Friday, December 17, 2010

What is your Patronus?

First of all I owe any and all credit for this post to my buddy Lydia K, from The Word is my Oyster. She came up with this awesome question and posted about it yesterday (this post, my post, was supposed to go up on Thursday, but I got sick). If you haven't been there, please stop by to read her super fun post, comment on it, and follow her blog. She also has an awesome feature, Medical Mondays, which is not only really entertaining, but extremely useful for writers.

So anyway, hopefully you've all read the Harry Potter novels, more specifically Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where the Patronus Charm first appears. For those of you who haven't, here is the description from the Harry Potter Wiki:

A Patronus Charm is an insubstantial animal protector created by the advanced Patronus Charm spell, and one way to defend against Dementors and certain other Dark creatures. The spell requires the use of a wand, concentration on a powerfully happy memory, and the incantation "Expecto Patronum".


A Patronus that is fully formed, or corporeal, takes the shape of fairly solid-looking animal; a non-corporeal Patronus appears only as wisps of silvery mist. It is a very complex charm and many qualified wizards and witches have trouble with it. Harry Potter is one of the youngest known wizards to cast a Patronus. The Patronus Charm, like Animagus forms, has been said to reflect the personality or feelings of the witch or wizard. They are, however, subject to change if the caster goes through an emotional upheaval of some sort.


Anyway, before I go on any longer about the awesomeness that is All Things Harry Potter the point of this post is: what kind of animal do you think your patronus (assuming it manifested itself as fully corporeal) would show up as?

Lydia, being both a doctor and a clever writer, argued first that hers would be a Paramecium, then she selected a Kiwi (the bird, not the fruit) for a moment before finally settling on a Platypus.

My own Patronus would manifest itself as a Mountain Lion, also known as a Cougar, I'm quite confident. How do I know this, you ask? Because as a teenager I went on a Vision Quest, and discovered that the Mountain Lion is my Spirit-Animal.

I fully realize that may sound crazy, but I'm not joking.

More on Vision Quests and Spirit-Animals next week (although if you name your Patronus Animal in the comments, I promise to break down what that would mean as your Spirit Animal, in another post).

48 comments:

Talli Roland said...

Mine would be a moose. Just... because.

Jessica Bell said...

Yeah, a Phoenix :o)

Karen Baldwin said...

My spirit animal is a hawk. Where ever I go, I always see one. Many times one will fly right over me.

Steve MC said...

Mine would be an Ewok. With a big stick.

Ted Cross said...

I have no idea. I can't think of any animals that feel like 'me'.

Josin L. McQuein said...

It would be kind of cool to say something exotic like a giraffe, and I've always had an affinity for hyena (seriously fascinating animals) but for me, it would be a badger or wolverine.

Emily White said...

Mine would either be a lemur or a chipmunk. Timid, but crafty.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I told her mine would be a tiger. Unless I'm in the water - then it would be a great white.

Stina said...

Hmmm. Either a wolf or a dolphin. Or maybe that's just what I wish they'd be. :D

Believe it or not, I have thought about this before. Don't know why. Just have.

Creepy Query Girl said...

a dolphin. I love to be underwater, need to be part of a tight knit community, and would communicate through telepathy if I could...(I know most would argue dolphins communicate through clicks and echoes but I know the truth)

Bryan Russell said...

A giant sloth, most definitely. Maybe one of those huge, shambling prehistoric ones. Lots of eating. Lots of sleeping.

Joanna St. James said...

Just because am a true leo i'd say lion

Kelly Polark said...

Mine would be a monkey as my mom told me I was adopted from the zoo when I was a child. She said I was a monkey and shaved off my hair and adopted me. And yes, I believed her for about a week. I don't have emotional scars from that, really. :) No seriously, she was a good mom other than that incident which is funny now! And I think I even thought it was funny then!

Shannon said...

I love that you're going to I break down what that would mean as your Spirit Animal! Too cool! I wanna know.

Mine: Dolphin.

DEZMOND said...

I love that picture in the post!
I think my patronus would be a raccoon :))) But deep inside I'm convinced that the whole animal kingdom would be my patronus.

DEZMOND said...

PS huge LOL on Kelly's comment :))0

Old Kitty said...

I said this over at the lovely Lydia's blog and I'll say this again here.

Cat.

:-)Take care
x

M.A. Leslie said...

Golden Retriever. Simple, faithful, lovable, honest, and just so cute. Well maybe I'm not the cute part, but it's the best animal alive.
M.

LTM said...

it would have to be a cat. I know! But it just would.

Glad you're all better! Merry Christmas~ <3

Lisa Galek said...

My husband's would be a frog for sure. I'm guessing mine would be a cat... that or an adorable spider monkey :)

Laura S. said...

My Patronus is a zebra, for sure. :)

Colene Murphy said...

Finally decided, bobcat. Rawr.

Unknown said...

