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The wizarding world also has invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms and polyjuice potions - using those a wizard can also disguise himself. All of those seem legal. An unregistered animagus, however, faces a sentence in Azkaban. Why is there a law against unregistered animagi at all?

  • Relevant: Why isn't polyjuice potion illegal – Aegon Nov 08 '16 at 13:22
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    Laws don't make no sense over theres. – Jack B Nimble Nov 08 '16 at 13:26
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    It seems the punishment for breaking almost any law is Azkaban.... – Skooba Nov 08 '16 at 13:43
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    @Skooba yes, but why it's breaking the law if youre a cat sometimes? Edited to make it more clear. –  Nov 08 '16 at 13:55
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    Is there a way to detect if an animal is actually an animagus? I ask because those other methods you named aren't foolproof. People under invisibility cloaks and disillusionment charms can be detected through Homenum Revelio I think. With polyjuice potion you can ask questions to see if the person is fake. But I don't know a way to detect if an animal is actually an animagus, unless you recognize the person's "distinctive markings or disabilities" being in animal form as ibid said in the answer. That may be why it was made illegal. – Dumbledorality Nov 08 '16 at 15:19
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    @Dumbeldorality there's def. one. I remember being traumatised when Sirius & Lupin used it against Scabbers and Peter appeared. –  Nov 08 '16 at 16:02
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    @Dumbledorality: yes, but that's a separate question. In Chamber of Secrets, Professor Lupin and Sirius use magic to force Peter Pettigrew to turn back to his original form, and even say something like "if it's really a rat, it won't hurt him". – b_jonas Nov 08 '16 at 17:37
  • @R.Skeeter I completely forgot about that! In that case I guess the ability to detect that form of concealment doesn't have an impact on why it is illegal. – Dumbledorality Nov 08 '16 at 18:14
  • @Dumbledorality well, humenum revelio is an area spell, which is much more friendly than the one to reveal animagi - for that one you have to target every rat or ant in the house, so yours still a good point. –  Nov 08 '16 at 18:17
  • I've edited my answer. Hope it helps. – ibid Nov 08 '16 at 20:47
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    I'd just like to say that Lupin and Sirius do that in Prisoner of Azkaban, not Chamber of Secrets – DisturbedNeo Nov 09 '16 at 12:06
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    The fact that Rita Skeeter asks why being an unregistered animagus is illegal is hilarious. – A. Darwin Nov 09 '16 at 14:10
  • Because STATISM, that's why. – MissMonicaE Nov 14 '16 at 14:05

1 Answers1

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Animagi are most commonly used by those involved in espionage and crime

Animagi make up a small fraction of the wizarding population. Achieving perfect, spontaneous human to animal transformation requires much study and practice, and many witches and wizards consider that their time might be better employed in other ways. Certainly, the application of such a talent is limited unless one has a great need of disguise or concealment. It is for this reason that the Ministry of Magic has insisted upon a register of Animagi, for there can be no doubt that this kind of magic is of greatest use to those engaged in surreptitious, covert or even criminal activity.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard - Albus Dumbledore on "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump"

There is nothing "illegal" about becoming an Animagus. It's just a very difficult and time consuming skill for one to learn, and the only people who can afford to spend the time are usually the people who are will be using it often. These are the types of people that the ministry would want registered.

An Animagus has a great potential advantage in the spheres of espionage and crime. For this reason, an Animagus Registry exists on which all Animagi are expected to log their personal details and the precise appearance of their transformed self. It is usually the case that distinctive markings or disabilities belonging to the human body will transfer to the animal self. Failure to enter oneself onto the Registry may result in a stretch in Azkaban.
Pottermore - Animagi (behind paywall)

Invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms, and polyjuice potions are all things that any witch or wizard can employ. There would be no purpose in having a registry of everyone who is Polyjuice-capable as everyone is. In contrast, only 0.1% of wizards are Animagi.

It is immensely difficult to change oneself into an Animagus and the process, which is complex and time-consuming, can go dramatically wrong. As a result, it is believed that fewer than one in a thousand witches or wizards are Animagi.
Pottermore - Animagi (behind paywall)

Of course, an Animagus is also a much more useful form of disguise, as it doesn't require any tools, and lasts indefinitely.

One last point to be aware of is that while Animagi, Polyjuice Potion, Invisibility cloaks, and the like may be legal, breaking the law with them is not.

ibid
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  • You mean everyone can do disguise but animagi do it with a style? As in theyre the James Bonds of the magic world? –  Nov 08 '16 at 13:41
  • @R.Skeeter - They can do it without access to any tools, and can do it indefinitely. Invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms, and polyjuice potions all have highly limited lifespans. – ibid Nov 08 '16 at 13:47
  • but that's technicality. You can do crime with our without equipment. It seems it's a crime to be an animagi even if they do nothing wrong. –  Nov 08 '16 at 13:48
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    You can also underline that polyjuice potion is not infinite. And it can't change your voice. A 80-years old with a little girl voice is strange. Not a dog who seems to be nothing more than a dog. – Saphirel Nov 08 '16 at 13:53
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    @Saphirel source on polyjuice not changing the voice? I'd have thought the whole gambit in CoS would have fallen flat if the voice didn't change with the body. Speech patterns are (mostly) a function of the mind, of course, but the sound should alter with the larynx. – Darael Nov 08 '16 at 14:02
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    @Saphirel yet the order members & ministry were paranoid about DE's polyjucing themselves checking even their closest relatives. –  Nov 08 '16 at 14:04
  • @ibid Off-topic: If you would consider giving a little more explanation to the point why polyjuice potion doesn't buy you a ticket to azkaban, we could close the question I linked in comments as dupe of this one. – Aegon Nov 08 '16 at 14:15
  • @Darael In CoS, Harry and Ron had to speak like Crab and Goyle. Same when they used polyjuice to enter in the ministry (Ron felt really bad when he had to speak to """""his wife""""") – Saphirel Nov 08 '16 at 18:02
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    @Saphirel yeah, speech patterns and mannerisms, but if the voices didn't change only exceptional vocal mimics could have pulled it off even so. – Darael Nov 08 '16 at 19:06
  • @Darael Though movie had them sound like Harry and Ron as Crab and Goyle (which I was thoroughly confused by when I saw it, that scene played out quite differently in the movie from in the book). – JAB Nov 08 '16 at 19:55
  • @JAB there's a moderately common convention (I'd estimate about a third of cases?) of doing that in film and TV, with the audience meant to assume that they sound like who they look like in-universe and that the mismatched voices are to make it easier for the viewer. Either way, books trump films in my view. – Darael Nov 08 '16 at 19:59
  • Note that if the wizarding population in the UK is in the 3,000-10,000 range, and "fewer than one wizard in a thousand is an Animagus", then the five Animagi encountered over the course of the series are probably the majority—if not all—of the Animagi in the UK. And the majority of those are unregistered. – Michael Seifert Nov 09 '16 at 18:08
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    @MichaelSeifert it is believed that fewer than one in a thousand witches or wizards are Animagi. — maybe it's only believed to be so few because this is the number of people registered :) – anotherdave Nov 09 '16 at 19:43
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    @anotherdave: Fair point — after all, four out of five of the Animagi we encounter in the series are unregistered. – Michael Seifert Nov 10 '16 at 15:17