OoP: Sirius and the Prophesy (unrelated)

[gr8lake5]

No: HPFGUIDX 63416

I was going to wait and post my few comments until after I had read
all of the 
insightful posts here.  However, one glance at my inbox scratched
that idea.  I'll be 
lucky if I ever get caught up!  ;)  

Overall, my impression from the first read was that it was very, very
different but very 
good and captivating.  It didn't feel like a Harry Potter novel at
first, the style and 
tone were so odd and jarring.  As soon as I realized there was no
Halloween feast and 
no major plot development to accompany it, I knew we were in for 
something completely different.  And I loved it.  

As I was reading some of the posts, I started thinking about 1) why
Sirius didn't use 
the polyjuice potion and 2) why the Order even wasted their time
guarding the 
prophesy.  

1) The polyjuice potion: I think the reason why it wasn't used is
because it's tightly 
controlled by the ministry.  I think this because of what it does. 
It completely 
changes one's appearance from the inside out, or so the description
of its effects in 
CoS leads me to believe.  The potion is also extremely complicated
and complex.  
These two aspects lead me to believe that it's probably the kind of
magic that the 
Ministry would want to watch and control.  The only other type of
magic that we know 
of that completely changes one person into another thing is Anamagi
and that is 
tightly regulated.  

So, assuming that, then Sirius using the polyjuice potion would be 
tempting fait too much.  If he transformed into the dog again, who
cares?  The illegal 
act has already taken place (often) so there's no harm in doing it
one more time.  But, 
if I am correct and the polyjuice potion is controlled by the
ministry, then it becomes 
another reason that the ministry wants him, another reason to arrest
him, which is 
what they are all trying to avoid.

2)  The Prophesy:  At first, I thought it was a silly waste of time
to guard the prophesy 
because it didn't change anything: Voldemort was still going to kill
Harry whether or 
not Harry was "the one" and the rest of the prophecy has already been
fulfilled, 
nothing new is really gained.  Additionally, Dumbledore knew what the
prophecy said.  
It seems pointless to protect it.  

However, I think the reason they are spending so much time and effort
guarding it is 
because Dumbledore knows what the prophecy says.  It gives them the
edge.  
Guarding it makes it seem very important and vital to the Order, thus
making the 
prophecy even more tempting for Voldemort to get.  So, he spends all
of his time 
trying to get it because (it seems from the other books that
Voldemort has a fairly 
one track mind).  Preventing him from getting the prophecy keeps him
focused on 
attaining this goal and effectively prevents more serious destruction
he could cause. 

There ya go!  What do you all think? Did I even make sense?  ;)

~Erie Martha

-----------------------------
yeah, so the moral of the story is, if there's a bad guy with a gun
pointed at you, from 
5 ft away, just yell really loud and move, chances are he'll miss the
first five shots.