Ministry Control was: Re: Animagi revisited was: Sirius revisited

[Kate]

No: HPFGUIDX 104113

Mandy <ExSlytherin at a...> wrote:
> So why are there not more of them?  We know of many brilliant 
> wizards in the canon, yet only seven animagi currently alive?  
> It seems odd. Perhaps it has less to do with talent, and more 
> to do with how animagi are perceived by the WW.  <snip>
> 
> Why did the marauders hide their animagus status after school?  
> If not from the WW, why hide it from DD?  Surely it would have 
> benefited them in the Order?  <snip>   
> 
> Why should Rita Skeeter hide her animagi status? Yes, it's a 
> great disguise to use to have as a reporter, but even if she 
> was registered and it was known that she was one, who's going 
> to bother to remember?  <snip>

It always seemed to me that the Marauders and Rita Skeeter kept 
their animagi talents a secret for the sheer fact that they had 
acquired the ability illegally.  I think the most logical reason for 
the lack of animagi in the last century is that this magical power 
is highly regulated by the ministry.  I can only imagine the 
punishment one would recieve for being an unregistered animagus.  
The ministry, as we have seen, is extremely controlling and paranoid 
of powerful wizards.  And in this case I think it is rightly so.  
Can you imagine the havoc that could ensue in the WW if half the 
population could transform into a animal?  The stealth that one can 
achieve as an animagus is extreme.  Like Hermione's time-turner, I'm 
sure there are a lot of channels one must go through to get the okay 
for this type of transformation but to a much greater extreme.  But 
this is just one girl's opinion.

-Katie, who has read these boards forever but just now posted and 
hopes she got it right
Hello :)