book jacket, stag/ woman's face on the back cover?

[Dana]

No: HPFGUIDX 167261

Ryan: 
> Well, either Dumbledore was speaking metaphorically or Hermione's 
> Patronus is Ron and Tonk's is Lupin.

Dana:
Actually Tonk's Patronus IS Lupin as we have seen in HBP. 

Pg 150

`
She waved her wand; an immense silvery four-legged creature erupted 
from it and streaked off into the darkness.'


Pg 582 Uked Paperback:

`And the meaning of Tonk's Patronus
, all suddenly became clear to 
Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with 
after all'
  
 
> I do think however, that the form of the patronus is linked to the 
> inspiration for the Patronus.  Which makes me wonder why Ron's 
> patronus is a Jack Russell terrier and Cho Chang's is a swan.

Dana:
The inspiration for the Patronus is a powerful memory that is most 
linked to your inner self. 
That is how Harry found Prongs inside himself and why Tonk's Patronus 
changed. 

I think for those people that never needed a protector or felt the 
pain of love their Patronus will just take the shape of the animal 
most fitting to their own character but once the powerful memory 
needed to conjure the Patronus is linked to the essence of someone 
else, it changes and takes the shape of that person's animal shape. 
JMHO

So Hermione's Patronus still could be able to change into the Jack 
Russell, but we do not know if JKR is ever going to use it in the 
last book,for us to find out. 


Ryan: 
> Also, Dumbledore's phoenix Patronus (probably inspired by Fawkes) 
> suggests that DD might've felt closer to Fawkes than any of his 
> human associate. 
<snip> 

As we have seen in CoS and OotP, Fawkes is not merely DD's pet, he is 
also his protector (and in CoS Harry's). 

> 1.The concept of the phoenix may be even more important to 
> Dumbledore (and perhaps to the story) than just that Fawkes is a 
> Phoenix.  I mean, why call your resistance movement "The Order of 
> the Phoenix?"  Maybe some of the Order members will clarify that in 
> DH.

Dana: 
In Egyptian mythology the Phoenix was associated with the Sun, the 
rising and setting of the Sun and represented the soul of the Sun 
God. It is called the Bennu Bird in Egypt but also carries the 
name "fire bird" and symbolizing immortality, resurrection and life 
after death. 

If you look at the Egyptian mythology and the story behind this bird, 
then with some imagination, you can link it to every important person 
in Harry's life. 

The story of Harry is very similar to the story of Osiris, Isis and 
their son Horus. 

No, not a direct copy but if you read the concept of the Osiris story 
I think you get my drift; "The story of Isis and Osiris was a great 
love story, a story of betrayal, of death and resurrection.  It was 
also a story of the miraculous conception and birth of their divine 
Son, Horus/Har/Hor/Heru, the Egyptian Savior God, who was destined to 
avenge the death of His divine Father and restore divine Order to the 
kingdom of Egypt".

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/IsisDawn/sirius.htm

The Bennu bird is linked to all of them but he is also linked to 
Sirius, as the star represents summer but also the flooding of the 
Nile which was thought to be caused by the rising of the Star Sirius.
(it is interesting to note Sirius the character is killed in OotP ;o))

The star Sirius in Egyptian mythology is thought to be the place that 
holds the soul of Isis. Orion (the constellation) is thought to be 
the place that holds the soul of Osiris and is referred to as the 
hunter (the symbol of a hunter is often a stag) and one of his dogs 
is Sirius. 

The bird is often shown pirched in his sacred willow tree (Whomping 
Willow anyone?) and is also connected to the moon and the planet 
Venus and after it died it rises from the ashes as a worm (yes, I 
know maybe farfetched but it is nevertheless mentioned). 

http://www.phoenixmoon.org/bennu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)

Just some thoughts of course. 

Dana