[the_old_crowd] Tonks again

[ewe2]

Excellent summary, Kneasy. Let's precis and try to narrow down the likely
culprit:

On Mon, Aug 15, 2005 at 09:31:24PM +0100, Barry Arrowsmith wrote:

> A Metamorphagus who can't metamorphose, an ability she was born with  
> - able to produce a Patronus - but it's the wrong one - no problem  
> with other spells - reversing Draino's petrification, fixing Harry's  
> nose without  a hitch - seems awfully selective, this loss of powers.  
> And those that are up the pictures are those that are personal to  
> Tonks. Those that 'remain' are those that could be produced by any  
> competent witch, indistinguishable  from what would be expected if  
> someone were pretending to be Tonks.

This points to a PolyJuiced!Someone. There have been several attempts to
excuse the Patronus, but I think JKR's pronouncement on the FAQ poll page
seals it. "Tonks" asks Harry directly about letters between Order members,
which is such a giveaway; "Tonks" doesn't know about the Patronus method.
But she's had to make a Patronus and it sounds rather fudged and excuses can
be made for not-quite-there Patronuses. Hence the Lupin love-story to deflect
suspicion and excuse most un-Tonk-like behaviour.

> Reasons (or spurious excuses depending on your inclinations) are  
> offered, first that she's mourning for Sirius, then it's pointed out  
> that she hardly knew him, then that she blames herself for his death,  
> though no-one else does, and finally that she's distraught at being  
> kept at arms length by Lupin. A likely tale.

More the actions of a rather concerned mother who thinks children are being
used as cannon-fodder methinks. If it is Narcissa, this would explain the
tears and excuses. Heaven forbid it's Bellatrix. But surely an Unbreakable Vow
is enough to guarantee Snape's diligence; an elaborate trick like this can go
wrong easily enough. Then again, it worked with Moody. And Bellatrix is like a
Dark Hermione trying to get into Teach Voldy's good books.

> There were two reactions to being spurned in the Hearts Desire  
> Handicap; either "Bastard! I'll show him!" or cow-eyes, the quivering  
> bottom lip, love-lorn remorseful glances and a compulsion to dog the  
> footsteps of the poor wretch that was the object of desire like a bad  
> smell. Sometimes one'd go missing for hours, wandering the corridors   
> hoping for an  'accidental' meeting that usually resulted in floods  
> of tears in the lady's loo. But neither paradigm applies to Tonks.  
> Very suspicious IMO.

But heart-to-hearts with a no doubt eager Molly and award-winning acting
in company has apparently been enough, even for the bewildered Lupin. I
seriously doubt that a polyjuiced wizard could pull even this off. So it
confirms my view that its another woman. And as long as the conversation went
in this direction, much less the chance of giving herself away. Only Harry has
been unwittingly given a clue.

> We're expected to believe that an old-looking Auror!Tonks with dodgy  
> magic is set to guard Hogwarts, and strangely enough she's the only  
> Auror we see there, even though there are supposed to be three  
> others. Turns up in unexpected places, too. Lurking in the background  
> when Dung is .... is what? Flogging  the Black family silver? (To  
> Aberforth? Anyone else have difficulty with that one?) And doing a  
> bit of fortuitous 'guarding' outside the RoR. Guarding for whom, I  
> wonder? Is it just  rotten luck that she's totally unable to give  
> Harry any useful  information about Draino's activities?

Do you think it likely that Dung knows who Aberforth really is? My impression
is that if half the denizen's of the Hog's Head knew, the pub would be empty.
It's such a golden opportunity to hear what the criminal underground is
saying, Aberforth would be mad to allow a yapper like Dung in on the secret.

But I digress - "Tonks" has apparently been trying to find out about the Order
and sneaking a peek at young Drongo now and then. "She" could not afford to
give away her real ignorance and I imagine kept pretty quiet.


> Even her reactions in the hospital after DD's death are incongruous.  
> Lupin breaks down - and she ignores him completely. This is love?  
> True, she gives him a right bollocking soon afterwards, but that too  
> would not be incompatible with someone who's fed up with all this  
> 'love-crossed lovers' crap and decides it's time to intervene. Acting  
> in the way Hermione would.

I could play devil's advocate here and excuse it on the grounds that JKR
wanted to get some important dialogue over with, but that sounds weak. I note
from Tonks description of the battle however that she seems to have seen a lot
without actually doing anything. 

> Nope.
> Tonks is high on the 'acting suspiciously -  investigate' list.
> Just what is she hiding?

My vote is Narcissa - Bellatrix would not control herself sufficiently around
Harry, and Narcissa is likely to have a more neutral view about children in
danger. Both, particularly Bella, would be keen to be there, but I think
Narcissa has a better chance simply because she hasn't screwed up like Bella.
Yet. And we simply don't know enough about Andromeda.

On another note, have any of you thrillseekers tried out the MuggleCast
podcasts yet? There have been two so far and can be subscribed here:

http://www.mugglenet.com/mugglecast/

It seems promising; they're trying to set up a Skype gateway so listeners can
"ring in" but you can always send them questions via a WAV or MP3. They make
plenty of pronouncements you may find enjoyable to disagree with.


ewe2, in full penguin detective regalia and meersham.

-- 
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam Savage