unforgiveable charms?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 79939

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
> We know that there are Unforgiveable curses.  But I've been 
> wondering, what with the strong feelings about Harry looking into 
> Snape's pensieve thoughts, if there should be Unforgiveable charms
> as well.  For instance, shouldn't it be highly improper (if not 
> worth a life term in Azkaban) to use Legilimency on someone without 
> their permission?  Or to access their private thoughts in any other 
> manner?
> 
> Laura, 

bboy_mn:

Responding to this original poster and to the other respondants-

Let's remember that there is a big difference between that which is
legally/socially/morally unforgivable and that which is AN 'Unforgivable'.

unforgivable = done something wrong

Unforgivable (with a capital "U")= done something unforgivably wrong.

So you really think that a death sentence or life in prison is the
appropriate sentence for Harry looking at Snape's thoughts in the
Pensieve or someone using Legilimency? Seems a bit harsh to me.

Certainly these are a violation of some measure of right and wrong,
but do you really see them as capital crimes of the highest order;
capital crime demanding the most extreme sentence the law will allow? 

Let's look at what Legilimency really is in a practical sense. As far
as I can see, it is hardly more than a highly accurate form of
intuition. Voldemort or Dumbledore have a strong ituitive sense of
when someone is lying based on subtle interpretations of their
thoughts, emotions, and demeanor. 

Snape said it himself, that Legilimency is not 'mind reading' as the
mind is not something which can be read; and we can certainly
reasonably conclude that it is not 'thought stealing' as it does not
deprive the owner of his thoughts. It does invade the privacy of the
owner of those thoughts, but it doesn't actually steal any thoughts
from him.

To the person who responded with a comment that Veritaserum was legal,
that is a slight misstatement. The use of Veritaserum is (supposedly)
strictly controlled by the Minstry of Magic; strictly control, in all
likelihood, for both legal and human rights reasons. We see (or the
story implies) that it is not routinely used in for prisoner
interogations; just as truth serum is not routinely used for muggle
police interogations.

I guess my main point is that we can't go bandying about with the word
'Unforgivable' (with a capital 'U') because that means something very
very specific; it means a life sentence in Azkaban. Certainly, many
curses and charms can be used in generally unforgivable ways, but they
would still fall far far short of being Unforgivable (with a capital 'U').

Just a thought.

bboy_mn