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

ellejir eberte at vaeye.com
Thu Aug 21 22:13:50 UTC 2003


No: HPFGUIDX 78319

> Elkins wrote:
> <snip>
> But for what it's worth, my understanding of the "Unforgivable" 
> designation derives from these two passages, both from
> the "Unforgivable Curses" chapter of GoF.
> 
> Crouch!Moody opens his lecture on the UCs with this:
> "So. . . do any of you know which curses are most heavily
> punished by wizarding law?"
> And concludes his demonstration of said curses with this:
> "Now...those three curses -- Avada Kedavra, Imperius, 
> and Cruciatus -- are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The 
> use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough 
> to earn a life sentence in Azkaban."
> 
> The phrasing of those two passages led me to assume that the UCs 
> are classified as "Unforgivable," as opposed to merely "illegal," 
> because no mitigating circumstance would be considered sufficient
> either to excuse ("forgive") their use or to justify softening the
> legal penalty. 
> <snip>


Me:
The word "unforgivable" certainly connotes that the use of these 
curses is *absolutely* taboo; however, Elkins gives several good 
examples of people using these curses without the repercussions one 
would expect if that were really the case (most notably Crouch/Moody 
using the Imperius curse on the DADA students.)  Perhaps 
Crouch/Moody's statement that "The use of any one of them on a fellow 
human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban" implies 
only that the curse alone *may be enough* to get you sent to Azkaban 
for life in some cases, but intent and mitigating circumstances can 
be taken into account.  Notice that he did not say that the use of 
any of the UCs *mandates, no questions asked* a life sentence in 
Azkaban. 

That said, the "unforgivable" label gives these three curses alot of 
extra punch.  There is an element of shock when Umbridge gears up to 
use the Cruciatus curse on Harry, and when Harry uses the same curse 
on Bellatrix. The students certainly do not use the UCs to hex each 
other and seem to take them very seriously.  

In the scene in DD's office when Umbridge is questioning Marietta and 
Kingsley "modifies her memory", IMO the description of what he does 
and how she behaves seems more consistent with the Imperius curse.  
Significantly, JKR does not let the "good guys" use an UC--even to 
good ends (at least so far she hasn't--Harry's attempted attack on 
Bellatrix excepted.)    

Elle (who loves Elkins' analysis of why the UCs were once deemed 
unforgivable and had to *force* herself to snip it as she had nothing 
to add to it and does not want to run afoul of the snipping police!)






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