Ministry and Dementors/Dark Magic

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 176689

> Alla:
> 
> I guess I just do not see the arbitraririty that you are talking 
> about. If nothing else to me it is clear that Dementors are the 
worst 
> thing ever and it is horrible for the Ministry to associate with 
> them, and keep them as punishment, because it deals with spiritual 
> staff, NOT physical and it was always crystal clear to me that 
book 
> places far more emphasis on the spiritual staff and not physical 
> danger to once' person

Magpie:
Well, yeah. The spiritual is nebulous. It's worse because it 
hurts "the soul" which is an important...nebulous thing. The trouble 
is that I see the potential for the same sign of trouble in other 
things and don't just draw the line at harming the soul. The 
very "underlying corruption" JKR says the Dementors point to in the 
Ministry has been seen (and described in similar terms) by various 
readers as existing in other places, so it's understandable that to 
readers like that (like me) this distinction falls flat. Especially 
since the stuff we saw earlier and worried about seemed more 
interesting because it was moral danger to the characters we cared 
about and this is just another example of other people falling short 
of their example again.

-m