The Imperio Curse

[Grey Wolf <greywolf1@jazzfree.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51359

vojoca wrote:
> Re:  The Imperio Curse
> 
> 1.  It is clear that It is one of the Three Unforgivable Curses.  But 
> are there any other ways to have a person under your control?  I 
> haven't come across any canon evidence to say otherwise, other than 
> the fact that there is a bunch of "Dark Magic" that no-one in the 
> books wants to share with me (hmph.) and the Veritaserum and any 
> other truth potion that may be out there.  (I've put veritaserum in a 
> somewhat "control" category because the way I understood it from GOF 
> is that when you take it, you're under the control of the person 
> asking questions, because well, as we've all read Crouch do it, he 
> spilled his guts to Dumbledore and the rest.  I *don't* think he 
> would have given all that info if he were his normal self, do you?)

I very much doubt that there are other spells that have the same effect 
as the Imperio, for two reasons. The first one, what would be the point 
of duplicating the spell? There is no aparent reason *not* to use the 
Imperio (except for the moral reasons, of course, and any other mind 
controlling spell would suffer from the same problem), and the second 
is that we *know* that the only three unforgivable curses are Imperio, 
AK and Cruciatus. If there was some other mind control spell around, it 
would be listed as unforgivable too, don't you think?

> 2.  Does the person who is casting the curse have to be in the 
> presence of the person getting hit by the curse?  Or can the person 
> cast the curse from a different location, a la the Accio firebolt 
> that Harry did on the first task?  Focus your mind, entirely and 
> absolutely...and....VOILA!  

I believe that you have to see the person you want to Imperio for it to 
work - it would be extremelly easy if not to take over the world, IMO. 
There is, however, no canon either way. The only thing that *is* canon 
is that, once under Imperio, you are mind controlled from afar - the 
wizard that put the spell on you doesn't have to keep watch.

Oh - there is a little piece of circunstancial evidence: every time 
we've seen the Imperio used (including the time Crouch Sr. was put 
under Imperio by Voldemort) it was in presence of the subject. 
Voldemort didn't have to visit Crouch, after all, and it was downright 
dangerous for him (what if someone had seen them?), if he could cast 
the Imperio from afar. And then, in the GG (Graveyard Gathering), Harry 
hides behind the tomb and Voldemort has to talk him into poping out, 
instead of Imperio'ing him and, while Harry is fighting it off, walk 
around the gravestone and AK him.
 
> 4.  Are there different "levels" of the Imperio?  If so, do these 
> levels relate to a)the "power" or ability of the witch/wizard that 
> casts it? (for example, would Voldy's Imperio allow him to have a 
> higher level of control over his victim than someone like, say, 
> Percy, who just got out of school and has not had as much practice?  
> And I am in NO WAY implying that Percy would do that.) b)The distance 
> between the caster and the victim when the victim is no longer in the 
> presence of the caster   c)The health of the caster (not death - 
> Health meaning if the caster gets sick or is weakened somehow)?  
>
> vojoca

So far, from canon, the only "level" of Imperio depends on the 
recipient of the curse, and how fast it can throw it off. The fact that 
Harry takes the same time to throw off an Imperio from Crouch!Moody and 
from Voldemort seems to indicate that the strength of the victim is 
more important than the power of the caster. But, on the other hand, we 
have -I think- Mulciber, who was an expert in Imperio (I don't have the 
books handy to look it up, so it might be some other DE). If someone 
can be an expert, it means that the Imperio casting is not boolean 
(either you can or can't). However, I've always taken that to mean that 
he could have Imperio'ed many people at the same time, not just one or 
two (I would say that keeping many people mentally enslaved would tax 
the most resourceful of individuals).

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf