[HPforGrownups] Re: Ministry and Dementors/

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 176682

From: elfundeb <elfundeb at gmail.com>
>Magpie:
>Yes, because Dementors are monsters, basically, while Werewolves are
>supposed to be like people instead of monsters. (Dementors are "Dark
>Magic"--worse than just animals going after their natural prey
>somehow, so that association with them says something hinky about
>you--magic *isn't* always neutral.) It's not that I don't *see* the
>difference. But it's still just arbitrary, imo, that the use of this
>kind of punishment is supposed to be so ghoulish as to suggest that
>the ministry has an *underlying corruption* rather than just that
>they did something dangerous.
>
>Debbie:
>IMO, the books make clear that the Dementors are foul dark creatures because
>they feed on the soul.  In JKR's world, the soul is presented as the most
>important thing one owns, and the darkest of Dark Magic involves tampering
>with the soul; nothing is presented as worse than a Horcrux.  Thus,
>Dementors are the darkest of dark creatures, as Lupin tells us in POA when
>he makes clear that in the WW having one's soul sucked is much worse than
>death.  JKR's treatment of death and souls seems (unlike lots of other
>things) quite consistent throughout the series, starting as early as PS/SS,
>when Dumbledore referred to the afterlife as the next great adventure
>(admittedly, I bring all of my Christian upbringing to my analysis, but JKR
>draws on those same sources).

Bart:
Something which has bothered me since the Dementors were introduced (btw, the Dementors are depicted as having very low intelligence, possibly even on a barely trained animal level) is the level of punishment Azkaban is, and that there seems to be little or no "in between". Hagrid is placed in Azkaban for months on mere suspicion of committing a crime, although the crime with which he is charged is reckless endangerment, yet, as has been shown, it can easily be a death sentence. Also, paradoxically, it appears that the more evil the criminal, the less interested the Dementors are in their souls (Sirius gets away by becoming a dog), as their souls are in bad shape to begin with. The imprisoned Death Eaters are at full power, yet, Mrs. Crouch, who is there in the name of love, gets eaten quickly, and DD Sr., who was thrown in for 3 years IIRC, for a crime which, in his mind, is justified, gets eaten relatively quickly as well. 

What kind of justice is this? 

Bart