Got a question...

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, silmariel <silmariel at t...> wrote:
> 
> As soon as I had the question in mind, I knew this was the group for it... 
> it's derived from my little obsession about Snape's patronus, and death in 
> general, this year.
> 

Interesting.
If ole Sevvy has a Thestral as Patronus then - yes, it fits in neatly with
Blackwidower Theory - those he saw die (at Voldy's instigation if not
directly by Voldy's hand) being Snape's own wife and son.

Mind you, I can see a few Billywigs in the unguent.
For a start we assume that the form of Patronus is decided more or
less from the time of character development or even earlier. Unless
the poor bugger has had at least one childhood episode watching
somebody die -  well, when he/she gets around to learning how to
produce one they'll never know that they succeeded - it'll be invisible.
Frustrating or what? And if like Harry he were asked to produce a 
Patronus under exam conditions some of the examiners might not be 
able to see it either. 
"Sorry, Snape. You've failed this part."
"But sir! I did it! It's just that my Patronus is invisible!"
"Pull the other one, lad - it's got bells on."

Secondly - can Dementors 'see'  a Threstral - real or Patronic?
If they  can't - well, there ain't much point in having one.

Additionally herself has restricted Patronic forms to real, non-magical
beasties - so far at least. Oh, most fans suspect, probably correctly, that
DD  has a  Phoenix Pat, but it's never actually been spelled out, and he
could be a special case. Everyone else seems to be stuck with boring
old stags, otters, hamsters and the like. If magical beasts were allowed
a dragon form would be a fun thing to play around with, or even having
your own pet Dementor Patronus - just so long as it didn't go feral and 
join it's pals in making your life a misery. 
Yup. If Marvin the Paranoid Android has a Patronus, it's a Dementor.
 
Kneasy