Thursday, July 28, 2011

HP A10

Q10: What form would your patronus take?

This question turns out to be nearly impossible to answer, for the criteria for ascertaining the characteristics of a patronus are unknown.  Is it an animal for which the person feels an affinity?  An animal that is traditionally known to have certain characteristics that are also shared by the person?  An animal that represents an individual who is important to the person, such as Harry Potter's stag or Severus Snape's doe? 

When Herself was small, she liked koala bears.  Also, like many young girls, she was partial to horses (and their magical cousin, the unicorn).  As a teenager, she also was a bit fond of llamas because they are slightly odd, rather wry, and serviceable animals.  Wombats were nifty to her as well.  As an adult, she has enjoyed the company of a rabbit, several dogs, and multiple guinea pigs; she particularly cares for the guinea pigs (as you will recall, she has even written about one here).  Is that sufficient influence for the form of her patronus?

What kind of animal is Herself?  Perhaps not a bird, for she does not particularly like to fly.  Not an ocean-dwelling creature, for sure - she is a land mammal.  Beyond those qualifications, though, I do not know what animal she most resembles. 

And what of important individuals?  There have been many people who have intersected with Herself's life; only a handful have been sufficiently vital to possibly have an impact on what type of animal might be revealed as her patronus.  Furthermore, it is impossible to quantify and compare the influence of these people - how can one weigh the import of a parent with a sibling with a husband with a child with a friend? It cannot be done.

For now, Herself's patronus appears to be non-corporeal. Only with time, more practice, and greater concentration upon her happiest memories, will Herself be able to conjure a fully corporeal patronus, so that we may learn of its true form.

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