Tonks again

[kjirstem]

Kneasy wrote:
This is a sort of expansion of the Tonks post put up a
couple of days after HBP publication. <
> Something smells fishy,
though whether the fish in question is red herring or a tastier 
morsel presented for our collective delectation is not a foregone
conclusion.

<snip>

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.

<snip>

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.

<snip>

SSSusan adds:
There's *some* kind of weird connection between the
Tonks we see in HBP and Draco Malfoy as well.

1) Draco stomps on Harry's nose and leaves him hidden
under the Invisibility Cloak. SOMEHOW Tonks happens
by and discovers Harry.

2) Harry is hanging out, again under the IC, near the
Room of Requirement, trying to catch Malfoy. Who
happens to come along instead of the expected Draco?
Tonks... with some lame excuse for her presence about
needing to see DD, who resides in a totally different
part of the castle.

3) At some point Harry actually notices that Draco
and Tonks have a similar appearance this year -- both
looking ill and tired. Harry, not one to notice a
whole lot about others' appearances, I wouldn't say,
actually making a connection between the appearances
of these two?

kjirstem:
Eeep! I've walked in on a Tonks discussion.  I'm terribly
tempted by this conspiracy theory.

In addition to the points made above, Tonks seems suspiciously
ineffective in the battle scene below the Astronomy tower. The big
blond DE that she is "fighting" is the one creating chaos. 
Why doesn't he aim anything at her and why is she unable to hex
him? Harry manages to get him out of the way on the first try.

When I'm feeling suspicious, I tend to think Andromeda is
impersonating Tonks, probably after being threatened by Mad Momma
Grizzly!Narcissa.  

But, I have to admit that I read this quote from the Leaky/Mugglenet
interview,
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/extras/aa-jointerview2.htm 
half-way down the page, as indicating that Tonks was really just Tonks
all through HBP.

"— that there is no place for romance in a  detective story
except that it can be useful to camouflage other people's motives.
That's true; it is a very useful trick. I've used that on Percy and
I've used that to a degree on Tonks in this book, as a red
herring."

Of course, that quote doesn't rule out something else going on,
like ESE!Tonks.

kjirstem