothing. Kitty Pryde's clothing dilemna was 
explained that because her clothes were in contact with her body, 
whenever she used her power that allowed her molecules to slip 
between other molecules her clothes affected by her power.

So, I figure that since animagi clothes are in contact with their 
bodies (a la Kitty Pryde), the clothes are affected by the animagi 
power and is tranformed into the skin/shell of the animal figure. For 
example, Rita Skeeter's bug animagi had markings around it's eyes 
shaped like her eyeglasses.

Milz