Animagi and Musings on FB&WTFT

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 45869

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jastrangfeld" <msbonsai at m...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Audra1976 at a... wrote:
> > In a message dated 27/10/2002 12:19:10, Malady579 at h... (Melody) 
> writes:
> > As a dog, Black still felt the emotions > and thoughts, but it 
> > is  the  dementors that were fooled.  They could only sense that 
> > a human was not there.


> > Audra:
> > The human consciousness is buried so deep in the animal 
> > consciousness that it is only detectable when it is being 
> > accessed.  
> > How does that grab ya?
> > 
> > --Audra
> 
> 
> Me: (Julie) 
> Ok, interesting thought.  I can see how this would lend itself 
> to the final scene then when the 100 dementors are cornering Sirius, 
> and he's forced to transform back to human form.  He's running 
> looking for Scabbers (although that could be considered an animal 
> instinct) but his mind was probably running a million miles an hour 
> thinking about Harry and everyone else.  That part was bothering me.  
> He can escape in the cell, but the dementors know it's him suddenly 
> out there at Hogwarts?  But if you're right, that would probably 
> explain this scene.
> 
> Julie

bboy_mn:

General Comments on animal mind/human mind:
I agree that the human mind is subdued while in animal form. For an
animal to survive, it must rely on it's instincts and it's
hyper-sensory perception. So when a human transforms, his human
conciousness steps into the background and lets the dog's (for
example) instincts take over. To survive a dog must be keenly aware of
it's hyper-sense of smell and hearing. It must react to outside
stimulus like sound and movement with a dog's instinct. That's how it
finds food, and among other things, that's partly how it protects itself. 

So the human conciousness becomes a passenger, someone just along for
the ride. The human mind is still there, it's still aware of what is
going on, it is still directing the broader more general actions of
the body that it is in, but to survive as a dog, to some extent, it
must allow itself to be a dog. 

During the time that the human conciousness is in the background, it
is still aware and is capable of stepping out of the 'shadows' of the
dogs mind when ever the human priorities out weigh the dogs instincts.

Now the Dementors:
For a majority of the time that they (Harry, Sirius, and friends) were
on the Hogwarts grounds on their way back to the castle, they were in
human form. The Dementors may have sense the presents of some people
moving across the ground, and since it was late at night, that may
have aroused their curiousity. Then when the moon came out and Lupin
transformed, followed by Wormtail's transformation, there was a sudden
surge of emotions by all parties involved. I think this sudden surge
in emotions is what made the dementors some running. 

After pulling the Werewolf away from everyone, Sirius' next priority
was his own escape, but he was leaving behind people he was very
worried about and so his human conciousness was very much in the
forefront. 

Also, after thinking about it and analysing Sirius' original escape,
the Dementors must have developed some sense of how it happened. They
may not have been aware that Sirius was a animagus, but they were
aware by then that he was able to transform his mind in some way that
allowed him to fool them. But I'm pretty sure given the serious nature
of the Dementors, you only trick them once.

When emotions amplified, the Dementors may have recognised Sirius and
once that happened, they would have been tracking his movements on the
grounds, so when he transformed into his less complex set of feelings,
it didn't matter because they already had him located, and weren't
going to be fooled again. Since they were not fooled, they came
directly to him and the overwhelming presents of 100 really angry
Dementors was overpowering enough that he couldn't sustain his
animagus form.

Curious side point, since the animal form is not the person's natural
form, does the person have to constantly will himself to maintain his
unnatural form, or is it more like a light swithch; 'flip the switch'
and you're dog and remain so without effort until you 'flip the
switch' again?

So, in summary, I think the human conciousness has to step back far
enough to let the animal be an animal, but that doesn't mean it's gone
or that it isn't aware. 

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn