Patronus

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 190458


> Geoff:
> I think I would question whether the Animagus form is connected to the Patronus 
> because there is no evidence to support this in canon.
> 
> There is no character in the books for whom we know  the Animagus form and also 
> the form of their Patronus.

Pippin:
You are probably banging yourself on the forehead right now, because in fact we do know McGonagall's patronus, as you probably remembered right after you hit "send."  It is a cat with spectacle markings, similar to her animagus. She conjured it, or rather them, to serve as messengers just after Harry revealed himself in DH. Which leads to the theory that the animagus form and the patronus form must be related.

However there's no automatic connection between them, because we are told that no one can know what their animagus form will be until they've mastered the spell, and that wouldn't be true if you could find out by learning to conjure your patronus. The patronus charm, although challenging, is  certainly easier by far than the animagus transformation, which, we are told, takes years to accomplish.

 On the question of who can use a patronus: the FAQ section of JKR's website says that the patronus is "anti-dark magic" which makes it difficult for dark wizards to interfere with it. She doesn't say that they can't use it. 

I suppose that a wizard who normally uses dark magic can use anti-dark spells if he chooses. But  the general Death Eater attitude is probably the one expressed by Draco in HBP, that he doesn't need to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts spells, being a dark wizard himself. He has a sense, foolishly, that the dark forces are on his side. Then, too, the Dementors are Voldemort's allies, and arming yourself against them could be considered to show either a lack of faith in Voldemort's ability to control them or even worse, treasonous intent. 

Umbridge, OTOH,  probably didn't ever think of herself as a Dark witch, nor would she think that the dementors can be trusted as allies, having been betrayed by them when they deserted the ministry in OOP. And I don't know if she ever admitted to herself that the Ministry was under Voldemort's sway.


Pippin