Unforgivables - from a different angle

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 174456

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mcrudele78 at ...> wrote:
> Mike:
> "Illegal" Curses doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. ;) These three 
> curses have their own names, then they get this additional name 
> tacked on. By who? Who does JKR envision naming these three as UCs? I 
> suggested it was the Ministry, not the WW in general. I also 
> suggested it was a legal construct, which I think is confirmed when 
> Sirius informed the Trio that Crouch Sr authorized their use by his 
> aurors.


Leah: JKR was specifically asked in a webchat/inteview post-DH why 
Harry used Unforgiveable Curses.  Her not very (IMO) satisfactory 
response was along the lines of Harry only being human. The questioner 
had clearly been disturbed by the hero using something designated as 
Unforgiveable.  If the term Unforgiveable was indeed a Ministry 
construct and these curses were no better or worse than torturing 
someone using Augmento or whatever, intent was all, it is surprising 
that JKR did not take this opportunity to clarify this point.  You 
clearly believe there would be canon to support this take.  The fact 
that she didn't and in my view failed to deal satisfactorily with the 
question indicates to me that the 'Ministry construct' was not 
something that she had in mind.

As I and others have said, the very distinct impression given by 
Sirius' narrative is that whether the Unforgiveables have been made 
legal or not by the Ministry, their use has a detrimentally moral 
effect on users.

My problem with Harry's use of Unforgiveables is not whether they 
actually are worse or better than any other form of inflicting harm 
through curses or hexes, but the fact that IMO and obviously that of a 
number of other posters to this and other boards, they have been 
presented as such.  This view is also expressed indirectly by other 
posters, someone for example pointed out that Harry was casting 
Unforgiveables using Draco's wand, and Carol pointed out that after his 
near-death experience, Harry did not use Unforgiveables, and, I think I 
am right in saying, she attributed their use to the Voldesoul in 
Harry.   What is therefore problematic for me is that we are presented 
with one view in six books and then a volte face in the final book 
which is not satisfactorily explained or dealt with, leaving the 
readership to come up with their own justifications/explanations.  What 
the book appears to give us is the wholly unsatisfactory justification 
that it's ok for the good guys to use the Unforgiveables by the simple 
fact that they are the good guys.

Leah