The unforgivable curses and the US Declaration of Independence

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 96646

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:

Geoff:
> > I wonder whether JKR would have considered the US 
> Declaration of  Independence when I assume that she originally 
> thought she was  writing for a largely British readership who 
> might not be well-versed  in that document.<
> 
> Pippin:
> 
> I believe she was considering Article 3 of the Universal 
> Declaration of Human Rights: "everyone has the right to life, 
> liberty and security of person."  I don't think it's any 
coincidence 
> that JKR, who was working for Amnesty International when she 
> began writing Harry Potter, invented three curses whose 
> purpose is  to violate these rights, and labelled them 
> Unforgivable.  It establishes those  rights as primal, in a more 
> magical and interesting way than having a wizarding constitution.

Geoff:
Ah, I'd forgotten the AI connection. That makes a lot more sense than 
the US Declaration of Independence (in that context of course...). 
The thought of the Three Freedoms also drifted round the back of my 
mind at one point.