Animagi and Kneazles

[Audra1976 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 45870

Me:
<<<<How does that grab ya?>>>>

Melody:
<<Well Audra, it doesn't.>>

Me:
Oh, darn.

Melody: 
<<At no time does the animagus become purely
animal. They always are a human first. If they forgot who or what
they are, they would never remember. They would be stuck in the
simpler mind.>>

I agree with that.  A transformed Animagus must retain self-awareness.

<<In animal animagus form, the wizard has the advantages of the physical
animal form and the advantage of a human mind. I am not sure of the
mechanics of how the human mind shrinks to fit the animal body, but it
obviously does.>>

If this is true, then Sirius's explanation of how he escaped Azkaban is either a lie or an inconsistency in the story.  I'm trying to cover for him.  If only Sirius's outer appearance changed to a dog, but his mind remained the same, that certainly wouldn't fool the blind Dementors.  And my explanation about the human consciousness still present within the animal brain covers Sirius's explanation as well as McGonagall and Skeeter processing language.  And, I would have to add that a sense of self-awareness must be present at all times in the Animagus's mind, so that they can change back to human form at will.  

--Audra