[HPforGrownups] Re: The Ministry's Bombs/Spilling the beans to the Beaters.

[Danger Mouse]

No: HPFGUIDX 72695

i_tuan:
They are, in fact, "THE Mysteries", the core mysteries of human experience - 
inscrutable, ineffable, irreducible. They produce complex reactions in us humans when 
we encounter them, but this is the first time I've heard of someone responding to them 
with shock and disgust.  Love is disgusting?  Time is shocking?

I don't get your take on all this as weaponry of the WMD variety.  If these are weapons, 
too bad no-one thought to push Moldy Voldy into the Love Vat while he was standing 
right there, eh?  Would he have melted, like the Wicked Witch of the West?

Me:
I think so too... perhaps my Apocalypse was going a bit too far, but I dunno... liberal as I am, I just find it a bit unsettling that the DoM is messing with the fundamental forces of nature. 

Imagine love--a big vat of bubbly love... what possible danger could that be? My perspective is similar to Rhysenn's, who wrote a piece of fanfiction called Irresistible Poison, wherein Draco is accidentally poisoned by a love potion. The students write an essay about the Imperius Curse... Here's part of Draco's:

"Imperius is so potent because of the absolute control it affords the one casting the spell - the victim is forced to bend completely to the caster's will, unable to fight it unless duly trained or in possession of  special magical prowess. Imperius has been ubiquitous through the ages because of its simple incisive nature, in how it penetrates its victim deeply, permeating mind, body and soul. Other variations of the Imperius Curse include Mental Manipulation Spells, certain kinds of memory charms, and love potions."

"But even more so, the victim is confused, such that he doesn't know what to believe as truth or lie any longer, unable to distinguish between induced thought and real intention. This serves to disintegrate the victim from within - he no longer understands the difference between what he really wants and what the spell is forcing upon him, and in the end, this proves to be the most damaging way of breaking his resolve." 

"Over time, probably the most destructive effect of Imperius on a person is the gradual, conscious yielding of the mind, until submission becomes almost voluntary, an acquired habit, and the spell has reached its ultimate success when the person truly believes that he is acting out of his own free will. That is when the Curse has finally conquered the last citadel of one's character - his heart."

Sure, love's great, fine, and dandy. Lots of people shoving candy in their ears and singing carols. But imagine how it could be abused. Maybe the intention isn't to use it as a weapon and to just study it in the interest of science, but it still begs the moral question, "What gives them the right to mess with time? Because they can? Because they have the neccesary magic? Is this stuff, the fundamentals of our existence the sort of thing that should be tampered with by mortal man?" It's one thing to study Love and Time, but it's another thing entirely when you manufacture it. There are probably lots of innocent things to learn about Love and the rest, but in the wrong hands, imagine the power over some of, as you said, the inscrutable and deep forces of our Universe...

Slightly disturbed (overdramtically?), but still thinks some things are better left alone,
Dan

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