More Animagus

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 45826

I tried to find the Animagus thread or post where someone speculated
that  you don't get to choose your animagus animal. While I tracked
several threads, couldn't find it. I think that is a commonly held
belief, at least sufficient that I don't need the original post
stating it.

First, let's look at the Mauraders (Padfoot, Prongs, & Wormtail; big
dog, stag deer, & rat). If the transfomation to an animagus, a true
animagus, was somewhat random, that is, you can't pick it, it's
determined by your personallity, then how did the Mauraders know that
they would transform into animals that were useful? 

If they had all turned into rats, or say a rat, a squirrel, and a
rabbit, (or pick three small furry animals of your own) they would
have undergone a very dangerous and illegal tranformation only to find
the they had become animals that weren't capable of handling a
werewolf. Being able to control Lupin as well as keep him company
while he was a werewolf was the whole point of doing it. 

I will agree that the choice you make is a reflection of your
personality. In that sense, it is determine by who you are. But, if I
was going to become an animagi, I would probably have some purpose in
doing so. The Ministry probably tracks this, among other reason, to
make sure people don't have some evil intent behind their desire. So,
I certainly wouldn't go through all that risk and trouble unless I
knew in advance what it was going to get me. 

I think 5 of the influential factors are-
1.) your personality
2.) transportation - long and short distance mobility
3.) the Stealth factor - to move around unnoticed
4.) survivability - degree to which you are safe from attack and the
ability to feed yourself and survive the elements while in animal form
5.) dexterity - ability to manipulate objects. Basically, how good are
your hands.

Naturally, you are going to choose an animal you have some affinity
with. Cat lovers are probably not going to choose to be a dog. Bird
lovers are not going to choose to be a cat. 

Obviously, each animal has it's advantages and disadvanges. For Rita
Skeeter the ability to 'bug' people came in handy. But a bug has poor
survivability; bug get squished. So a bug gets a plus on personality
match because Rita had a tendency to bug people in a lot of different
ways. A plus short distance mobility, a big plus on stealth factor, a
minus on survivability because of the 'squish' factor, and a big minus
on dexterity. 

I'm sure you are all smart enough to see the advantages and
disavantages of various animals. Being a reasonably big dog has a lot
of advantages. They can travel great distances although not very fast,
generally unnoticable, good survivability unless you run into animal
control people, not real high in the dexterity area though.

Personally, I like birds of prey like hawks, owls, perhaps even ravens
or crows. Excellent mobility, good survivability, reasonably good
stealth factor, but again poor dexterity.

The point I'm making is that becoming an animagi is kind of pointless
unless you have some control over what you become. I just can't see
people going through all that to become a random and possibly useless
animal. 

JKR did say in an interview that what you become was determined by
your personality, but I'm not sure that the question was asked in a
way that  implied the animal was dictated by your personality.
Certainly, your personality will influence your animal, but again, it
seems pointless if the animal form is forced on you.

Just a few thoughts on the subject.

bboy_mn