Stellar Brothers

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 85557

 
> Iggy here:
<snip>
> The form you become as an Animagus is not something that's "assigned" to
> you.  It comes from what you chose to become, and often is a form that
> has advantages you seek out yourself.

Annemehr:
Actually, it seems pretty certain that you *don't* get to chose your
animagus form.

First of all, what Lupin actually says really tells us nothing about
whether or not a wizard has a choice.  From PoA, ch. 18, in the
Shrieking Shack, Lupin speaking both times:

"They transformed ... Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the
Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it."
(ellipsis Rowling's)

"Sirius and James turned into such large animals, they were able to
keep a werewolf in check."

Anything Lupin says about it (and the entire passage runs over two
pages, so I won't reproduce it here) is completely neutral about
whether they could chose their forms.

However, Rowling has answered questions about this in chats.  Here is
a quote I got from the Scholastic Chat of Oct. 2000:

Q: 	If you were Animagus, what kind of animal would you be?
JKR:	I'd like to be an otter — that's my favourite animal. It would be
depressing if I turned out to be a slug or something.

So, if you accept what JKR says in interviews, that makes it pretty
certain.

Annemehr
hoping Iggy still turns out to be a coyote  :-)