The Unforgivables Curses

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 94933


Hello all !

The recent threads about the Cruciatus Curse have gotten me more and 
more confused. I've been arguing that using the Cruciatus curse 
requires some kind of sadism, but quite a few people disagree. So 
now I'm wondering : how do the Unforgivables work and why are they 
they called so ?

Do they work like any other curse, or do they require some evil 
intent ?

Why give them such a grand name as Unforgivable ? I'm really 
bothered by that. Unforgivable implies that there's no redemption 
possible. Why is that so ? In most Western societies, even murder 
can be "redeemed" : whoever has purged their jail sentence for 
murder is supposed to have been "purified" of it, for lack of a 
better term. They can go back to society, and live a "normal" life.

So why does the WW, which is usually notably more lenient on moral 
matters than the Real World, think that those 3 Curses are 
Unforgivable ?

I agree that it's not nice to force someone to do something, or to 
cause them pain, but isn't it a bit too much to go as far as calling 
those things unforgivable ??

I used to think that they were called Unforgivable because of the 
*intent* of the curser : I thought the successful use of one of them 
was a sure sign of an irremediably evil heart.

But as some have pointed out, what about the teachers who 
demonstrate the UC to their students ? What about the Aurors who use 
them on bad guys ? Does the fact that they manage to perform them 
signal that their hearts have turned irremediably evil, and if so, 
should they still be allowed to teach/chase criminals ?

I just don't get it. If anyone can perform an Imperio just like an 
Accio, then I don't see why Imperio should be deemed Unforgivable. 
Not nice yes, forbidden yes, but unforgivable no. On the other hand, 
if Imperio denotes an irremediably evil heart, then I don't 
understand how anyone can be allowed to use them under whatever 
circumstances, much less encouraged as the Aurors obviously were 
during VW1.

Del, mightily confused.