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Post by idiotj on Aug 3, 2007 23:15:57 GMT -5
So Lupin says that Polyjuice Potions can only be used by people--not, for example, half-giants. In that case:
--Does Fleur's 1/4 Veela blood not count?
--What about Lupin's lycanthropy?
--And what was the deal with catwoman!Hermione, then?
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Post by Zaid on Aug 4, 2007 5:23:38 GMT -5
I can't tell you about the Lupin thing, but since a Veela is still a human I don't think it would matter with them. As for Hermione, I think that was just a mistake because she wrote it before she'd planned everything in book 7, maybe?
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Post by RockSunner on Aug 4, 2007 9:19:44 GMT -5
There's no problem with Hermione that I can see, If a human takes a potion with the wrong kind of hair it doesn't work right, but it does give side effects. If a cat was given a human potion it probably would have no effect at all, or it might make it look a little human-like.
For Polyjuice to fully "work" it has to make the user a copy of the other person. Suppose Hagrid took the potion and it made him look like a giant-sized Harry. That would be useless for Mad-Eye's purposes, which is all he was saying.
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Post by idiotj on Aug 4, 2007 10:25:04 GMT -5
What I think was being implied was that a Death Eater can't disguise himself as Hagrid--Hagrid asked why Lupin wasn't checking Hagrid out, and Lupin said it was because Polyjuice was for human use only--a Death Eater couldn't be Hagrid.
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Post by RockSunner on Aug 4, 2007 15:10:03 GMT -5
Ok, that still works -- a Death Eater might make himself resemble Hagrid but at the wrong size. Hermione didn't fully become a cat either..
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Post by ineedyourhelp on Aug 4, 2007 16:18:14 GMT -5
Another question. I thought Polyjuice Potion only lasted an hour. That's why Barty Jr. had to keep taking it in the flask and that's why Harry and Ron started to transform back so quickly in CoS. But in DH, they were in the Ministry for a lot longer than an hour and they didn't change back.
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Post by RockSunner on Aug 4, 2007 18:21:13 GMT -5
We follow everything Harry does, and I don't see anything that would take him longer than an hour total. It's not like it says "Harry spent two hours searching Umbridge's office" or anything like that,
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sushi
Catastrophic Captain
Posts: 58
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Post by sushi on Aug 5, 2007 4:49:19 GMT -5
Another question. I thought Polyjuice Potion only lasted an hour. That's why Barty Jr. had to keep taking it in the flask and that's why Harry and Ron started to transform back so quickly in CoS. But in DH, they were in the Ministry for a lot longer than an hour and they didn't change back. Actaully, that's exactly what i was wondering...to me the Ministry scene seemed to go longer than an hour, and i felt that Bill and Fleurs wedding, when Harry was disguised as a cousin was much longer than an hour... Though, maybe there he would be able to easily drink more potion if he really had to, even if it wasn't descibed?
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Post by PJ on Aug 5, 2007 7:13:46 GMT -5
Lupin is a werewolf. It's just an illness, really. He's still human. So the potion works for him.
And it says the polyjuice potion only works for humans. That could mean that you can only use a human hair (or nail, or whatever) in it, which works, since Hermione got turned into a cat person when she used an animal hair, and got stuck that way.
As for non-humans taking the potion, we have no idea. If Lupin is indeed a non-human, then the fact that he took it could work (wait, did he take it?). And Fleur took it, despite being non-human. At least, partly. Or perhaps the Veela strain was so weak, it didn't count? Or perhaps the potion works for Veela?
As for the hour thing, it's just a plot device. Hence, JK makes it interesting for Harry, because he has a time limit to work with. When there is no need for such a limit (as suspense is not needed, for instance, at the wedding) she extends it a bit.
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Post by slither on Aug 5, 2007 10:27:55 GMT -5
When pretending to be Bellatrix, Hermione transformed Ron into some unrecognizable foreign person. Why can't people just do that to look like other people? Like, the same spells, but have made Ron's hair black, green eyes, etc.
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Post by ineedyourhelp on Aug 5, 2007 13:04:19 GMT -5
When pretending to be Bellatrix, Hermione transformed Ron into some unrecognizable foreign person. Why can't people just do that to look like other people? Like, the same spells, but have made Ron's hair black, green eyes, etc. Yea, I felt that it was kind of stupid that she was able to transform Ron's appearance. I guess Polyjuice potion is just easier becuase it makes you look exactly like the person you're pretending to be.
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Post by PJ on Aug 5, 2007 23:39:10 GMT -5
Yeah....they had those scenes in HPB in which they were casting spells on their appearance, and (I think) Ron or Harry had yellow hair or something WacKY. So that fits allright.
And it's just easier, I guess. I imagine it's like painting; only a really skilled artist can effectively imitate the person they are painting; Hermione may be skilled, but there's only so much one can do, hence the use of the polyjuice potion.
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Post by ineedyourhelp on Aug 6, 2007 8:49:11 GMT -5
Maybe Rowling also put that in so we wouldn't be wondering or asking her: "Hey, they're wizards, couldn't they just use magic to change themselves into somebody else?"
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Post by slither on Aug 6, 2007 16:47:42 GMT -5
I can't see JKR writing something simply to prevent people from asking something.
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Post by Jacques the Environmentalist on Aug 6, 2007 21:53:43 GMT -5
Polyjuice potion totally turns you into the other person in all physical attributes. The whole wand transfiguration thing doesn't, plus it wears off after awhile and you'd need someone with skill with you to redo it which would be noticeable. With polyjuice you can discreetly drink and retain your form.
Harry could still recognize Ron under all Hermione's charms, you can't recognize people when they use polyjuice.
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