>My next question is, do you get to choose the animal, or does it come from your character?
Didn't I already address this? Yes, I think I did.
Has anyone here read Katharine Kerr's Deverry books? More specifically, the Westlands series: A Time of Exile, A Time of Omens, Days of Blood and Fire and Days of Air and Darkness. The elven dweomer-masters can change into birds, but the species of their transformation is chosen by their personality and character. That's the line along which I was thinking.
So, yes, I think you only get one. One animal that embodies your strongest character traits. Poor Sirius. Imagine ending up a dog.
You know, Lauderdale, even with what Scabbers eventually turned out to be, I still don't connect him with Pettigrew, when I re-read the earlier books. I mean, he did make a better rat than human. The snake thing really bugged me, though. Snakes is cool!
Yes, if there's one big flaw in Rowling's books, it's the fact that animals are treated in it as...well.. animals. I can understand Harry and Ron's lack of concern for the creatures they use, because boys of that age rarely seem capable of fathoming the idea that something besides themselves might have feelings, but you would have thought Hermione at least would care.
You know what I really resent? It's the fact that Dudley, being fat, is automatically designated a Bad Character. Yes, he is a bad character, and one might think that he would be fat, having spent his entire life on greed, but the last thing we need here is another reason to despise obesity. I tell you, I'm glad I'm out of elementary school now, and I feel sorry for those who aren't.