Might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg

Mrs Figg instructs Harry to keep his wand in his hand in case of another attack. He will have to take the responsibility for the jinx against the dementors anyway so it wouldn’t cause any more damage if he had to use another spell: “[…]there’s going to be hell to pay anyway, we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg.”[1]

            This proverb derives from the sentence ‘might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb’. Both phrases suggest that since one has already been involved in a particular act one might as well do something even worse because the punishment will be just as bad. “In the past, people who stole lambs were killed, so it was worth stealing something more because there was no worse punishment.”[2]

In the wizarding world owning a dragon was highly problematic. In the first novel Hagrid owns a hatching dragon egg. These eggs are, however, classified as a non-tradable goods and the possession of an egg can lead to severe punishment. Owning a fully-grown dragon is in this respect just as bad.[3] It does not lead to a death-sentence but certainly to an imprisonment in Azkaban. Wizards and witches are much more interested in dragons rather than sheep. The grown sheep is, therefore, substituted by a dragon and the lamb replaced by an egg.

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[1] Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2000, p.25.

[2] "I Might as Well Be Hanged for a Sheep as a Lamb." The Free Dictionary. Web. 21.03. 2015. <http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb>.

[3] Rowling, J.K. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander, London: Bloomsbury, 2009, p.19.