I like your explanation of good Occlumency being about selective showing of memory instead of brick wall... though that makes it a bit hard to understand why being an Animagus would help McG.
I agree that her statement that it's "sheer animal instinct" that keeps V. at bay is equivocal and that Sirius needn't be right when he wonders if her animagus nature makes her a better Occlumens. She could simply mean human-animal instinct, emphasizing that it's not all practiced skill, but instinctive self-protection that allows her to outmatch V. Still, I wonder if Sirius might not be right: it would make sense to me that an animagus' brain, even in human form, might be differently mapped than a normal witch's brain -- and that difference might make it harder for V. to tell whether he's reading her fully. And, again, her literal animal instinct may give her an edge that ordinary human witches don't have when it comes down to instinct and will-to-survive. I don't know.
Tangential dithering: I do gather from the books that it takes more than practice to be a really masterful Occlumens: Snape and Dumbledore are held up as the only ones who can really stand up to Voldemort's mastery of Legilimency. Obviously, Dumbledore hopes Harry can learn enough to protect himself (or at least to become more consciously aware of what it feels like to be probed by V.) from V's attempts to read, deceive, and control his waking and sleeping minds. I don't think that there's an implication that the only thing that makes Harry bad at Occlumency is his refusal to practice what Snape assigns: that makes it certain that he'll remain crap at it, but he may also prove to have no more than average ability to learn it anyway. One of the things I respect about the books is that Rowling doesn't make magic easy to learn, and she makes it clear that few wizards or witches are naturally super-endowed and few are really brilliant at learning the skills that can be taught -- and some types of magic require a lot more power or aptitude or study than most folks will ever have or master. I think Occlumency and Legilimency are meant to be in that category.
also, WHERE IS SNAPE? I don't think we've even had the tiniest clue in-game.
THAT is the $64,000,000 Question, is it not?! I would love to have even a tiny hint about him. (And, of course, I'm aching to have him enter play: we totally need Snape's cranky presence. I miss him!)
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I agree that her statement that it's "sheer animal instinct" that keeps V. at bay is equivocal and that Sirius needn't be right when he wonders if her animagus nature makes her a better Occlumens. She could simply mean human-animal instinct, emphasizing that it's not all practiced skill, but instinctive self-protection that allows her to outmatch V. Still, I wonder if Sirius might not be right: it would make sense to me that an animagus' brain, even in human form, might be differently mapped than a normal witch's brain -- and that difference might make it harder for V. to tell whether he's reading her fully. And, again, her literal animal instinct may give her an edge that ordinary human witches don't have when it comes down to instinct and will-to-survive. I don't know.
Tangential dithering:
I do gather from the books that it takes more than practice to be a really masterful Occlumens: Snape and Dumbledore are held up as the only ones who can really stand up to Voldemort's mastery of Legilimency. Obviously, Dumbledore hopes Harry can learn enough to protect himself (or at least to become more consciously aware of what it feels like to be probed by V.) from V's attempts to read, deceive, and control his waking and sleeping minds. I don't think that there's an implication that the only thing that makes Harry bad at Occlumency is his refusal to practice what Snape assigns: that makes it certain that he'll remain crap at it, but he may also prove to have no more than average ability to learn it anyway. One of the things I respect about the books is that Rowling doesn't make magic easy to learn, and she makes it clear that few wizards or witches are naturally super-endowed and few are really brilliant at learning the skills that can be taught -- and some types of magic require a lot more power or aptitude or study than most folks will ever have or master. I think Occlumency and Legilimency are meant to be in that category.
also, WHERE IS SNAPE? I don't think we've even had the tiniest clue in-game.
THAT is the $64,000,000 Question, is it not?! I would love to have even a tiny hint about him. (And, of course, I'm aching to have him enter play: we totally need Snape's cranky presence. I miss him!)