Animagus properties, Thestral guts + Skin & Meat

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 116753


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, imamommy at s... wrote:
 

> imamommy:
> 
> .. it's like; maybe like gaining fluency in a foreign language, so 
> that eventually the ... even think (and dream) in that language? ...
> It seems to me that there is definitely a point where one *becomes* 
> an animagus, but I wonder what must be done to get to that point.
> 

bboyminn:

Once again, I speculate...

We know that learning to be an Animagus is a difficult and dangerous
task. I think you start by having some one else cast a special charm
on you to find out what your animgus form is. They force an Animagus
transofrmation then bring you back to human form. That way you can
know beforehand, and if your form is a May Fly with a lifespan of 24
hours, or a slug or a snail, you can decide to stop the process right
then.

Next, you practice by casting a different special Animagus
transformation charm on yourself. Not just a standard human to animal
transformation, but a special human to animagus form transformtion.
You practice this special spell with the help of others. Obviously
once you transform, you can't cast the spell to transform back to a
human, so at this stage it a team effort. 

You transform yourself with this spell until you get so good you don't
need to use the incantation or a wand. Unfortunately, that only get's
you halfway, you still need to continue the tranformation practice
until you are so well versed and so well practiced that you reach the
level where you can 'at will' transform back into a human. 

I think learning to transform into your animagus form is much easier
and learned much sooner than learning to transform back. That would be
one very obvious danger of trying this process without an experienced
specialist in transformations to assist you. You would be (pardon the
French) screwed if you change into an animal and couldn't get back,
and no one else knew about it. You'd be stuck forever.

So, a great deal of training in a step-wise process at the hands of a
specialist in transformations until you are able to perform the spells
'at will' without wand or incantation.


> imamommy continues:
> 
> On a side note, do you think a person's animagus animal must always 
> correspond with there patronus animal?  James is the only person I 
> remember knowing this about, but I can't think of any contradictions 
> to this theory.

bboyminn:

I think Patonus and animagus forms are typically NOT the same animal.
A Partonus is your protector; example, Harry is protected by is
Father; James the stag. But Harry's animagus form, which we will
probably never know, could be a phoenix or Gryphon or lion or
something symbolizing the protector of /others/, or courage and
selflessness. The animagus reflects the person; the Patronus reflect
what the person feels protected by. In both case, there is some
affinity or kinship with the animal form, but for each, it's a
different affinity or kinship.



> imamommy:
> 
> Off this topic completely, if Thestrals are fleshless, do they have 
> guts and, if so, what holds them in?  If not, how do they digest the 
> meat that they eat?
> 
> imamommy

bboyminn:

OK, there is flesh and there is flesh, the two not necessarily being
the same. When the book says the Thestrals have no flesh, that mean no
MEAT, not no skin. They do have skin, they have black shiny coats, but
those black shiny coats and manes hang over their bony skeletal
meatless bodies.

The Thestrals do eat, so one could surely speculate that they have
/guts/. So skin and guts = yes. Meat = no (or very little).

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)