A moral theory of Magic (was Re: A simple-minded question)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 95258

Neri wrote:
> The Patronus is apparently a being of pure Power X, as Lupin 
> explains: "
 a Patronus
 is a kind of anti-Dementor
 The Patronus is 
> a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the 
> Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it 
> cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt 
> it" (PoA 12). Yes, this sounds just like the mysterious Power X: a 
> bunch of nice and vague words that never pinpoint it exactly. And 
> this makes the dementor a being of anti-Power X. Hmmm, not sure how 
> does this work yet. But the patronus is definitely of the same
family as "ancient magic". Same as Lily sacrificing her life for Harry
gave him his protection, James sacrificing his life gave Harry his 
> powerful patronus.

Carol:
Are you sure that James sacrificed his life in the same way that Lily
did? IMO, he died fighting to protect his family (like many another
dead wizard, I imagine) but his death doesn't count as a
self-sacrifice in the way that Lily's does, since she was apparently
wandless (and had to die for the "ancient magic" to work). Not all
self-sacrifices protect another person the way Lily's did, or Harry
would not be the only person (other than Voldemort) to survive an AK.
His death should have saved Lily if it worked that way.

That aside, I agree that the powerful protective spirit of Harry's
Patronus is a projection of James, but that doesn't necessarily make
Harry's Patronus any more powerful than anyone else's. If Hermione
could muster the will and the power to cast a "corporeal Patronus,"
wouldn't her otter Patronus be just as powerful as Harry's stag?
I don't think it's the shape, or what it reflects, that matters that
makes a Patronus powerful. It's the ability or inability of a
paarticular wizard to cast the spell. Harry, with the depth of despair
that a Dementor could inflict on him, had more motivation than most
young wizards to master that spell. (He also had seen himself cast it
and knew that he could.) Hermione had no such motivation and had not
practiced on a boggart/dementor, so she couldn't cast it.

Carol, who likes Neri's Power X theory but is reacting to a side issue
here