Hot Topics #3

Welcome to the next Discussion of our new series called..."Hot Topics"! Here we will discuss anything and everthing to do with Transfiguration. Each week we will talk about a different topic, and each topic will only be open for discussion for about a week. This way the discussions aren't drug out and we've got new and exciting things to talk about regularly! A "Hot Topic" suggestion thread will be open soon for all of you to post in!

In our discussion threads..I only ask a few things. Firstly, it's not necessary to post in RP style any longer. 2nd, no one sentence posts please. 3rd, respect others opinions. That's it! Have fun! 50 Housepoints up for grabs!


This weeks topic....

The ministry requires all animagi to register so they can keep dibs on them. Do you believe this should be required? Why or why not?

I certainly see the reasoning behind registering animagi, but I don't really think, logistically speaking, the system is effective. Several times the books have mentioned the difficulty of the transfiguration and how only a handful of wizards can transform. Most of the animagi we know of are unregistered (The Marauders and Rita Skeeter), so the system is really pointless and a waste of time. In fact, knowing you must register yourself as an animagi removes some of its appeal as a method of anonymity as the records are open to the public. If the ministry doesn't have knowledge of your transfiguration ability, they cannot prove that you are an animagus unless they see you transform - in which case, the wizards transfiguring are too smart to let that happen.

Can I post in response to someone else again, or must I edit this post to incorporate my agreement with or opposition to someone's argument?

No...as it is the Ministry that likes to perpetuate the persecution of those who don't follow it blindly down the next corridor!

The ministry wishes to keep tabs on all animagi in order to keep a firm grip on those whom may be outlawing against them. We know full well that the Marauders and Skeeter did, however look at how Skeeter could be handled when Hermione held her unregistered animagus status against her.

I for one am not the type of person who blindly follows others leads. I would rather have a hinting of anonymity by being an unregistered animagus then be able to be tracked by the ministry in case of persecution.

I think this is quite a tricky question. Of course it does make sense to have the animagi registered, for the reason Stephy named and also because it helps to know exactly who is powerful enough to do this - and probably other kinds of - powerful magic.

On the other hand side, as has been said before a registration greatly limits the aspect of anonymity. On the other hand, if you want that anonymity, I think you can get it by transforming, because it might be hard to tell a normal animal apart from an animagi in their animal form, might it not?

Considering those points, you could conclude the register would make sense in a way if there was a possibility to find out someone was an animagus besides seeing them transfigure. However, as long as it is such untrackable magic, it is not really possible to have a proper register.
But in my opinion, even an incomplete register does show something: Those who do have themselves registrated as animagi probably don't plan to do any bad with the help of this complex kind of magic.

I do think that it should be required for animagi to be registered with the ministry. It helps to keep everyone safe, including the people who are animagi. It helps protect others because it stops incidences like Peter Pettigrew from happening, also it helps to protect your privacy from spying, and incidences like Rita Skeeter. So it is really for everyone's own good that there is a system to keep tabs on animagi.

True there have been noble insidences of being an unregistered animagi, such as the Marauders and what they did to help fellow Marauder Remus Lupin, but they also could have become animagi and registered and been just as much help. So it really is for the better that animagi should be required to register.

Gemma_Cullen-Malfoy wrote:

You can trace underage magic, Apparation or even simple words which are traced, but there is nothing which helps you to discover the change of a person into an animal in the animagi way.

I think the point about the Trace is very interesting. Tracing, as discovered in DH, actually effects Muggle-born students more. Students in wizarding families can perform magic without the ministry's knowledge because the trace determines if magic occurrs in their presence. The ministry ignores wizard families, because of course, the parents use magic. So if they tried to use a trace on Animagi, the same problem would arise - someone could transform near a large group of people so the ministry would not be able to tell exactly who transformed.

The thing is even if it is illegal to be an animagus without regestering I don't think that will stop people.. Even in the muggle world, it's illegal to steal but pepole do it anyway. I think having the register is a good idea and proably a good way to get help if you are planning to become an animagus i don't know how practical it is though.

I think that for the most part, registration seems to work. If there is an animal wreaking havok somewhere, the ministry could check the registry to see if anyone's markings match. And there really aren't that many animagi in the first place. It is also, however, just another way for the government to keep track of everyone. After you turn 17 your magic is no longer tracked, so it would not make any sense to track this aspect of your magic unless you were abusing it. Maybe the best way of keeping tabs would be to treat it like a child abuse registry, where if you have been convicted of a crime you must register, otherwise you don't have to. Because for the most part in the books most of the unregistered animagi didn't do anything illegal, and I can see how, in the case of Harry and anyone else in the spotlight, being an unregistered animagus would be an easy way out of the spotlight.

Quote :

Funny how you all think of Animagus as a form of desguise. I'm not saying you're not right but, even if all Animagui were registered a person wouldn't know by heart the entire list and everyone's distinctive features. And small animagus forms like Rita's would still be perefectly in disguise because even though we have the knowledge we rarely get suspicious we don't like to live in fear we like to believe the world's safe so sometimes we ingore what's exactly in front of us.

The list of Animagi are public record, as Hermione accessed the list in Prisoner of Azkaban. So, yes, registering as an animagi completely destroys your anonymity because anyone can find out if you can transform or not. Someone could, in fact, memorize the entire list, as an ability to transform is very rare. In the 20th century, registered animagi include Professor McGonagall and six other people. Obviously, those interested in finding current animagi would simply need to memorize seven people.

If registering oneself as an animagi does not take away your anonymity, why do we know so many unregistered animagi (the Marauders and Rita Skeeter)? And in fact, if registering does not destroy your anonymity, why wouldn't these people have registered? Any reason I can see simply leads back to a lack of anonymity.

Sorry if I seemed a bit confrontational. ^-^.

As everyone is saying u must register to do animagi i dont think it should be inforced, to do animagi is indeed a dangerous sometimes matter as of like peter petigrew was in deed a animagi and he did bad things too as one so i do agree that there should have a regestration. A rule i think should be involved, u dont have to regester with all the paper work but u must indeed give detail and maybe like one paper to fill out, i mean who likes paperwork. [ uhh.... i dont think anyone does ]

I am torn between sides. For safety purposes yes animagi should be registered but a side from that I don't see why. Registration hasn't stopped witches and wizards in the past from learning this particular style of magic and it wont stop them in the future either. No matter what rules, laws, or guidelines (call them what you will) are put in effect it will not stop some witches and wizards from developing ways to try and best the rules.

I think it's extremely wise for any animagus to be require to be registered. For example, if the wizarding world had known of Peter Pettigrew's animagus form, an unjust murder conviction may never have occured.

Also, what happens if a witch or wizard dies still in their animagus form? It would be much harder to identify the person if it was unknown that he or she was an animagus.

I feel that along with an animagus registry, a metamorphmagus registry would be wise. The only real problems I could forsee are, firstly in the case of an Auror and secondly the clear fact that a metamorphmagus would not have one form he or she took. Perhaps it could be slightly different in that anyone convicted of a serious crime would have to register if he or she is a metamorphmagus. Also, given the difficulty Nymphadora Tonks seems to exhibit when changing one feature, perhaps it would be somewhat easier to recognize a disguised person by their eyes or some other feature.

I don't really know if the latter registry would be feesible or practical, but I do think it's worth considering.

This discussion is now closed.

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