Padfoot's Breed

[annoni-no.livejournal.com]

Rowling never specified what breed of dog Sirius' Animagus form was, and 'a bear-like black dog' doesn't do much to narrow the field of possibilities. However, if we assume that the transformation closely reflects the wizard's personality, and perhaps reinforces it, I think I might have identified our mystery breed.

Meet the Russian Newfoundland, also called the Moscow Water Dog:

http://www.easypetmd.com/doginfo/moscow-water-dog

The result of a breeding experiment crossing Newfoundlands, East European Shepherds, and Caucasian Shepherds to create an all-purpose work and rescue dog by the Soviet Army during the 1950's, the Russian Newfoundland is now extinct.

What was this breed like while extant?

"This new breed proved to be an excellent swimmer, as well as a vigilant, trainable and intelligent shoreline sentry dog, and well able to withstand arctic temperatures and freezing water."

Strong swimming skills and high tolerance of freezing water - escaped from Azkaban by swimming the North Sea.

Intelligent - his teachers acknowledged him as bright, however much trouble he caused. The Marauders' Map is nothing to laugh at either.

Vigilant – before he was addled by Dementors he was certainly more attentive than James during their assault on Snape.

Trainable – this is the crux, isn't it? We don't know much about the dynamics between Sirius and James, but Peter was able to play him like a harp, and even Remus could control him when he bothered to exert himself. So, it seems that he was eminently manageable by those who knew him well and who he considered 'pack.'

And the Moscow Water Dog was infamous for being very selective about who they would acknowledge as pack, and how hostile they were toward strangers.

How hostile?

"...when set loose to rescue a panicked and drowning sailor, it was the breed's nature to swim straight to them and attack them in the water. A terrifying experience for the victim, who if they did not drown fighting off the dog would then likely try and drown the dog in order to defend themselves from the onslaught of gnashing teeth."

I'm sure those Muggle policemen in the prequel could sympathize deeply. As could Snape, and Kreacher, and....

In summation:

"As it would turn out, the Russian Water Dog was too much working dog and not enough rescue dog, the breed was aggressive and took very poorly to strangers, regardless of whether they were drowning or on land."

Yes, I believe that fits Sirius rather well.

Comments

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

I'll not try to convince you all - to me the grim makes sense - being around Sirius was a true risk. It's been said that JKR nixed magical animals for animagi, but few of us think her interviews consistent in other matters.

As for the bit about the Hogsmeade residents believing he was a 'lovable stray' - that was purely Sirius' opinion. Notice they didn't think him so lovable that they left him food out. He's living on eating rats in a cave, until the trio brings him some food. A true 'lovable stray' would have had a spot in someone's home - or at the very least food left out for him. It isn't as if he wouldn't ever be let outside again if he was staying in someone's home.

[jana-ch.livejournal.com]

I agree with you that the grim does make sense, but, after some consideration, I'm going along with the idea that there are no magical creature animagi. It's not because JKR said so in an interview--I'm a book purist when it comes to canon--but because a magical creature animagus form is such a Mary Sue characteristic. Sirius is not a Gary Stu, not even one whose extra-special twinkly magic power is a deadly one that's dangerous to his friends and himself. He's just an ordinary wizard jerk.

Fortunately, one of the beauties of fandom is that neither of us is required to convince the other. ;-)

[annoni-no.livejournal.com]

To be honest, the idea that humans can't turn into magical beings is one of the few bits of interview canon I like. Potterverse witches and wizards, from everything we've seen in canon, are already far more flexible in how they can channel their magic than any other magical species we've seen (Dobby did mimic a Hover Charm, but that was the only instance of such impersonation we ever saw and might just have been a best fit interpretation of magic registering where only an underage wizard lived).

To balance that, I prefer Jodel's interpretation of humans as not being intrinsically magical. As such, we may be more flexible in how we channel the magic we have access to, but it's also far more difficult and dangerous for us to use. Being able to physically become those other magical creatures negates that disadvantage, giving the animagus all the benefits of their transformed form (e.g. a dragon's nearly impenetrable hide, strength, and flight) plus all the advantages of being a magical human. The overall result is too Sue-ish for me to tolerate.

I also have to say that I'm disturbed by the idea that because Sirius is dangerous to associate with, his animagus form must be one that is, in essence, an abstraction made incarnate. Even if you interpret Padfoot as referring to a Black Shuck instead of a Churchyard Grim, you still can't compare the two. Sirius is dangerous because of his actions. A Black Shuck is dangerous because of its nature. There is nothing it can do to mitigate the harm that comes to those near it. It manifests only when death or disaster is near; it doesn't exist outside out of conjunction with that misery. You cannot say that about a human being, any human being, or other non-magical creature. That's why I think Sirius is most like a Russian Newfoundland. He got dealt a bad set of instincts (cruelty, impulsiveness, reckless, etc...) for living in a secular, 21st century society. He could still have learned to control the worst of them, and should be held accountable for his actions in failing to do so. One can't say the same about a creature that consists of nothing but those negative qualities.

Getting back to the book, Rowling did originally include a dog-lover named Mopsy who looked out for Sirius, but her editor convinced her to drop the character. There's still evidence that the residents of Hogsmeade didn't consider Sirius terribly alarming, even if there are no animal lovers in canon. Students aren't warned about a dangerous dog in the area. More importantly, the WW isn't exactly PETA friendly, and every adult witch and wizard is armed with a potentially lethal long distance weapon. If they didn't trust Sirius to be harmless, they could have either run him off with stinging hexes or AK-ed him – it's only unforgivable if used on humans. Sirius wasn't worried about that; he felt comfortable wandering through town occasionally to snag newspapers and rummage for food.

[nx74defiant.livejournal.com]

He could still have learned to control the worst of them, and should be held accountable for his actions in failing to do so.

Unfortunately being sorted into Gryffindor means you're never accountable.

That is the problem with HP. Not that the "good guys" do bad things, its that when they do they are never held accountable.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Yeah.