Animagus magic

[mudbloodproud]

I have a bit of a stumbling block in a one-shot I am writing.

We know house-elf magic is traceable if done around a wizard under 17. Example being Dobby's magic got Harry in trouble for using underage magic.

In the same situation with an underage wizard in a Muggle household, would Animagus transformations be picked up by MoM?

James, Sirius and Peter were never detected because they transformed at Hogwarts with its magical protection and a registered Animagus on staff, so MoM never figured out about them.

But what about in the case above? Would MoM know?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.

[Sainyn Swiftfoot]

It all boils down to how animagi transform into their animal selves.

If it needs a wand, and magic then it could be traced, as any magic done by an underage wizard can be traced.

But if it doesn't need a wand, and doesn't need magic, it can't be traced.

I personally believe that you need magic just to BECOME animagi. After that you can pop in and out of your animal forms as and when you like, without using magic.

~BB

[Inverarity]

It all boils down to how animagi transform into their animal selves.

If it needs a wand, and magic then it could be traced, as any magic done by an underage wizard can be traced.

But if it doesn't need a wand, and doesn't need magic, it can't be traced.

I personally believe that you need magic just to BECOME animagi. After that you can pop in and out of your animal forms as and when you like, without using magic.

Turning into an animal is using magic, unless you know of a non-magical way to do that. I think what you meant was "without using a wand."

And the Trace doesn't just detect wand magic. Dobby wasn't using a wand, after all.

This is one of those things Rowling was a little inconsistent about -- at one point, she said the Trace was put on a house, but in DH, it appears that it's put on the individual.

In either case, Dobby's elf-magic apparently was detectable by the Trace. Whether or not the Trace would detect an Animagus transformation is up to you. Since the precise details of how the Trace works are not specified, you can come up more than one interpretation that's consistent with canon.

I'd be inclined to say no -- after all, an Animagus already is an Animagus, and if the Trace could detect them, there wouldn't be any need for Animagi to be registered.

However, if you want the Trace to detect someone transforming, you could say that the act of transforming generates a magical "energy signature" akin to someone casting a transfiguration spell with their wand, and would therefore be detectable.

[mahogany_wand]

I believe that the trace only detects wand magic, which I don't think turning into an animagi is. Sirius's wand was taken away when he went to Azkaban, and yet he was still able to transform without being detected. When Peter Pettigrew was a rat, he certainly didn't have his wand with him.

In conclusion, I think that since the MoM can't detect wandless magic, I think that becoming an animagi would slip under their radar.

~M_W

[Inverarity]

I believe that the trace only detects wand magic, which I don't think turning into an animagi is. Sirius's wand was taken away when he went to Azkaban, and yet he was still able to transform without being detected. When Peter Pettigrew was a rat, he certainly didn't have his wand with him.

But the Trace wasn't put on Sirius or Peter. And it did detect Dobby's magic.

[LoonyLoopyLuna]

Well, I'm pretty sure that turning into an Animagus doesn't require a wand; Sirius and Pettigrew definitely did not have a wand on them when they transformed. And if it doesn't need a wand, could the MoM still trace it? I have no idea to that question. But, for example, when Harry blew up Aunt Marge, he didn't have a wand...but the Ministry found him in about an hour...so I'm inclined to believe that yes, an underage wizard turning into an Animagus would be detected by the MoM.