[HPforGrownups] Re: Unregistered Animagi/DUMBLEDORE

[Danger Mouse]

No: HPFGUIDX 60974

Mtwelovett wrote:
I just thought of this while I was typing, if the invisibility cloak doesn't work on animals (Harry's often wondered if Mrs Norris can see him under the cloak) then do the wizards that
become anamagi keep some of those animal qualities when they are in wizard form? Meaning, if Dumbledore was an anamagi that could see through invisibility cloaks, could he as Dumbledore the wizard see through the cloak because of that? 

Me:
Intriguing... I suppose it's quite likely for there to be carry-over. If memory serves (I'm gonna speed re-read the books today and tomorrow) then in animal form, the animagus retains his/her consciousness, though with more basic animal-like emotions. Perhaps certain qualities of their animal transfer into human form, such as increased strength/speed/agility or enhanced senses. 

As for seeing through cloaks (I read Mrs. Norris as being more able to *smell* Harry, btw), perhaps. We know that invisibility cloaks are made from demiguise hair, and that the ape-like creature can only be seen by wizards skilled in its capture (FB). Fantastic Beasts doesn't go into detail; perhaps this "skill" is a way of thinking that Dumbledore shares: looking at the world in an unconventional way, being more open to the things that *could* be rather than those that *are.*

Mtwelovett continues:
If a wizard can become an anamagi, can a wizard become more than one anamagi (not at the same time of course)? (realizing of course that that would be even more advanced magic than just the single animal) Or if someone's characteristics change somehow, could that affect the animal they would turn into? 

Me:
Hmmm... no. Well... sort of. I see animagic as unleashing someone's inner animal (bug, feline, canine, etc). Maybe if someone's inner self changes, the animagical form changes as well... But as far as a wizard learning to become an animagus with multiple animagical forms (that is, being able to transform into various animals), I don't think so... I thought of animagic as being different from animal transfiguration. We saw Krum transform (sort of) into a shark, for example, but was that necessarily his animagus form (if he even is one)? Hmmm... maybe. These are the differences (not necessarily canon) that I drew between the two:

Animal Transfiguration:
  a.. Requires a wand
  b.. Less mental control--more animal-like thought processes
  c.. Difficult, but easier than animagic
  d.. Temporary. (I see the Fantastic Beasts' quintaped legend as being just that: a legend). As with conjuring, I see transfiguration as being an ephemeral change; the purple sleeping bags of CoS turned back into air eventually, McGonagall's desk/pig returned to desk form (SS), needles reverted to matches (SS), pincushions became porcupines again (GoF), etc
  e.. Possible to become any animal (probably only non-magical, though--I just couldn't imagine someone being transfigured into a chimaera, lethifold, manticore, or nundu)
Animagic:
  a.. Possible to transform without a wand
  b.. Retains more human consciousness, thoughts, and qualities (a rat should've died though still possessing animal emotions
  c.. Far more difficult to achieve
  d.. Long-term (Rat!Peter lasted 13ish years)
  e.. Specific to one person--one person can become only one animal via animagic.
There's probably more differences, and maybe I'm wrong--it's just what I think. Animal transfiguration affords a wide range of possible animal forms, but the trade off is in losing more human control and, most notably, permanence. Animagic allows long-lasting transformations, though into only one animal. Certainly, an animagus could use animal transfiguration to become a different animal, but the bonuses of being in an animagus form do not exist. 

-Dan

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