Dumbledore the General

[phoenixgod2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 124349



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Janet Anderson" 
> 
> I think this would have been a brilliant idea, except for the fact 
that 
> learning to be an animagus apparently takes years of study, 
especially if 
> you're doing it part-time as all of the people suggested would 
be.  (Tonks 
> and Kingsley have full-time jobs at the Ministry; Molly has a full-
time job 
> feeding the Order and making their headquarters habitable.)  So it 
wouldn't 
> have been very useful except perhaps as a long-term project.
> 
> 
> Janet Anderson
> (trying to catch up)

Janet, you bring up a good point. Except that it took so long for 
the marauders to become animagi because they were all still students 
with an imperfect understanding of Transfiguration.  The order are 
all skilled and powerful wizards, and with the aid of the 
Transfiguration professor (notes, tips, and such) I think it would 
have taken much less time.  Even if it would have taken a lot of 
time, the illusion of helping would still have done Sirius a world 
of good. Teaching Harry how to be an animagi would have done him 
some good as well. Sirius really did just want to be useful.

The cynic in me thinks that maybe DD didn't do the latter because 
becoming an animagi would have given Harry other options besides the 
ones DD normally allows him.  

phoenixgod2000