Unforgivable Curses

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 96474

Carol wrote: 
> Or--forgive me, Ginger!--sort of like teaching them what sex is by
> demonstrating it on them so they'll learn how to defend themselves
> against rape? The Imperius Curse is a violation of their minds and
> requires the person casting the spell to intend to manipulate them, 
to
> make them do things they don't want to do. I don't think their 
parents
> would want that, and I think that such a spell either corrupts the
> caster or requires him to be already corrupted. (*If* I'm right on 
the
> second point, DD would not have wanted "Moody" to cast those spells
> for his own sake as much as that of the students.)

(Quigon) Ginger responds:
No offense taken at all.  In fact, please allow me to go a bit OT and 
use your analogy to further my point.

After having been raped (I really shouldn't have thought your 
response so funny, but I laughed anyway), I took a self defense 
course.  After teaching us various moves, they sent us onto a mat to 
be "attacked".  In those days, I had a strong back (and man, do I 
miss it!) and great size (and man, do I wish I could get rid of it).  
The person "attacking" me was much smaller.  I simply threw her over 
my shoulder and walked away with her.  So I got a bigger "attacker".

The "attackers" had safety padding, and could deal with any blows we 
dealt them.  We were put in what would be a dangerous situation to 
teach us how to get out of it.  No, they weren't going to rape us any 
more than Crouch!Moody was going to make the kids do something 
*harmful*.  That is at the crux of my point.  

He put the kids through their paces.  He "attacked" them.  A real 
curse, but without the real malevolance.  Look at the things he had 
them do:  Jump on a desk, imitate a squirrel, sing, do gymnastics.  
Harmless, really, with the possible exception of gymnastics. It is 
true that they may not have wanted to do these things (unless Dean is 
a frustrated lounge-lizard wannabe), they were not things that they 
would be *opposed* to doing for moral reasons, as is likely to be the 
case in an actual Imperius Curse casting. 

True, it was a violation of their free will, but it was to teach them 
to *maintain* their free will.  I should probably note that I feel 
that Crouch!Moody was doing this as he thought Real!Moody would, and 
that this exercise, in and of itself, was done intending to teach.  
What he planned to do with the information he gleaned from the 
session is fair game for guessers.

If the Imperius can be fought, then fighting it must be taught for 
the benefit of the students.  I hardly need to point out that the 
time was coming when they would need it.  

So, in this setting, I would feel that the Imperius was not cast as a 
curse, but as a practice spell, with good intentions, and therefore, 
not unforgivable.

I've been following your posts, Carol, on how the Unforgivables 
effect the person casting them.  In general, I agree with you, that 
they do act as a "poison to the soul", to get poetic.  Take that as 
literally, or not, as you please.  I do think, however, that this is 
an exception, for the reasons I have given.

(Quigon) Ginger, who had hoped Carol would respond to her previous 
post, and was not disappointed.