Lagging in Transfiguration?

[tenpinkpiggies at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 28576

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., davidjfein at h... wrote:
> Could someone explain why you can only be an anamagi for one type 
of 
> animal (which is also your patronus), but you can tranfigure 
yourself 
> into anything?  What am I missing?  Why doesn't transfiguration 
trump 
> the limits of being an animagi?

Sorry, I can't quote page numbers as I don't want to sneak into my my 
son's room and risk waking him after an exhausting hallowe'en, so 
memory will have to do. The difference between transformation and 
animagi is that an animagi retains human conciousness* while a 
transformed human (a la Malfoy the ferret) does not. So they are 
quite different spells, actually.It is implied that becoming an 
animagus is so difficult and complicated is either beyond the magical 
gifts of most wizards, or at least beyond their motivation. The two 
spells do share the common characteristic that any similarities which 
exist prior to the change seem to help. Therefore the students begin 
by tranforming objects which are similar (match to needle), and 
animagi turn into animals with which they have some sort of symbolic 
character link (PP to the "rat" he is, Sirius to the "loyal" dog). 
This is not canon, but gut response, but I think that a patronus and 
an animagus animal are not connected. I doubt that Peter would summon 
a rat patronus, or that such a patronus would be effective. Assuming 
that Rita Skeeter could summon any positive thoughts at all, would a 
beetle in anyway represent those thoughts? 

* side note - What happens when someone half transforms through 
transfiguration? (a la Krum with the shark's head) Do they retain 
semi-conciousness? Are they influenced by their animals nature? Is 
this why Krum bit wildly at Hermione's ropes, without considering the 
consequences?

Cheers,
-Cornflower O'Shea

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"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" - Albus Dumbledore
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