Polyjuice potion allows a human drinker to assume the form of another person. If one uses a Metamorphmagus hair to transform, will he/she gain mophing powers in that particular hour too?... Imagine Harry terrorize Umbridge by posing as Voldemort while flinging Crucio's left and right.. any ideas?..

 

I would think that you would assume the form the metamorphmagus was in when the hair was taken.

 

So if Tonks poses as Voldemort, by taking his(tonks) nail in Polyjuice potion (obviously Voldemort is a hairless bastard), Harry can assume Voldemort's form?.

 

It might assume Tonks natural form.

 

I have a feeling that it might not work at all, or you would need a different potion. The magic of a metamorph being different to a normal wizard/witch.

 

Even if one did acquire a metamorph's powers, would one know how to use them? I would think that even a metamorphmagus would have to learn how, exactly, to use their inborn ability. I mean, wizards can't just use their magic without learning how, so it stands to reason that metamorphs can't just change without learning how to use their powers.

 

The reason is metamorphmagus are extremly rare. Wizards have no idea about the process of changing form using such powers, lot of it done with years of practice with lot of trial and error. But when you have one like Tonks with you, she can easily train them how to use such powers. The issue here is, will one gain mophing powers using polyjuice potion or not?

 

It's not like the hair is a magic radio...

But it would be interesting.

 

Key difference is in what you want MMM to be. Polyjuice is physical change instigated by external magic, MMM is physical change by internal magic. Need to look at what PJ and MMM are in canon for more info.

When as a human you take polyjuice potion, on a physical level you become that person. It is not an appearance so much as the transformation of your body into that of someone else.

It would appear therefore that a Metamorphmagus is in essence born with the ability to recreate the most basic effects of the polyjuice potion at will, in that they can transform their physical aspect into that of another.

MMMs are essentially given the ability to physically reconstitute themselves as they see fit, but none do so in canon, because JK didn't want Tonk to harden bones, skin. This is because MMMs are governed by the nonsensical canon magic laws of JKR, which she seems able to ignore in order to provoke light humour (pig snout face at dinner table, OOTP).

I assume that a metamorphmagus' ability is vastly different to that of polyjuice potion in that it is based on the MMM's imagination. So whereas PJ makes an exact copy based on data from the person you wish to transform into, MMM is only a copy of what he/she/it can see, remember and recreate.

The real difficulties occur when classifying the MMM ability. Is it a magical ability or would it form the definition for an entirely new magical subspecies (similar to werewolves)? Lupin says non-humans can't use it. So if you believe MMM to be in the same category then the potion wouldn't work.

The final word has to be that there is never any hint that anything more than physical appearance is changed, magical abilities and effects are not transferred by the PJ potion. Those who transformed into HP at the beginning of DH did not all gain a connection with Voldemore or the ability to speak parseltongue. Although these were both a result of the horcrux within Harry that doesn't change the fact that those magical abilities weren't passed on. So Polyjuice potion of a MetaMorphMagus will not give you MMM powers.

Now what happened if you did take it?

Well if MMMs aren't human then we could have a repeat of Chamber of Secrets, but instead of being a humanoid cat, the Polyjuicee turns into a ball of colour changing, flesh-morphing goo. The potion could be inert (which would be boring).

If you perceive MMM to be a magical ability of the human in question then it depends on whether or not a MMM has a base form or if the form they had assumed when the hair/skin/blood was removed is that base form.

I vote for gelatinous goo.

 

lol.

No, not a magic radio, more like actio in distans.

(Spooky) Action at a Distance is the interaction of two objects, separated in space, with nothing between them to act as a medium for them to communicate.

In other words, when Tonks changes her appearance, the appearance of the person Polyjuiced into her changes as well because the part of Tonks that went into the potion 'knows' how she has changed and acts accordingly. :awesome

Are Tonks's individual particles really capable of Quantum pseudo-telepathy? I sincerely doubt JKR thought much past, "Ooh, I'll make a fascinating, strong, likable female character with a powerful magical ability... then I'll have her lose that ability when she falls for a prematurely gray older man who is a complete and total wimp who doesn't even want her. Yeah... the readers will love it. No, really, I am a feminist. Hermione and Rihanna are role models of all that a girl can dream to accomplish. Narf!"

But, yeah, I thought I'd just toss that one out for the hell of it.

A distinct possibility. OR... If a metamorphmagus has near absolute control over their features, then a person trying to use Polyjuice to replicate one would possibly lose all control over their features.

An episode of X-Files had a man who could look like other people because he had absolute control of his musculature (a layer of it that was beneath his skin). He could basically 'flex' himself into another appearance. If this were part of what a metamorphmagus could do, the Polyjuice user could find themself in a state of paralysis, their pigmentation meandering as it will, until a mediwitch/wizard could sort them out like they did Hermione. Not goo, perhaps, but certainly a pile of limp muscle, not to mention the worst case of vitiligo ever.

She wasn't exactly out of the hospital wing in a day or two, either.

 

Thank you meatzman2. I also read about effects of polyjuice potion. In wikipedia it says, In the film version of CoS , Polyjuice Potion does not cause the drinker's voice to change as well as their appearance. I also agree about internal magic stuff, since metamorphmagus appearance are deeply associated with their emotions. We've seen in canon that Tonks hair seems to reflect her mood. So in effect while polyjuice potion can help to aquire the shape it cannot helps the person to inherit morphing abilities. Your theory about the potion only useful for humans also seems right on. For example one can use a veela hair to mimic their appearance but they cannot produce the allure, since veela capabilities are deeply associated with emotions. Based on this I still think that one would assume the form the metamorphmagus was in when the hair was taken, since metamorphmagus change is both internal and external. May be as you said it won't work at all.

 

Depends really on how the metamorphmagus power works, and on what level. Does the DNA change with each transformation or is it merely superficial with the basic characteristics of the person being the same no matter the skin they're wearing at the time?

If it's the former then I would say the polyjuice potion would force the user into the body the metamorph is currently using but if she changes then the potion would remain the same. Unless of course all of her body (separated skin cells/hair included) changed with that transformation, in which case the polyjuice user would change too.

Otherwise you could speculate that the DNA of a metamorph is 'blank slate' from birth that entirely depends on the will of the user. Could make for an interesting story, with baby metamorphs transforming their features into those of the mother/father and others while they were still controlled by the subconscious. It would give new meaning to the saying 'she has her father's nose' all right.

If it is the latter though, then the polyjuicer would take the form of whatever the metamorph would look like without their powers coming into play, which I think is much more boring.

 

That's an interesting idea there Aekiel.

I'm pretty sure that Metamorphs would be more of a superficial change as you suggested with no actual DNA being changed. Metamorphs are granted control over their physical form, so I suppose they might have different DNA from Humans which enables them to do this. Or and this is most important, magic somehow grants them an innate ability at limited self-transfiguration. Due to the hereditary nature of the Metamorph abilities however the Metamorphs have different DNA proposal seems a particularly strong one.

The DNA argument also seems particularly applicable for PJ potion because that requires that you take some of the DNA from the person you wish to imitate. It seems obvious to me that this means PJ turns you into someone exactly while MMM is only a physical representation.

If that were the case then anyone trying to take Polyjuice potion with DNA of a metamorphmagus in it would become something vewy intewesting.

 

'Push!'
'Ahhh!'
Congratulations, your baby looks like the jelly I ate yesterday.

Anyway if we follow Aekiel's theory, how would those MMM babies look like the moment they are born?

 

Blank. As in the most generic human features you could ever imagine on a human body. Flat face, little to no defined musculature, would likely appear premature despite having gone the full 40 weeks. Colourless eyes, no hair (this would change quickest), little cartilage to define a nose. Basically like Voldemort only less snake-like >_>.

The way I imagine it would be to have the absolute minimum of human features before the first transformations start.

The effects of growing up being a metamorphmagus, on the other hand, would be absolute perfect vision over insane distances because the eyes would physically change to allow the metamorph to see like that. Depending on the metamorph there is a chance for other senses to be better than usual, especially if they learn to change their olfactory/auditory/etc. senses to those of other animals'. Of course the human brain is not equipped to deal with senses as highly tuned as those (smell especially) so it would almost certainly take a long while for any degree of proficiency to be seen.