A tiger. Even though I'm a total dog person, I dream often of tigers. Some of the dreams I can interpret and some I can't, but they're always interesting.

Jamie Gibbs said...

Mine would be a giant tortoise. Masters of longevity!

Arlee Bird said...

How about an owl? I would like to be able to fly and sit around looking wise. I think I'd want to forego the rodent diet though--maybe an owl that eats pizza and thai food?

Lee
Tossing It Out

Angie said...

Hmmm. Interesting question. I'll say a wolf. (Although I am deathly afraid of dogs.) A wolf seems fierce enough to drive off a dementor.

Sarah Ahiers said...

hy, i have a pal that does totem readings. You should check out her blog (Koda's Totems). She does totem readings for donations to her stray dog fund.
Anyhoo, mine would be a mothereffing grizzly bear. Twin thought i would say elephant, but i'm quite confident it would be a bear.
Twin says hers would be a horse. But not just any horse, but a mothereffing war horse - most likely a percheron

Sarah Ahiers said...

sigh. The "hy" should be "hey".

Melissa Gill said...

This is hard for me because there are so many animals that I love. I think my patronus would be an orangutan. They're quiet and thoughtful, although they aren't normally social, they will warm up in a group over time and form tight bonds. What does this have to do with being fierce and protective? Well, they are six times stronger than a human, and males can weigh 300lbs. So I'd take a 300lb super strong dude with four hands to protect me anyday.

Stephanie Lorée said...

Matt: I'm quite certain I'd have the lioness as my power animal. I know this for similar reasons that you know yours is a cougar.

Nothing wrong with a little crazy. :) My current WIP is all about spirit animals and their manifestation, so I'm curious to see where you go with this post next week...

Raquel Byrnes said...

A Liger. ;)
Edge of Your Seat Romance

Nicole Zoltack said...

A unicorn

Lenny Lee said...

hi mr matthew! thats a pretty neat post and that picture is real cool. me and miss lydia been each others followers for a long while. shes real nice. for sure my animal spirit is raccoon.
...raccoon spirit hugs from lenny

Nathan Bransford said...

Space monkey.

Unknown said...

A tiger - without a shadow of a doubt.

lexcade said...

mine would be a turtle:

+ they're typically loners.

+ they're deliberate, even if it takes them longer to get where they're going.

+ they are hard on the outside and soft on the inside.

+ when they get scared, they recede into themselves until it's safe again.

+ it takes a while to gain their trust.

i always wanted a wolf because they're cunning, beautiful and family-oriented, but i just identify better with a turtle.

Lydia Kang said...

I still stand by my platypus!

I can't wait to hear more about your vision quest. And mountain lions are quite formidable. I'm not surprised it chose you!

Carol Riggs said...

Very interesting, your spirit quest and all! I commented on Lydia's post back when she had it, and my answer still stands: a blue-green dragon!

Abby Minard said...

Ooh this is hard. It reminds me of The Golden Compass where a person's daemon is a reflection on their personality (their soul outside their body in the form of an animal). Mine would probably be a rabbit/hare. Quiet, observing, but able to survive when thrown challenges. Quick witted, but cautious at the same time. It takes time to warm up to people, but once I do I'm trustworthy and loyal (I had a rabbit that would sit in the grass with me and not try to run away- I loved him so much and I like to think he loved me too :)

vic caswell said...

i really have no idea! for some reason, i keep thinking mouse... but jiminey! i hope that patronus animals and animagus animals don't come from the same source! because i don't want to be grouped with the likes of pettigrew! eeks!!!

very interested to hear your next weeks posts about spirit animals and perhaps your vision quest? :)

Anonymous said...

I've thought about this since I first read the books. Years later, I still don't have an answer.

That may not be a good sign . . .

Vicki Rocho said...

Interesting question. Hmmm. I'm confusing myself because my Patronus would be there to protect me, but a spirit-animal wouldn't necessarily be for protection, right? It'd just be symbolic for my life path--or do I have that wrong?

So for protection: A bear
For guidance/whatever: the rabbit or maybe a hawk/eagle

erica and christy said...

I have never done one of those Patronus or Daemon tests.

I hate coyotes. I'm a farmer's wife in Wisconsin and coyotes kill calves and birds and all that we hold dear.

But I ultimately know I'm a coyote. Cunning, deceptive, but totally devoted to my goal. Yep, coyote.

Thanks for the question!
erica

PK HREZO said...

I'm quite certain mine would be a tigress.

But I love the answer liger ...lol!!

VICTORIA SAAVEDRA said...

My Patronus would probably have to be either a horse or a panther. Fun post!

K M Kelly said...

Weird - could have sworn I commented here - anyway - hedgehog for me :-)

Unknown said...

I've always thought mine was a tiger but it might have changed to Ocelot in the past few years.

Carolyn Abiad said...

I've thought about this...mine is an odd-eyed, white Angora cat. Who knows what that means?