Curious thought about Portraits - How Many?

[Kim]

No: HPFGUIDX 96773

Hello!

This is something I had been wondering as well.  It would seem that 
one must leave a portrait in one place to appear in another, as when 
Arthur Weasley is injured in OOTP.  

The portraits also seem strategically placed; I think it's fair to 
assume that Dumbledore has access to a great deal of information at 
any given time through the portraits, and that the MOM is not 
necessarily aware of this.  It just occurred to me that he most 
likely used the portraits for information about the time change for 
Harry's hearing in OOTP.  It would also certainly explain why 
Dumbledore is virtually omniscient at Hogwarts and why he doesn't 
want to lose his face on the Chocolate Frog cards.    

But I have always been intrigued by the photographs and wondered 
whether or not the people in them could do the same.  I can't 
remember if there are any photos of Percy in Grimmauld Place, which 
would be like having a direct information link to Fudge and the MOM 
(although I am coming around to the idea that Percy is doing his 
part for the Order by staging the family drama and only Arthur 
knows), but we certainly know that pictures of Bellatrix and Sirius' 
other unsavory family members are rather casually tossed out, later 
to find their way into Kreacher's hovel.  I would hope that the 
Order would be less careless about the photographs if the people in 
them could spy.  

It will be interesting to see what part the portraits will play in 
future books!

K