What happens to victim's body and soul after D-kiss?

[bufo_viridis at interia.pl]

No: HPFGUIDX 94178

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Andrew" <ruminalus_ficus at y...>
> wrote:
> > happybean98 wrote:
> > > This may seem like a trivial question, but I feel it may have some 
> > > future significance. What exactly happens to the body of someone 
> > > once they have been kissed by a Dementor?
> > <snip>

> Carol:
> Worse than consciousness. The *soul* of the person is destroyed. It's
> clear from the existence of ghosts, from the Veil in the DoM, and from
> the fact that JKR herself is a Christian that there's some sort of
> afterlife for witches and wizards that may be different in some ways
> from that of Muggles. At any rate, dead witches and wizards can
> choose, as Nearly Headless Nick and Myrtle and the other ghosts have
> done, not to pass into whatever lies beyond this earthly existence, or
> they can enter what DD (I forget where) calls "the last great
> adventure." So to lose your soul is worse than death because you can
> never enter that other realm, never see your loved ones again.

Very interesting thought. I always wondered about Dementor's Kiss, which seem to be Wizardish equivalent of death penalty. For me it sunded always as a "easy way". I mean imprisonment in Azkaban is horrible beyond imagination; even it's not really "reversible" - because it seems that most of the inmates are basically tortured to death by their own psyche. Even if somebody did escape or was released, he'd be probably badly afflicted for the rest of life (no canon evidence, since the only known to us candidate for longitidunal study is unfortunately gone for good).

Now, after the kiss the soul is gone together with consciousness and the person doesn't suffer anymore; even the body may be reasonably "happy" as long as it is provided basic care (I don't suppose they let those half-cadavers starve or anything like this).  

As Carol said basic organization of the HP world is Christian-like, with the soul and body being separate entities. The soul can be sucked out. The body may live on, maybe animated by animal or plant soul (In Arystotelian understanding). The human soul is gone. Where? Is it contained witin the Dementor? The Dementor would be a small, portable, living hell? Soul trap? Is the soul living in a state like a paralised person, conscious but unable to do anyting? Is Dementor a mortal being? If yes, than what happenes to the etrapped souls after it dies? 

Unless we - as Carol proposed - the soul is destroyed. This is a big departure from Christian immortal soul tradition. The "new adventure" after death becomes in such understanding something closer to the concepts of transmigration/ reincarnation, which are denied to wizard after he's kissed. 

This would explain the horribility of the kissed one's fate - especially if the process of desintegrating the soul would be long and painful, digested soul was being conscious of its more and more demented status. Soemthing like people with Alzheimmer suffer being conscious they're les and less mentally able.

Side note 1: such concept is perfect for all anti-HPists, who say that all Hp and magic is in fact well covered buddhism.

Side note 2: I thought that following "buddhist* line of reasoning - such a soul destroying function would make Demntor a "attaining Nirvana machine". But there is a body left - and since in such reasoning there is no real division between body and soul, than the karma produce by body would not enable the person, so artificially separated, really and truly dissapear.

Cheers, Viridis


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