Re: Harry’s new Patronus

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 137615

Pat wrote:
> <snip>
> > I can see that his [Snape's] Boggart would give things away, but
what could his Patronus be that would give things away? He's described
as bat-like, so I'd guess his is a bat. 
> 
Cheryl responded:
> He is also described as moving like a spider (in the Pensieve scene,
I think), the title of Chapter 2 in Spinner's End, and then there is
the sphinx riddle in GOF about the spy-der, and Snape is obviously a 
> spy...maybe a Spider patronus?
> 
> Cheryl

Carol responds:
Would the other Order members have trusted someone whose protective
spirit (Patronus) was a spider or any other poisonous or injurious
animal associated with evil? I can't think of any animal that would
suit Snape and still indicate to the Order member (before DD's death)
that Snape was on their side. It's just possible that his Patronus is
not an animal.

We've only seen animal Patroni but that doesn't mean a Patronus *has*
to take animal form. (Absence of evidence is not proof.) I see no
reason why it can't be a person. Suppose that Snape's Patronus turns
out to be Dumbledore? Think how much *that* would give away,
especially if he's still able to cast it after killing Dumbledore (or
sending him to his death in a fall from the tower using a faked AK,
which amounts to the same thing but eliminates the corrupting
influence of the AK in and of itself. And maybe unwilling murder
doesn't split the soul, or the soul can be healed by an act of
redemption).

A Patronus is white magic. The fact that Snape can (or could) cast one
suggests to me that he really is on the side of good--or was until he
fell under the curse of the DADA position and made the Unbreakable
Vow. If he can still cast it and still use it to send messages to the
Order, the members will understand that he is still an Order member
and not a DE (the same message he would convey through a faked AK). Or
Lupin, himself something of a DADA expert, will understand). A
Patronus, unlike an AK, can't be faked.

At any rate, I think we'll see Snape's Patronus in Book 7 and that it
will reveal that he is still, appearances to the contrary,
Dumbledore's man. It won't be a Phoenix becaus that was DD's and each
Patronus is unique, but IMO it will somehow be associated with
Dumbledore. At any rate, I can't conceive of an evil Patronus. It's a
contradiction in terms.

I just thought of a delightful possibility. What if Snape's Patronus
is a dumbledore (bumblebee)?

Carol