The Unforgivables Curses

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 94976

Potioncat wrote:
I thought the "Unforgivable" referred to the legal status.  That 
is, no legal excuse for using it therefore automatic sentencing.
Except when Aurors were allowed to use it on outlaws. <snip>

> Geoff:
> This is also how I would interpret Crouch!Moody's comments on them...
> 
> "'Now.... those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius and Cruciatus -
>  are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on 
> a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. 
> That's what you're up against.....'"

> They are meant to eliminate, incapacitate or totally control other 
> people. The other curses which may be used - Stupefy, Petrificus 
> Totalis, Impedimenta etc can obviously affect others but the results 
> are short term without the intention of lasting harm.

Carol:
I agree with Geoff about the intent to cause harm, though not
necessarily about lasting harm. Harry, for example, has survived the
terrible pain of several Crucios. It was only the extended,
unremitting use of them that drove the Longbottoms insane. And the
Imperius Curse placed on Krum lasted just long enough for him to
Crucio Cedric (Crouch!Moody's evil will was operating through him),
but when he was released from the spell, he ran away in guilt and
confusion. 

Here's what I think:
Avada Kedavra is Unforgiveable (not just illegal) because it can only
be performed with the intent to commit murder and there is no counter
spell. Crucio is Unforgiveable because it requires a will (desire) to
torture, not just to cause temporary pain. (I agree with Del that only
a sadist like Bellatrix can successfully perform it.) Imperius is
Unforgiveable because it deprives the victim of choice and forces him
or her to do another's will.

True, the uses to which Crouch!Moody put it in GoF appear harmless
enough (making Neville do acrobatics, etc.), but C!M was nevertheless
imposing his will on the students in violation of their own
self-determination. Moreover, C!M was able to perform the spell
because he had trained his will to the domination of others (to borrow
a Gandalfism). So none of these spells, IMO, can be performed without
evil intent. 

I think, as Del does (in a different post), that these spells corrupt
the soul. Crouch Sr. did himself and the aurors a great disservice by
making them legal as a punishment for DEs. Just possibly he has
endangered their immortal souls. JKR is a Christian, after all.
(Crouch Jr., of course, was corrupted long before he taught at
Hogwarts, with an Imperio'd Moody in his trunk and an Imperio'd father
at home, not to mention his role in torturing the Longbottoms.) 

To me, Unforgiveable is *not* synonymous with illegal. It relates not
to law but to religion or morality. So my question is, *who* cannot
forgive the use of these curses? Is it God, who is generally outside
the picture in the WW except for the evidence here and there of an
after life? Is it the WW as a whole? Suggestions or explanations, anyone?

Carol