[HPforGrownups] Re: Transfiguration Brains/Hormorphus [was: Krum...an animagus??]

[Barb]

No: HPFGUIDX 45610


 Amanda Geist wrote:
Being transformed into an animal is passive. Someone does it to you. It's something that *happens* to you. You become an animal and do not retain your human intelligence. (I count curses and magical diseases in this class, too, because *they* act on *you.*)

Me:
You make a good point.  Furthermore, it makes more sense for this to be so (for Animagi or people who transfigure themselves to retain their human intelligence, but not someone like Malfoy, who is transfigured by someone else).  Otherwise, when Krum took on the head of a shark, he would have taken on the psyche of a shark as well, and would have endangered everyone under the water.  He clearly knew that wouldn't happen (although he lacked the ability to do the full Transfiguration) or he wouldn't have risked Hermione's life by doing this.  You also need to keep your human wits about you when you transfigure yourself so that you are capable of breaking the spell at will and returning to your human form.  We also get the distinct impression (after we know that Scabbers is really Pettigrew, of course) that Scabbers/Peter understands human speech and everything going on around him very, very well, and that he is not hampered in the least by having a rat-sized brain.
 
Amanda Geist wrote:
On a tangent, I am presuming the Homorphus Charm would work on both types of transformation--the charm makes one's human form be revealed, and I'd think it would work on any shape-changed human, whatcha think?


Me:

I'm not so sure I'd go out on a limb and say that.  Remus and Sirius used a spell to reveal Peter's human form, but Sirius did not attempt to use the same spell to "fix" Remus after he changed into a werewolf (he didn't have a wand at the time, but he could have asked one of the Trio for a wand).  It was clearly a different spell.  I suppose it may be possible that the Homorphus Charm could be used for both werewolves and someone transfigured into an animal (whether by themselves or someone else), while the spell Sirius and Remus used might not be effective on werewolves.  Unfortunately, I think this speculation may be (even more of) a purely academic exercise (than usual), as there is the distinct possibility that either a) Lockhart completely made up the existence of the Homorphus Charm, or b) Lockhart destroyed the memory of the person who created the Homorphus Charm in order to take credit for it himself, and so it is now lost to the wizarding world.  My guess is that Gilbert Wimple (he of the horns) and the rest of the Committee for Experimental Charms need to get cracking and figure out how to recreate it (if it ever existed). 

 

--Barb

[Anyone confused about Gilbert Wimple should look at GoF, Chapter Seven, "Bagman and Crouch.]


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