Animagi & Personality

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 14407

It's been noted that JKR's comments about animagi appear to indicate that a
wizard doesn't pick the animal they become -- they become an animal which is
in some way expressive of their personality.  That being the case, what do
the forms of the various animagi we know tell us about them?

Rita Skeeter (beetle) - a low sort of person, always crawling around digging
up dirt and bugging people.  But she's also a flying insect, which makes her
doubly a pest, and able to attack her victims from above as well as below.
The smallness of her size says something about the pettiness of her spirit.

Peter Pettigrew (rat) - in slang, to "rat" is to betray a confidence, and
what could be more appropriate?  Rats are also great survivors because they
have no scruples and no discrimination -- they'll do whatever it takes to
stay alive.  They're at home with all kinds of filth and they spread
disease.  Again, Peter's small size suggests spiritual limitation.

Minerva McGonagall (cat) - Prefers neatness and order.  Concerned with
personal appearance.  Not given to overt emotional displays.  Authoritative,
even dictatorial.  Can be touchy:  beware of rubbing the wrong way.  Cats
are fairly small, though nowhere near as small as rats or beetles:  don't
know whether this tells us anything negative about McGonagall or not.

Sirius Black (dog) - tremendous loyalty and capacity for deep affection.
Can be savage when backed into a corner, or when loved ones are threatened.
Not particularly concerned with personal appearance.  Sirius is a large dog,
which may suggest that he is possessed of considerable spirit and character.

James Potter (stag) - the largest Animagi we've yet heard of, this may tell
us that he also possessed the greatest generosity and nobility of spirit.
Quiet, confident, graceful, generally peace-loving, but can be fierce in
defense of loved ones.

I also wonder if the fact that Skeeter and Pettigrew are scavengers and
McGonagall and Black are carnivores, whereas James was a herbivore, tells us
something about their "killer instinct" or lack thereof.  Or am I taking
this too far?
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj