[HPforGrownups] Wormtail transformation?

[Barb P]

No: HPFGUIDX 44584


Dave Hardenbrook wrote: 
 Just wondering -- What happens now when Wormtail turns into a rat? Does his silver hand become a normal rat's paw (Carlo Collodi logic*) or does it become a *silver* paw (L. Frank Baum logic**)?

-- 
Dave

* In _Pinocchio_ when title puppet turns into a donkey, it's a real one, not wooden.

** In _The Tin Woodman of Oz_ when the giantess Mrs. Yoop ( Madame Maxime's mum?? :) ) turns the Scarecrow into a bear and the Tin Man into an owl, the bear is stuffed with straw and the owl is made of tin.
 
Several things seem to be possible.  Since, before Voldemort's rebirth, he lacked a finger in his rat form AND his human form, it is possible that he would in fact have a silver paw (this would reflect the state of his current human form, just like the missing finger).  Another possibility is that, since the silver hand might not be a "part" of him in quite the same way as the body he was born with, he will no longer be able to do the Animagus Transfiguration.  Or, if it IS in fact fully integrated into his body and he can control what happens to it when he becomes an Animagus, it may become a normal rat's paw, as you suggested.  
 
What JKR plans to do about this remains to be seen, but if she is consistent with her earlier portrayal of Wormtail, the first option seems most likely.  (And it would reduce plot possibilities to remove the ability to do the Animagus Transfiguration from Wormtail.)  This would give Harry and company an advantage; a rat with a silver paw would be more easily spotted than one simply missing a finger.  (Which makes you wonder how Sirius spotted the missing finger in a newspaper photograph, but that's another story...)
 
--Barb
 
 


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