[HPforGrownups] FW: Your Boggart

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 1118

Sister Mary Lunatic asked about Boggarts and Penny mentioned the Mirror of
Erised, which was presumably raised by someone else along the way, but I'm
still ambling through today's messages. I'm going to risk cutting in here
with my comments.

***

I agree with SML's point about symbolic Boggarts not being frightening in
themselves.  Similarly, my greatest fears and desires cannot easily be
represented by recognisable images [everyone choruses "Boo!!! Another cop
out!"].  

I realise that with Boggarts the whole point is to distil a fear of the
unknown, death or failure into a physical object or situation, but my waking
brain cannot come up with something that represents and elicits such
feelings. If I chose, say, fear of public speaking (which might be a fear of
failure), how on earth would that manifest itself as a Boggart?  It's really
difficult to encapsulate a phobia like that. In a dream state, I would
probably have no trouble coming up with something recognisable, but it would
be symbolic rather than literal and, as SML said, not necessarily
frightening. Taking this a little further, I would argue that an irrational
fear of spiders or snakes, for example, is not a fear of the creatures
themselves but a fear response as a conduit for a more deep-seated fear.  

When it comes to seeing your greatest desire in the Mirror of Erised, I'm
sure many people would picture some wild, personal sexual fantasy rather
than something mundane or altruistic, such as a new sports car or a symbolic
representation of 'an end to starvation'. I'm sure that when Dumbledore said
he saw socks in the mirror, that was just his way of avoiding exposing his
steamy masturbatory fantasies to a pre-pubescent boy in a dark room.  Or
maybe the old mage really is a sock fetishist.

Anyway, when it comes to my inner thoughts, I'm not telling ;)

Neil
            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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