Same disclaimer applies. Not that anyone's reading it.
Chapter 2: Animal Choices; why we become what we do
Given that a witch or wizard has the control or the power that will allow them to become an animagus, they still have another task ahead. Every animagi must discern what they will become, save those, like the Chudley Cannons seeker, who transform by accident. The process of discerning is either incredibly simple, or horrendously difficult and complex. Myself, and many of the animagi I have met and interviewed over the years, could give no better explanation for animal choice than simply knowing. Naturally, this was utterly frustrating as I attempted to write this book, but I have met quite a few witches and wizards who had to obtain the information by other means. I am unable to validate these claims, as I already know what animal I become, and I admit that some sound very far-fetched, but it seems that they worked for those who used them.
I have selected several cases that seem to represent the general ideas that most of the Animagi were using, and divided the methods into two basic categories. Since the object is to find the animal you will transform into, there are, at base, two places to find it. One can look within, or one can look without.
One particular wizard was so bent on finding the nature of his animal form, and so determined that he would find it amongst the animals, that he left his comfortable ministry job to live in a secluded forest area. He spent the time living in make-shift shelters, sometimes none at all, and following around every creature he could, trying to discern what his form might be. After nearly a year outside of society, he returned to the friends who still remembered him as a loon. In all senses of the word. When I interviewed this gentleman, it was in the long-term care wing of St. Mungo's. I am not allowed to release his name, not that it really matters, because he certainly doesn't know it.
One witch, equally bent on finding her form, but equally convinced that she would find the answer inside herself, spent many months in meditation, barely eating enough to survive, as she slowly struggled toward the answer. Which, probably not by chance, turned out to be a slow answer. The woman's form turned out to be that of a flobberworm, which is exactly as exciting and much more embarrassing than it sounds. She expressly forbade my sharing of her name, which is rather irrelevant, as it is on file at the Ministry.
These cases represent some of the extremes among the methods, and the search of these particular two caused substantial damage to their public and private lives. There are middle roads; most of the witches and wizards I spoke with had done some meditation, and several had taken moderate and reasonable vacations in which they went hiking in the wilderness. Others still had researched the various animals in the library, though most found this not the least bit helpful.
Methods of divining the truth aside, the form for every witch and wizard can be divided into three categories. A person transforms into an animal that either matches their personality traits best, has personality traits or abilities that they admire, or has a relation to their heritage. I interviewed an entire family in which at least one wizard of every generation has had the ability to transform into a badger.
Whatever form it is that the Animagus takes, it nearly always shares several physical traits that help identify an Animagus form as opposed to a normal animal. Many times, if the person in question often wears glasses, or has a distinctive color of hair, it will show up in unique markings on the animal. This is nearly universally true, but the theory behind it is incredibly vague. No one has nailed down any proof of their ideas.