Arabella Figg and the Polyjuice Potion (no Latin!)

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 42766

Naama wrote:
> Aside from that, I have a question: why is it necessary for Arabella 
> Figg, the attractive young witch, to appear as an old woman in order 
> to keep watch over Harry? (I'm sure it's been explained in depth in 
> some TBAY message, but I haven't always been able to follow each and 
> every thread.)
> 
> 
> Naama, who sometimes feels that she IS Occam's Razor :-)

I don't personally believe that particular theory, but -allowing to the 
supposition that it *is* true- if Arabella was shapely and young, AND a 
girlfriend to Sirius, she must have attended the Potter's wedding, and 
so must the Dursleys.I assume that they (Dumbledore and co.) didn't 
want the chance that the Dursleys identified her as a witch friend of 
the Potters.

Of course, an old lady is always more unremarkable than a shapely young 
witch. Just picture it: she needed to gain the Dursleys confidence. 
Knowing Petunia, would you approach them looking like a Haliwell 
[Charmed Ones reference], or like an old crone? While the first will 
only ask for jelousy, the second will accepted and mostly ignored. Old 
people normally are seen walking around aimlessly, which helps when 
keeping an eye on Harry, and are always free to take in a child for a 
day, which makes her useful to the Dursleys. And, she can have lots of 
cats to help her with the vigilance. Although I believe that Figg was 
picked *because* she already had these qualities (I picture her as an 
old school firend of McGonagall), it works exactly the same with a 
Polyjuiced!Figg.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf, who, in this case is with Naama and William of Occam, 
although he feels that if William had been faced with the Potterverse, 
he would've grown a beard.