Cruciatus, thoughts, boggarts

[Lee Farley]

No: HPFGUIDX 39081

Ahh, a small conversation on Avada Kedavra and Boggarts, looks like I
joined the list at the right time... Well, time for me to throw my ideas
on the pile I suppose :)


Grey Wolf wrote:
>I do believe that the
>"unforgivable" denomination has nothing to do with how the curses 
>actually work but with the fact of being unblockable or maybe just a 
>legal definition of sorts (on the lines of "capital offense")


That would make a lot of sense, because there are a lot of other charms,
curses and potions (such as Memory Charms and Veritaserum) that can be
seen to work on the mind in much the same way. I would say its more of a
legal term, backed up in Chapter 14 of GoF where Moody/Crouch is first
teaching the kids about the three unforgivable curses. He says something
like:

*** "I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like
until you're in the sixth year."

Which suggests to me that he's showing the curses because they're
illegal, not because of how they work.


Again, from Grey Wolf:
>In
>case of AK, 
>I think that the green beam separates the soul from the body <snip>
When 
>that green beam (charged with inmense magical energy) hits a person, 
>that person inmediatelly knows what's happening to him: he (or 
>she) can feel his consciousness leaving his body, which imprints a
horrified 
>expression in his face.

Interesting theory, but it sounds too long and drawn out to work with
what we know about Avada Kedavra. Again from Chapter 14 of GoF, where
Moody uses Avada Kedavra on the spider:

***There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as
though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air -
instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but
unmistakably dead.

That sentence there suggests that the sight and sound of the curse
itself is enough to put a terrified look onto the victims face. After
seeing that demenstration, Harry wonders if his parents had seen the
green flash and "heard the rush of speeding death". They might not have
known what was happening to them, but they definitely knew it wasn't
going to be something good.
 

And before all that, A Goldfeesh wrote:

> However, this makes me think of a boggart and I can't picture a
> boggart and the Killing Curse connected in any way (unless, 
of, course 
> this is foreshadowing of a sort <g>).  This brings a
> question: What do 
> boggarts get out of frightening people?  Is it a defense method? Do 
> they feed on fear? Basically why do they try to scare 
>people? Is Lupin 
> just picking on a timid creature that wants to be left alone? <s>

Hmm... I wouldn't say that boggarts are exactly timid, but they're
certainly not portrayed as being vicious creatures like Dragons are. I
think that their powers serve as both a defence mechanism and an
extremely potent weapon. If you were to come across a small boggart, you
wouldn't think twice about chasing it down (presuming you actually
wanted to). But if you imagine that when it sees you, it turns into an
enormous Acromantula - you'd definitely think twice about it, and
probably run as far away as you can. When the boggart is transformed, it
also seems to be able to use all of the powers that the form its taking
has. This is backed up by evidence from PoA (I forget the chapter):

*** "Well," said Lupin, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the
boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort."

A full-powered Voldemort would be a very bad thing indeed... Add to that
the fact that the dementor/boggart that Harry does encounter seems toh
ave the same fear inducing powers, then its possible that the boggart
could use its powers as a weapon to hunt its prey. Of course, if the
Boggart really does have all the powers of its present form, why doesn't
Lupin change into a Werewolf? Does the potion he take every month
prevent him from changing?

Also, I think that feeding on fears is solely the Dementors role in the
books. Having two creatures that essentially do the same thing would
seem a little out-of-character for the series. I imagine the Boggarts as
being fairly inert, just going about their own business and doing their
own thing.


Well that's my thoughts. And hello everyone! I'm LD, I'm 19, I'm new,
and I'm very happy to have finally found a place that loves Harry Potter
and isn't populated exclusively by 10 yr olds ;)

-LD