Polyjuice Potion and Other Transformations

[Margaret Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 14246

Amanda Lewanski wrote:
> 
> Margaret Dean wrote:
> 
> > It makes me wonder about the effects of using a Polyjuice Potion
> > long-term, and how much of the false "Moody" actually =was= Moody and
> > not an act.  Harry and Ron only stayed in Crabbe and Goyle form for an
> > hour.  What would have happened if they'd kept it up?  Would they
> > start "being" Crabbe and Goyle in more than just outward form?
> 
> Excellent question. In PoA, Sirius mentions that not only did his
> knowledge of his innocence help him against the dementors, but that when
> he was in dog form, his emotions were less human, harder for the
> dementors to perceive. So I got the impression that it's a little more
> complicated being an animagus than simply having an animal form--your
> mind works a bit differently.
> 
> Thus, I would have thought spending a length of time in animal form
> would affect your thinking---but here's Pettigrew, twelve years as a rat
> under his belt, effortlessly picking up where he left off as a human.

Unless he sneaked off every so often during those twelve years
and became a man again for a few hours (maybe long enough to
visit the local pub...).

Also, we don't necessarily know the full effects of the spell
Lupin and Black used on Pettigrew to force him back into human
form.  They may have been forcing him back into human mentality
as well.
 
> Polyjuice Potion is similar to the animagus magic in that it actually,
> physically, transforms you--it's not an illusion. I presume it
> transforms the internals, too, or Crouch/Moody would not have been able
> to use the fake leg and eye. So it transforms the brain--so *does* it
> affect one's thinking if used for a long time? Evidently transformation
> to an animagus does not, although I'd guess it transforms the internals,
> too.

Another wrinkle is the effect of the Wolfsbane Potion, which
enables a werewolf to keep his human mind even when transformed
to a wolf (which normally doesn't happen -- that is obviously one
transformation which =does= involve mind as well as body).

This may be one reason why the animagus transformation is so
complicated and dangerous.

Though conversely, it may be =easier= to switch from animal mind
==> human mind because of the very perceptible differences
between them, whereas the differences between one human mind and
another are more subtle . . . and easier to miss.


--Margaret Dean
  <margdean at erols.com>