Hebridean Black/Snape's Patronus

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 145502

 
> Pippin:
snip
 Also in OOP in one of the
> occlumency lessons, Harry remembers a great black dragon rearing
> up in front of him. If this is supposed to be the Hungarian 
Horntail,
> it's out of sequence, because it comes *before* Harry's 
recollection of
> seeing his parents' images in the mirror of Erised. 
snip> 

Potioncat:
Or, could Harry be remembering a Patronus sent to the house to warn 
James and Lily about LV's attack? Patronuses aren't limited by 
physical barriers.

Miles wrote in post 145490
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/145490
> 
> The connection between a Patronus and the person who owns it seems 
to be
> much less informative to me. Let's have a look - Dumbledore's 
Patronus is a
> Phoenix. Aha. Ron's is a little dog - yes? Harry's is the animagus 
form of
> his father - does it tell anything about Harry himself? Tonks' 
Patronus is
> the only one that tells us something about her. A dragon that eats 
stags and
„« dogs for Snape - so what? We won't be surprised.

Potioncat:
I'm not sure the quote you provided is the origin of the Snape 
Patronus discussion, but it's not a surprise JKR wouldn't reveal his 
Boggart or Patronus. Even if we don't see his Patronus in Book 7, our 
knowing what is could give away important plot points, such as his 
actual loyalty. Many on this list think Snape's Patronus will be 
important when he attempts to communicate with the Order. (Or should 
I say, if he attempts?) 

 JKR went to some effort to tell us about Patronuses just before HBP 
came out. If I recall correctly, the Patronus is unique and cannot be 
tampered with. Order members recognize each others' Patronus. She 
tells us each one is unique and almost the first thing we learn in 
HBP is that Tonks' unique Patronus has changed¡K.to some other unique 
form. I didn't get the idea that Tonks intentionally changed her 
Patronus, but that it happened due to her mental state. Yet Snape 
recognizes it. Does Snape recognize it because DD sent a memo to 
everyone? Because the Patronus speaks with the sender's voice? 
Because even though it changed, something about it said "Tonks"? Why 
didn't anyone ever mention what it changed from? (Maybe it had been a 
Hebridean Black and Snape's mad it changed to a wolf.)

Harry doesn't know what the different Patronuses of the Order members 
are.  We don't either. Unless someone like McGonagall saw a Patronus 
and said, "Oh, look! Snape's Patronus used to be a big ugly snake and 
now it's a Phoenix. He must be loyal after all." We won't have any 
way of knowing that Snape's Patronus had made a significant change. 
(I've got it! His Head of House was something of a Patron, so his 
Patronus up till now has been a giant slug¡K. Explains why it took so 
long to get word to the Order in OoP. Cough*5hours*cough.) Or it 
might say volumes that Snape's Patronus is, whether or not it was, a 
Phoenix or a bumblebee. 

It would be helpful to know what the other Order members' Patronuses 
are, if we are going to see Patronus-mail. No chance JKR will tell 
us. I would think whatever Snape's Patronus was or has become, the 
Order members will recognize it. Harry won't. I think we have a 
possible scene where the Order gets word in Patronus form but no one 
mentions who it is from and Harry, of course, doesn't ask. Or that 
Harry gets a Patronus-mail and doesn't know it's from Snape. He might 
assume a big black dragon is Charlie's Patronus.

Patronus/Animagus:
It seems to me the Animagus form reveals something 
about the wizard/witch. From JKR interviews, we know the wizard 
doesn't choose the form. She actually says something along the line 
of it would be embarrassing to do all that work and discover your 
form is a cockroach. (Which seemed to confirm one of my earliest 
theories that Snape is a cockroach Animagus. We won't go there right 
now.) Yes, we have barking Sirius who is a dog; James who preens for 
the females who is a stag; Peter, the dirty rat, who is a rat¡K.

The Patronus, however, seems to reflect the person or thing that the 
wizard sees as a Protector. So while Harry knew nothing about his 
father being a stag, his Patronus took on a Stag form.  The Patronus 
(if I'm correct) wouldn't tell us so much about a person, as it would 
that person's source of security. I'm not sure if DD's Phoenix-
Patronus reflects Fawlks or reflects Flammell. Or if I'm all wrong 
about the source of Patronus forms.

It makes sense to me that Hermione's Patronus is an otter. Otters are 
linked in my mind to the Weasley family. I can't speak for Cho's swan 
or Ron's terrier. (I think of those dogs as hyperactive and the twins 
come across as hyperactive, so maybe the dog reflects them?)

JKR often describes characters in terms of animals or magical 
creatures. Millicent looks like a troll. Crabbe, or was it Goyle, 
looked like a gorilla. Ginny is cat-like. Theodore Nott is rabbity. 
It just might make sense that Snape is like a Hebridean Black. It 
allows JKR to describe him in ways that make us think of other 
animals/creatures. He has also been described in dragon-like ways. 
(See previous posts in the thread.)

Now, having said all that, would Snape's Patronus be the dragon? Only 
if he is so introverted that he thinks he can rely only on himself. 
He is his own protector. But I think not. Draco's might be a 
Hebridean Black, now that Snape has so successfully rescued him and 
was something of a Patron during his 6 years at Hogwarts. Snape's 
Animagus form, should he have one, might be a Hebridean Black. I 
think there is a strong connection between Snape and the dragon, but 
I'm not sure how it will play out.

>