AK stealing souls

[jklb66]

No: HPFGUIDX 35723

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Laura Huntley" <huntleyl at m...> wrote:
> However, the personality of his [Frank Bryce's] shadow-self and the 
shadow-selves of Cedric and Co. kind of got me thinking.  Don't the 
shadow-selves seem a little too..well, sentient, to be merely 
representations of spells the wand has cast?  It makes me wonder if 
the Avada Kedavra curse actually does more than just kill you.  
Perhaps it steals vital parts of the victim's being?  Parts say, like 
the soul?  Or not, because canon states that people can survive 
without their souls.  However,  maybe it sort of...absorbs a person's 
*being*.  In a sense, maybe it sucks not only their life/magic/soul 
essence out, but, in effect, transfers that essence/power to the 
wand/wizard.   I'm sure this theory has been discussed before, but 
well..it's new to me. ^_~ Anyway, a list of reasons why this theory 
would fit into the plot or answer some questions canon has yet to 
address...
> 
> 1) Perhaps this is why the Avada Kedavra curse is Unforgivable.  We 
know that there are other ways to kill using magic.  (I.e. Peter's 
blow-up-the-street-specialty-of-the-house.)  Yet these ways are not 
Unforgivable.  Maybe Avada Kedavra steals a person's essence as well 
as killing them, robbing them of existence even in the afterlife.  
Also, it makes those who use it more powerful, giving it a triple-
whammy against it.  It kills, it steals the victims' sacred 
soul/spirit/whatever, and (as a special extra bonus) it makes the 
murderer more powerful.  Why *not* make it Unforgivable?  GOOD 
wizards obviously do not *do* these things. ^_^
> 
> 2) This theory would give dark wizards an incentive to use Avada 
Kedavra as opposed to otherwise better alternatives.  Why not just 
use the curse Peter did to blow up the street (or a less damaging 
alternative, there are lots of ways to kill people, trust me)?  It 
kills more people with (I assume) less power.  More bang for the 
buck, as my father used to say.  UNLESS there are hidden benefits to 
using AK that canon has not yet enlightened us to.
> 
> 3) This may be why Harry seems to "absorbed" parts of Voldie as a 
result of the failed AK (parseltounge, etc.  Dumbledore said 
something to this effect in CoS).  If the AK *backfired* totally, 
Harry would have ended up getting V's essence instead of the other 
way around.  Of course, V certainly did retain part of his 
personality after the failed curse.  Perhaps his experimental 
immortality spells had the effect of changing parts of his essence 
into a form AK couldn't steal?

This theory makes definite sense to me.  I've always felt that AK 
steals more than just the victim's life, and that it gives whatever 
it takes (soul, essence, power) to the dark wizard/witch performing 
the curse.  I think this could be a possible explanation of why 
Voldemort's inner circle are called "Death Eaters"; they  actually 
feed on or absorb the power they steal from other wizards/witches.  
(For any of you who watched the tv series "Highlander" this will 
sound very familiar.)  Perhaps the 5 of Voldemort's victims who were 
released from him thanks to Priori Incantatem will be able to rest 
peacefully now.