Animagi and their minds (and tails)

[Jennifer Boggess Ramon]

No: HPFGUIDX 36612

At 10:02 PM +0000 3/14/02, uncmark wrote:
>
>In the Potterverse, the 'Fantastic Beasts' writes there are few
>flying anamagi as the bat or bird brain forgets where there going.

I don't think that that is in fact what it says.  If I'm thinking of 
the same passage you are, it's actually in QttA, and by my reading it 
says two different things in rapid succession:

1) Animagi who transform into winged creatyres can fly but are rare.

2) Wizards who are transfigured into flying beasts can fly but have 
the brains of the transfigured creature and thus can't remember where 
they wanted to go.

The second seems to be referring not to animagi, who transfigure 
themselves, but those people who are transfigured by other people, 
like Draco in the unfortunate ferret episode or the Hairy MacBoons in 
FBaWTFT.  (For those who have played AD&D, it's 'Polymorph Self' 
versus 'Polymorph Other'.)

Aside: is there a distinction between transfiguring onesself into an animal and
being an animagus?  Is Krum a shark animagus?  If not, isn't it a 
good thing he didn't transform all the way, as if he'd had a shark's 
brain he might have hurt someone?

At any rate, given how rare animagi are _supposed_ to be (remember, 
there were only seven registered Animagi this century), it's entirely 
possible Mr. Whisp has never met one, much less one that flies, and 
thus is talking through his pointy hat about them.

>BTW does the wizard choose there anamagi form or is it dictated by
>their nature? I could picture Darco Malfoy studying to become an
>anamagi and becoming a dungbeetle.

Above any other considerations, the form one takes as an animagus 
seems to be based on one's _name_.  Sirius Black becomes a great 
black dog.  Rita Skeeter becomes an insect.  One's internal nature 
only comes into play after the Rule of Names, when the name doesn't 
lend much guidance.

Thus, yes, if any of the Weasleys become Animagi they will be weasels 
(whether that is the derivation of the name or not), and I would be 
very, very wary of letting anyone by the name of Draco become an 
animagus.



At 11:33 AM -0600 3/15/02, Jamie Lipton wrote:
>So I pose this question: What if Sirius had actually managed to attack
>Wormtail that night in Gryffindor tower, and succeeded in cutting off his
>tail?  How would the loss of the tail impact Peter's human form?

He'd never be able to sit down again!


-- 
  - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon			boggles at earthlink.net
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