Death and magic

[nkafkafi]

> Jo wrote:
> 
> I've been thinking about death and its varieties in HP and come up 
> with the following observations.
> 
> Individuals consist of a body, a soul and magical power. Death 
> results from the loss of body either through accident or natural 
> causes and the PS extends life by restoring the body.  Accidental 
> disruption of the body as in splinching does not kill you, so in 
> some respects, magical power protects against physical death. 

Neri:
This is probably my Sci-Fi bias, but I don't interpret splinching as 
if these people were really cut in half. My interpretation is more 
like that apparating is bridging two points that are far in three-
dimensional space by going through some kind of "wormhole" in an 
additional dimension. So these splinched people had left one half of 
their body in a far place, but it was still fully connected through 
this different dimension. We might find out about this in HBP since 
Ron should be in the age for his apparition license in March ("Ron! 
Where did you leave your legs this time?).

> Jo: 
> Death 
> also results from the loss of the soul as in the dementor's kiss or 
> in an AK which appears to eject the soul from the body. The soul 
> usually moves on at the point of death and we can presume that the 
> magical power is dispersed at that time as ghosts have no magical 
> ability. Voldy is unique because when his soul was ejected from his 
> body he retained some power, enough to possess other beings and 
> therefore survived without becoming a ghost.

Neri:
I'd add to this that according to Nearly Headless Nick, only wizards 
can become ghosts, which indeed suggests that magical power has a lot 
to do with it. According to NHN, real dying is something that he 
knows nothing about, but they study this in the DoM, suggesting that 
the people behind the veil are not ghosts but "really" dead. 

Also, I find it intriguing that NHN stayed behind as a ghost because 
he was "afraid of dying". Isn't Voldy afraid of death more than 
anything? NHN was also very sure that Sirius wouldn't stay behind as 
a ghost. Why? Maybe because Sirius was not afraid of dying? (Sirius 
to the twins: "you don't understand - there are things worth dying 
for").

So how about this: Voldy was afraid of dying, so he turned himself 
into a ghost, but he found a way to retain his body and powers. He 
was a ghost inside a haunted body, but not actually connected with 
this body. You really have to read Bujold's fictional theology in the 
Chalion series to understand how this works.

> Jo:
> If magical power holds the key to surviving death then Voldy must 
> have been exceptionally powerful, uniquely powerful, unnaturally 
> powerful. Where did he get that power from? If magical power is 
> dispersed at the time of death it would be a neat trick to be 
around 
> to appropriate surplus generated when someone dies.  Neater still 
to 
> generate death at your own convenience, say around supper time.
> 
> If every time Voldy Aks a victim he just happens to consume their 
> magical power then Lily's charm could well have given him chronic 
> indigestion. The resulting evacuation may even have blow up a house 
> or two.
> 

Neri: 
Ahem, chronic indigestion... not sure that JKR would want to make 
this the center of the Potterverse metaphysics. In truth, I've always 
felt that the house blow-up was more the author supplying the 
appropriate special effects for a tragic climax than an obligatory 
metaphysical outcome. But in general your suggestion certainly 
resonate with Hagrid "not sure he was human enough to die by that 
time". After all, when you become so powerful you must pay the 
appropriate price. It's customary.

Neri