[HPforGrownups] OotP Moody's magical eye and the boggart..

[T.M. Sommers]

No: HPFGUIDX 70345

l3al3y_Doll_3 wrote:
> This just occured to me- If I remeber correctly Lupin said in PoA no 
> one really knows what a boggart's true form is because anytime 
> they're in the presence of people, they take the shape of the 
> person's worst fear. Well, when Molly asked Moody to have a look in 
> the writing desk with his magical eye and tell them what was in it, 
> the boggart was in another room, one floor above them. It wasn't 
> actually exposed to Moody to change form, so does that mean Moody 
> knows what it actualy looks like? I mean, it has to be right in 
> front of the person, right? Lupin didn't make it say all the wizard 
> has to do is see it, he made it seem the boggart had to be next to 
> the person to feel their fear.

I like to think of boggarts as sort of quantum-mechanical 
beasties.  That is, until observed, they have no form at all, 
just as a quantum-mechanical particle has no position until 
observed.  What did Moody see, then?  Perhaps the thing he fears 
is something that couldn't possibly be inside a piece of 
furniture.  If Lupin had a magical eye, and he saw the moon 
inside a wardrobe, it would be a pretty safe bet that it wasn't 
really the moon.

The real question is, what does a boggart see when looking at 
another boggart?