Physically the child would likely appear as a more defined mix of its parents than usual children because they're the people who it sees most. It would probably grow quicker too due to the advantages of being tall being most noticable when you're barely reaching 4ft.

Once the kid is getting toward teenage years its looks would become more attractive, less of its parents more of famous people or those he/she considers good looking. Whether this is conscious control or not by this point is probably down to the individual, with a person who uses the ability more being able to accurately use their talent more efficiently (if only because their mind would be used to getting picture perfect details right). Photographic memory of faces is also a likely trait to emerge during these and the following years as the metamorph builds up a 'collection' of faces and bodies that it can use.

I imagine that puberty would probably be much kinder to metamorphs than the average person since the metamorph in question would almost certainly have the ability to change any detrimental features (especially superficial ones) at will by this point. During this period I can also see metamorphs going one of two ways: 1) Having no preferred body in which they would live most of their life, merely adapting their current form to fit the scenario. 2) Sticking to one body for most of the time (though probably a one they deem attractive or most useful) and only making minor adjustments as the situation requires. The second type would have a much more defined sense of self while the type-one would be much more adaptable and likely have greater control over their abilities.

Damn, that was a long post. Sorry about that, I got carried off on a tangent that refused to give up...

 

Alright, but tell me this: Is Tonks as clumsy in the books as the fictions make her to be?

If so, how would she be like that, with all the refined senses and whatnot?
You might be onto something worth exploring a bit too

 

According to canon the powers aren't supposed to start developing until puberty (at least I think it's canon, I have read so much fanfiction they blur at times).

Therefore, I think Aekiel's blank slate is not applicable, they would look like any normal baby, a little like their parents. Aekiel's amorphous, homogenous creature idea sort of freaks me out a little as well...

The fact that the power comes to the fore during their teenage years also lends credence to the magical ability, rather than different species argument. It would also suggest that there is certainly a base form.

It also leads me into speculation that almost anyone could be a metamorph, there is a lot of fanon cliche HP as a MMM because of his growing his hair back. Although I'm sure he's not a MMM it does presuppose the ability. Perhaps all descendants of the Blacks have that ability undeveloped to a certain extent and it just awaits a trigger.

This leads me to some interesting thoughts about genetics. I don't know if it's true in canon but HP is so often related to the Blacks through his grandmother. Tonks is herself a black, perhaps there is a switch or a genetic marker that causes the power to awaken and the Blacks have a predisposition towards it. So Papa Tonks has this same defective or effective gene and they badabing badaboom you have a MMM baby.

This could be why MMM's are exceedingly rare but do occur in a hereditary fashion. Nymphadora has the gene obviously being one herself and Lupin had it somehow resulting in Teddy being one as well.

Thinking about HP being a MMM always makes me think about that strange Honks fic on AFF.net where Harry grows like 6 arms and changes his dick size and he and Tonks get up to all sorts of kinky shit. That aside I think the path to him being a MMM is a clear one.

 

I think it depends on the author really. Cause I'm sure it would be for a fanfic. Meaning it would be AU and up to them. Tho I think it would be a great idea to put into a story.

 

The colour of your post is offensive to my eyes. Change it. And your comment was absolutely pointless and irrelevant, especially considering it contributes absolutely nothing to this thread. I must only now reply with a casual request to GTFO.

EDIT: to avoid absolute hypocrisy here, I figured I'd slap down my opinion on this. To me, I always thought that the Polyjuice Potion and Metamorphmagi should NEVER be mixed. My excuse was that there was something within the Metamorphmagus' biological makeup that fucks around with the potion and renders it extremely unstable, likely to do what unstable potions usually do - explode.

Sure, it would indeed be great for Harry to imbibe Polyjuice with one of Tonks' hairs in order to impersonate the Dark Lord, but to me, I always thought that the Polyjuice's alteration of physical appearances simply provides a brief 'sample' of one's personal appearance during the duration. In Tonks' case, since she can be any number of beings at once, the potion does not know how to react, thus rendering the reaction unstable and highly dangerous.