Take Pride in Your Patronus Charm
So, I decided to do a search the other day to see who else had my particular Patronus and see what they thought of it. I started out searching Google of course and the results that popped up were all along the lines of “The lamest Patronuses from the ‘Harry Potter Quiz’”, “The 9 Worst Patronuses and What They Say About You As A Person”, “Best tweets about the Worst Patronuses”, etc, etc, ad nauseum... My face fell and I was like, thank you internet, for destroying my faith in humanity:
“Seriously?! How on Earth could anyone be upset or angry about their Patronus charm results?”, I thought.
So I began to peruse some of the articles, and yeah, I guess some would be upset if their results were a mole, or a mouse. So many of them though were citing the reason being because of the size of their creatures. Saying things like, “how is a stupid squirrel going to stand up against a big, scary dementor?!” Or, “HOW IS THIS PROTECTING ME FROM ANYTHING?!”
The thing is, in order to understand your Patronus charm, you need to stop thinking in Muggle terms. Size makes no difference. One of the very definitions of the Patronus Charm is as follows:
As a pure, protective magical concentration of happiness and hope (the recollection of a single talisman memory is essential in its creation) it is the only spell effective against Dementors. The majority of witches and wizards are unable to produce Patronuses and to do so is generally considered a mark of superior magical ability.
Not only that, but a Dementor is a magical creature in and of itself. If a Dementor were to confront an elephant, a lion, a mouse, a sparrow or a beetle; it would care nothing for that creature. The size makes no difference to a Dementor and to a physical creature such as those, they would show no fear despite the creatures claws, teeth, talons, or lack thereof of any of those things. Physical features, such as sharp claws or teeth cannot harm a creature like that who is magical and cannot be defeated by any physical means. As the definition states the Patronus CHARM is the only spell effective against Dementors.
Were you being attacked by Dementors, your Patronus charm would not bite, attack, or slash at a Dementor. Simply, it’s presence alone is enough to drive it away or keep it at bay. Hell, tons of Dementors were held at bay by Dolores Umbridge during a MInistry Hearing with a simple housecat. Bad example using Umbridge, I know, but bear with me. Another example will follow below.
They key lies in the happiness and the hope that is imbued within your corporeal Patronus. The fact that you can conjure up a Patronus at all in any shape, is incredible enough. Think of it! Your happiness and hope taking on the form of any creature whatsoever is amazing! Why limit yourself to thinking in such lowly Muggle terms? It isn’t like my Patronus will fight your Patronus. Creatures of all shapes and sizes are incredible. Despite their advantages or disadvantages, they are capable of surviving and thriving on this planet in some cases, even better than humans who have to rely on others. Some of these creatures survive and thrive on their own...from birth! Every animal is unique, and every animal is amazing.
Your happiness and your hope is amazing as well. It is unique to you. It exemplifies who you are. It is not something that we can fully understand either. It is incorporeal and is not something that can be wholly understood or quantified by science. Not fully. In essence, it is magical.
I have several favorite animals. Lions, wolves, dolphins, falcons, hawks, cephalopods, and so on. My Patronus charm is none of them. When I first took the quiz on Pottermore, and saw my results, I was so happy though that it was something I never once expected. It literally brought a big smile to my face to think about it. I mean, not only did my Patronus come in the form of a complex organism, but it was something that I never, in my wildest thoughts, could have expected. And it isn’t anything scary, or vicious, or even ferocious looking, or large for that matter. In fact it is one of the smallest Patronuses I’ve ever seen or heard of.
Anyway, despite my happiness at seeing it for the first time, I read on, and sure enough, my thoughts were confirmed even more as I read, particularly about the part where one of the most famous Patronuses of all Wizarding History was a humble little mouse, used by the wizard Illyius to hold off an attack from an army of Dementors, single-handedly. AN ARMY OF DEMENTORS! Held off by a mouse! The size of the creature meant absolutely NOTHING! The mere presence of the thing itself kept an army at bay. It was not the creature’s ferocity. It was not the teeth. It was not the claws that protected Illyius. It was the happiness and hope imbued into the spirit of the creature by it’s conjurer. To me, there is nothing more badass than that.
In short, don’t diminish the power that your Patronus holds just because it might have been something you didn’t expect, or may not even be your favorite animal. Embrace it! Love it! From the lowliest creature, to the most ferocious, it is unique and powerful. If you happened to get a thestral, a dragon, or a griffin as your Patronus, then congrats to you! Here’s the thing though: it isn’t like it is stronger or more powerful than mine. Once again, it is unique to you and if you hold as much pride and happiness in yours, as I do in mine, then I would still be proud to stand together with you against hordes of Dementors.
Yes, this Slytherin is happy to say that my Patronus is a Dragonfly, and I am proud of it. How about you?
