Bang! You're Dead. (was:Voldemorts animus...)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 85985

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

Kneasy:
> IMO Voldy  has been deliberately set up  as a non-human entity, as 
the
> essence of evil, to enable him to be destroyed without qualms.
> That is a morality  nearly everyone can approve of.
> Similarly, I like to think that there must be a loophole in the  
laws
> governing the use of unforgivable curses to allow the good side to
> meet the chief baddy and his band on something like  equal terms.
> 

Geoff:
I think that there is an overlap between the real world and the 
Wizarding World at this point in that ethical (and human) 
considerations can be eroded and sidelined in the cause of furthering 
a victory, sometimes in the name of freedom.

This point is additionally pointed up in HP where folk who are over-
zealous have their ethical viewpoint distorted as a result of their 
own actions:

"'Terror everywhere.... panic.... confusion... that's how it used to 
be. Well, things like that bring out the best in some people and the 
worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the 
beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry and 
he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's 
supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather 
than capture for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed 
straight to the Dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with 
violence and authorised the use of the Unforgiveable Curses against 
suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the 
Dark side.'" (Sirius to Harry, Ron & Hermione, GOF p.457 UK edition)

"'I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help 
it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough but 
he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters.'" (ditto p.462)

Here we see two sides of a morality. If you take up the enemy's 
methods and weapons, do you become the enemy? Perhaps this is a 
reminder of Cicero's saying "Inter arma silent leges" - freely 
translated, "in time of war, laws fall silent", potentially a 
chilling prospect. There have often been moral grey areas which fit 
that adage; one which comes to mind was the bombing of Dresden at the 
end of WW2.

We have to ask ourselves, within the parameters of the Wizarding 
World which actually parallels ours very closely at this point, 
should Harry be modelling himself on Crouch or Moody?

Geoff