Just because Harry saw the snake Patronus doesn’t mean he recognizes the species. He probably could recognize the same Patronus, but maybe not; Harry paid more attention to it than a regular snake, but if I saw a snake once, and then saw another snake three months later, I don’t think I’d be sure they were the same even if I did have reason to think they were.
True. Then again, Harry knew when he taught Draco that one of the uses of a Patronus is to carry unfakeable messages, for which you need to know exactly what the other person’s Patronus looks like. Also, it’s the snake on Lucius’s cane, which we know he paid attention to. If he recognised Draco’s snake as that snake, it would set it firmly enough in his mind that he might recognise it when he saw it again.
Just because Harry saw the snake Patronus doesn’t mean he recognizes the species. He probably could recognize the same Patronus, but maybe not; Harry paid more attention to it than a regular snake, but if I saw a snake once, and then saw another snake three months later, I don’t think I’d be sure they were the same even if I did have reason to think they were.
True. Then again, Harry knew when he taught Draco that one of the uses of a Patronus is to carry unfakeable messages, for which you need to know exactly what the other person’s Patronus looks like. Also, it’s the snake on Lucius’s cane, which we know he paid attention to. If he recognised Draco’s snake as that snake, it would set it firmly enough in his mind that he might recognise it when he saw it again.
File under “more evidence needed”.