DH: The silver doe as Lily's patronus?

[vivamus42]

No: HPFGUIDX 172956

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bartl at ...> wrote:
>
> From: Debbie Grosskopf <Grosskopf5 at ...>
> >Isn't the Patronus supposed to be a unique creation for 
> >everyone? How can Snape and Lily have had the same Patronus? 
> >Isn't is supposed to be so unique that it is a secure form of 
> >messenger?
> 
> Bart:
> I've been trying to keep my posts to a minimum (and I'm waiting
until after the flood to start looking at series-long discussions,
such as Unforgivable Curses, Snape's personality, and Harry as a
Horcrux) but here are a few things:
> 
> 1) Where was it ever established that James' Patronus was a stag? 
> 2) I suspect that Lily's patronus WAS a doe, in that she was in love
with an animagus stag. 
> 3) As I've stated before, the moment that I saw the doe Patronus,
the very first thing I thought of was "Snape!" I was dead certain that
was Snape's Patronus, yet as near as I can tell, there was nothing in
the canon to explain this. Can anybody here think of where I might
have gotten the idea?
> 4) Be that as it may, it is clear that Snape associated the doe with
Lily. 
> 
> Bart

Vivamus:
I don't think James' Patronus ever was described.

I would agree with others that the doe is JKR's way of showing
that James & Lily were a natural match.   The doe also is one of the
most graceful, beautiful, and inoffensive creatures in the forest
(unless they come out of the forest to eat your flowers!) and so I
think it also is meant to reflect Lily's character.  

Patronuses seem to be reflections of the person's character, but I
don't think they have to be unique.  You cannot choose your patronus,
and your patronus does not change, unless your heart and nature
undergoes a change (such as with Snape and Tonks, both of which
happened because of love motivated grief.)  

For that reason, one person could not imitate another's patronus, but
there might well be two persons with the same kind of patronus.  A doe
and a stag are, after all, just different genders of the same animal.

Vivamus