Cabbage smell

[Verin Haley]

No: HPFGUIDX 53494

Polyjuice!Arabella:

<Kathryn>
But, Harry also said the apothecary smelled like cabbage, so that
leads me to believe that potion ingredients in general smell like
cabbages.  So possibly, if you noticed this conncection in PS/SS you
would have known in the first book that Arabella Figg has some
connection to potions and the WW.

<Verin>
Also, I would take into account the relative difficulty of brewing
polyjuice.  It takes a month to brew a potion that will last
(depending on consumption) an hour.  At the most, a day?  Continuously
using polyjuice through Harry's youth seems a bit difficult.  Even if
she was only using it when Harry was there or when she needed to make
a "public" appearance, there's still the possibility someone will stop
by unexpectedly or will look in her windows.

I think it's far more likely that Figg, if she's under the continuous
influence of any potion at all (which is potentially dangerous, I
would think), is probably under something like the aging potion the
twins took in GoF to get past the aging line.  While it is possible
the twins knew about the age line through some nefarious source ahead
of time, I tend to think not.

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they made
their way across the hall.  "Well, that should be fooled by an "Aging
Potion, shouldn't it?"  (GoF 256 hardcover)

They *could* have been planning to use an Aging Potion since the
beginning of the year feast when the age restriction was released, but
the implication that the Aging Potion is more common or well-known
than polyjuice (the Twins immediately think of it and Hermione's
comment that Dumbledore will have thought of it) means it's probably
an easier/faster/more legal potion to make.  Therefore, Figg's
probably more likely to take it than polyjuice.

-Verin