Underage magic?

[Judy]

Mecki:
> When Tom murdered his parents, he was supposed to have been 16 
years 
> old, right?
> now, the ministry can detect underage magic, Harry has experienced 
> that numerous times, then why was Morfin accused of the murder? I 
> mean, I realise he confessed as soon as he was asked, but why did 
> they suspect a grown man?

Various explanations have been proposed to try to explain this 
problem away.  I tend to favor the idea that the MoM just does spot-
checks for underage magic, with Harry perhaps watched more closely.  
It seems quite likely that at the begining of OoTP, Umbridge 
had Harry watched very closely, because she had set him up and wanted 
to make sure he was caught.

On the other hand, this may just be one of those areas where JKR is 
not very consistent. 

Welcome back to the list, by the way!  I am sorry to hear of your 
misfortunes and hope the future will be brighter for you.

-- Judy