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Rather, one became the animal which suited them best. Details Īlbus Dumbledore: " Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall!" Minerva McGonagall: " How did you know it was me?" Albus Dumbledore: " My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." Minerva McGonagall: " You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day." - Minerva McGonagall in her Animagus form at Privet Drive Ī Native American wizard turning into a bird based on his inner-traitsĪn Animagus could only transform into one particular species of animal, furthermore they could not choose what kind of animal they gained the ability to transform into. Īt Uagadou School of Magic, a school known for its focus on self-transfiguration, students could become Animagi by the age of fourteen.
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Ī teacher who taught the skill did not need to be an Animagus themselves, as shown when Professor Dumbledore, who was not an Animagus, taught Minerva McGonagall how to successfully become one. Minerva had become an Animagus by the age of seventeen, being taught by Professor Dumbledore, who made a note within The Tales of Beedle the Bard to explain for her that, while Animagi were usually people who sought to avoid punishment when they broke the law, she merely became one to further her studies in Transfiguration. Talented and determined students could acquire the skill during their school years if they wished to. When Minerva McGonagall, an Animagus herself, was the teacher, it also included a practical demonstration. Teaching Īt Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the theory of Animagus transfiguration was taught about in third year. Besides that, the skill was of limited practical use anyway, unless one had a great need of disguise or concealment. However, if any part of this process was done incorrectly, it had the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong (such as causing permanent half-human, half-animal mutations).īecause to process was so difficult and dangerous, and because many witches and wizards simply felt that their time might be better spent in other ways, not many people chose to try becoming an Animagus. Once the process was completed, the witch or wizard would be an Animagus and for the rest of their life would have the ability to change between their human and animal forms at will, with or without the use of a wand. When, at last, there was a lightning storm, the wizard had to move immediately to a large and secure place, recite the incantation one final time, and then drink the Animagus potion. During this waiting period the wizard would have to, at sunrise and sundown everyday without fail, chant the incantation Amato Animo Animato Animagus with the tip of their wand placed over the heart. The next thing that had to happen was for the wizard to wait for an electrical storm, whenever that might be. The resulting mixture then had to be put in a quiet, dark place, and could not be disturbed in any way. To the moon-struck phial, the wizard or witch must add one of their own hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew that had not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for seven days, and the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth.
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If the leaf was removed or swallowed, the witch or wizard would have to start over again.Īt the next visible full moon (if the night happened to be cloudy, one would have to start over) the wizard had to spit the leaf into a phial within range of the moon's pure rays. The first step for becoming an Animagus was that the witch or wizard in question had to keep a single Mandrake leaf in their mouth for an entire month (from full moon to full moon). Sirius Black as "Padfoot", one of the few known (modern) unregistered Animagi
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The process of becoming an Animagus was long and difficult and it had to be done in a very specific way, it required skill, practice, and patience. Any witch or wizard who wished to become an Animagus had to undergo a ritual-like process in order to achieve the ability.
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