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With a dreamy far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book
What's the deal with polyjuice potion, anyway? In the movie version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Crabbe/Goyle-polyjuiced Harry and Ron speak in their own voices, though they try to just grunt in true Crabbe/Goyle fashion so that Draco doesn't suspect anything. In the audiobook for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (a seriously over-polyjuiced book, by the way), Fleur sounds like herself when she's been polyjuiced to look like Harry, Harry sounds like himself when he's "Barny Weasley" but they all get new voices when they're polyjuiced into Mafalda Hopkirk, Reg Cattermole and Albert Runcorn, or when Harry and Hermione are impersonating Muggles in Godric's Hollow. Since they talk in the voices of the people they're polyjuiced into even when they're talking to each other, it seems like the voices are magicked in place, rather than being affected as part of their disguise.
So what's the verdict? Does polyjuice potion affect your voice or not? I'm hoping not, because I would love to see the movie version of the Seven Potters scene with Fleur's, Ron's, Hermione's, Fred's, George's and Mundungus' voices coming out of Daniel Radcliffe.
srah - Thursday, 29 November 2007 - 12:58 PM
Tags: harry potter, harry potter and the chamber of secrets, harry potter and the deathly hallows, nablopomo, nablopomo 2007, polyjuice potion
Comments (8)
Craig - November 29, 2007 - 1:52 PM - ℓ
I knew that one. Curse Google Reader for not telling me that there was an update until a couple minutes ago. Now not only have I lost, but I'm going to be singing about my plans to woo and marry Belle for the rest of the day.
I was going to say that it seems like the polyjuice would only be changing appearance, but I can't remember anything in the books themselves (movies and audio book voices not withstanding) where it says (or implies) that voices are not changed. In fact, the implication of Crouch replacing Moody and never being caught or even questioned by those who knew Moody would be that it must affect the voice.
The other option of course could be that it can work either way, and it works whichever way the author and/or director want it to for that moment.
srah - November 29, 2007 - 1:59 PM - ℓ
I'm afraid that is the answer and I don't want it to be! Maybe there's a voice-mimicry spell that just hasn't been explicitly explained to us, and a) Hermione didn't know it in second year, b) They either didn't do it so they could keep all the Harries straight or because voices weren't vital to their ruse in the Seven Harries part and c) There is no Barny Weasley so it didn't matter what he sounded like. Still, it wasn't really necessary when H+H were impregnating impersonating the Muggles either. But that might just be Jim Dale's interpretation. Altogether, I am confused.
Beauty and the Beast