My Thoughts: Animagi and Patronuses

Something I noticed in the Harry Potter books (and I'm sure pretty much everyone else noticed it too) is that the idea of a patronus and the idea of an animagus seem very similar. This post covers some of my ideas about the patronus charm and a person's animagus form and the similarities and differences between the two. Some of this is just guessing.

A patronus is the glowing animal that is created when a person casts the patronus charm. It is different for every person. Each wizard has their own unique patronus and it can change if something emotional happens in their life. For instance, Nymphadora Tonks' patronus changed to the form of Remus Lupin's patronus when she fell in love with him. Another example is that after his twin brother Fred died, George Weasley was unable to cast a patronus.

A patronus is made of a person's happy memories. That is perhaps why most dark wizards can not cast one; they do not have any happy memories. Severus Snape was able to cast a patronus because he loved Lily Potter. Dolores Umbridge was perhaps able to cast a patronus because she did not believe herself to be evil and had good memories. Casting a corporeal patronus requires great magical skill. It supposedly takes less skill to cast a non-corporeal patronus. However, while I think skill and having happy memories obviously plays a role in whether someone is able to cast a patronus or not, there are other factors that determine whether someone can cast a patronus. Perhaps confidence plays a role. Harry was able to cast a patronus in Prisoner of Azcaban because he knew he could. It also might have something to do with how well a person can concentrate on a specific happy memory. Perhaps a non-corporeal patronus indicates that a wizard is not concentrating enough.

Something that confuses me is that Hermione Granger had quite a bit of trouble casting a patronus. This is odd, since she is a very skilled witch and obviously has many happy memories. Perhaps it was because she did not have enough confidence in her abilities. Or maybe it was difficult for her to focus on one specific happy memory.

An animagus is a wizard who can turn into an animal at will (though they do not get to decide which animal they turn into). In their animagus form, a person is still them self. It is, however, unclear whether or not the nature of their particular animal has any affect on their personality. It is difficult to become an animagus and takes great magical skill. Even so, I believe that theoretically, if he or she tried hard enough, any wizard or witch could become an animagus (unlike in the case of a patronus which not every one can conjure). The form an animagus takes is possibly an animal that represents that person's soul.

It is never stated that a persons animagus form can change. I suppose that would depend on whether or not a person's soul can change. My guess is that, if it is possible, the change wouldn't happen as easily as with a patronus.

The obvious difference between a person in their animagus form and a person casting the patronus charm is that the person in animagus form is the animal and the animal created by the patronus charm is made up of a person's happy memories and not the person himself. Therefore, it is my belief that a persons animagus form and a person's patronus can be but are not necessarily the same. In all the instances where we know what form the patronus of an animagus takes, the patronus and animagus have been the same.