Unforgiveable v. Illegal (Was: Re: Umbridge (WAS: Umbridge's Rape)

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 78295

jsmgleaner:
 By the way, that makes me think: why "unfrorgivable"?  Have people 
on this list parsed that word choice already?  I mean, as opposed 
to "illegal," although I know that Fake!Moody uses that term in the 
GoF chapter as well.

Shirley:  
I don't know why the "unforgiveable" label, either, 
because "illegal" seems more appropriate to me.  Unforgiveable to 
whom?  But maybe I'm just being obtuse.

KathyK:

Avada Kedavra:  Three words, "Kill the spare."
Cruciatus:  Torturing people, sometimes to the point of insanity.
Imperius:  Removing someone's free will.

To me, they're called unforgiveable because they're three curses that 
give an individual much too much power over other people.  To use 
them in the manner they're used in the books is, IMO, "Unforgiveable."

And perhaps at one point far in the wizarding past, these curses were 
newly discovered and used.  At that point they would not be illegal 
because they'd just been found out and could have been 
dubbed "Unforgiveable" before they became illegal.

The other thought I have is that "Unforgiveable" sounds much more 
dramatic than simply, "Illegal."

KathyK