The nature of Patronuses (Patroni?)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 152079

Tonks wrote:
> I just checked at Lexicon and it says that the word means Patron 
> like in a patron Saint. It also said that they are usually an 
> animal. So I am wondering if they are like a power animal that 
> Native American Shaman use? 
<snip>
> 
> I could be wrong, but I don't think that the power animal and the 
> animal that the Shaman shape-shifts into is the same. (Mine are 
> different. Not that I know that much about all of it. I took a few 
> classes and did some journeying a few years back.)
> 
> I don't know if helps us understand the Patronus or not. It might 
> help to wonder what the otter means to Hermione. <snip> I think that
one must have a feeling of comfort and fearlessness when the patronus
is there. <snip>

Carol responds:
JKR says that the Patronus is a spirit guardian, which more or less
conforms with what the Lexicon says. "Patronus" was a Medieval Latin
word for "patron saint" and was derived from "pater" (father). It's
doubly appropriate, given the etymology, that Harry's spirit guardian
is his father, or rather, his father's Animagus form. I would venture
to say that the Patronus, which is an individual's protector, is
different from his Animagus form (which would exist in potential even
if never developed or discovered), which represents himself. (Sirius
Black *is* in many respects a big black dog, or rather, he has a
strong affinity with large black dogs and with the Dog Star he's named
after. Neither the color of the dog nor its resemblance to a Grim is
coincidental. His Patronus, however, would not have been a dog. What
it would have been, I can't guess, any more than I can guess Harry's
Animagus form if he had decided to become one.)

It's true that all the Patronuses we've seen so far are animals, but I
don't think we can conclude that they have to be. For all we know,
Neville's Patronus could be a Mimbula Mimbletonia and Snape's could
turn into Dumbledore (as opposed to whatever it was originally). I
think that's unlikely but not impossible. I would guess, too, that a
change in Patronuses is not all that uncommon as a young person
reaches adulthood. Many of us are expecting Snape's Patronus to change
into something associated with Dumbledore (e.g., a Phoenix or a
bumblebee), but maybe it's Harry's Patronus that will change, from a
stag representing his father to something representing his mother (a
lily or a unicorn?) or a phoenix representing Dumbledore. (I don't
want that to be the case; I hope it will be Snape's that changes. Just
presenting it as a possibility.)

Regarding Hermione's Patronus, which again represents her protective
spirit and not her essential self, we know that otters are JKR's
favorite animals, but that doesn't tell us much about Hermione.
Someone mentioned a connection between otters and the Weasleys, which
I think is on target. Weasels are related to otters (in the same
family, possibly indicating that Hermione is a prospective Weasel,
erm, Weasley) and the Weasleys live in or near Ottery St. Catchpole,
again, surely not a coincidence. (FWIW, badgers, the symbol of
Hufflepuff, and ferrets, into which a certain Slytherin was
transfigured, are members of the same family, the mustelids.) It's
interesting that Hermione's spirit guardian is an animal known for its
playfulness when Hermione herself is so serious. Maybe that's part of
her attraction to Ron; he has the sense of humor that she lacks but
can appreciate. To stretch the point, maybe her otter Patronus *is*
Ron in the same sense that Harry's stag Patronus is James: an otter is
a playful weasel (with the admittedly irrelevant ability to swim).
Which, of course, raises the question of what Ron's Patronus is. Does
it somehow represent Hermione?

Carol, noting that "otter" is "Potter" without the "P," which may or
may not be coincidence