harry potter - Do Wizards get to choose which animal their Patronus will be?

Do Wizards get to choose which animal their Patronus will be? If they don't get to choose, what determines their Patronus animal? EDIT - I didn't recall that there were any duplicate animals among the ones that were mentioned.

Answer

There is no indication in the books that a conscious decision is made. We see a significant number of students find their Patronus throughout the series, none of whom are noted as making a decision. There are also cases of duplicates - both James and Harry Potter are noted as having a stag as their Patronus, for instance, and Snape and Lily share a doe Patronus.

The closest indication we get of significance in the Patronus itself, other than some unconscious desire, is animagi - the two cases where we see both form and Patronus, they are identical: James Potter and Professor McGonnagal.

Comments

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