Tonks is cheap -Metamorphmagus Limits

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 70011

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Echa Schneider
<echa_schneider at m...> wrote:
> 
> On Sunday, July 13, 2003, at 07:47 AM, oh have faith wrote:
> 
> >
> > Mm, it's an interesting ability.  It's got me thinking whether we
> > may have actually seen Tonks in the books before, under the guise
> > of someone else?
> >
> 
> I so hope this isn't true. The second I read "Metamorphmagus" I got 
> angry. I genuinely hope that Tonk's unusual ability doesn't come into 
> play for anything other than humor. 
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Echa, ...

bboy_mn:

Yes, I agree Tonks being a Metamorphmagus is just a little too
convenient. 

Although, the book doesn't complete support my next theory yet, I
think it will prove true. I believe that a Metamorphmagus can't create
mass, they can only redistrubute it. 

What that means is that Tonks could never impersonate Hagrid, because
she doesn't have enough mass; there isn't enough of her to create
something that big. She can only morph into things of a similar size
and weight. That certainly puts a reasonable limit on her ability.

Also, morphing her looks to appear as an old woman is easy, if she
just creates a random old woman, but much much harder if she trys to
precisely duplicate another human being. I suspect that morphing into
a reasonable approximation of another specific person is an extremely
difficult task.

So, while I think Tonks is there for her Morphing capability, and I
suspect she will use this in the books in the future, I don't think we
will see an exact duplication and replacement of another person. At
best, she may, for example, in the heat of battle, morph into an
approximation of Harry to create a diversion or distraction, but once
caught, it will be obvious that she really isn't Harry. 

A counter example, one that I think will NOT happen is Tonks taking
Hermione's place at school so she can stand guard to protect Harry. I
don't think her morphing capability is that good. As a counter to the
counter example, she could come in as a whole new student, say a
transfer from Beauxbatons Academy. She could pull that off, because
she creates a unique person, not a copy of someone else. I personally
doubt that that will happen, I'm just using it to illustrate my point.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn