Soul-less Existence

[Jen Reese]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Eustace_Scrubb" <dk59us at y...> 
wrote: 
> But there's so much we don't know about Dementors, the Kiss and its
> victims.  How often do the Dementors get to enjoy this treat?  Do
> they really differentiate between victims?  What deal did the 
> Ministry do with them to arrange their gig guarding Azkaban (and 
> did this involve all_ Dementors?)  And how long ago?  One guesses 
> that the Ministry must have some assurances that the guards won't 
> Kiss prisoners indiscriminately, but who knows?  

Jen: This must be what DD is referring to in GOF about "more scope 
for their powers and pleasures"; that LV will actually allow them to 
administer the Kiss, unlike the current powers-that-be. And 
presumably the victims of choice last war were muggles. Strange 
disappearances and all.

As to *how* to keep a Dementor from kissing....They aren't exactly 
the most compliant things, are they? Wandering into the Quidditch 
field, attempting to kiss Harry in POA; "oops, they slipped up 
*again*--what story do we tell the family this time?" Guards for the 
guards anyone? The problem is no one would want that gig or be tough 
enough to last very long on Dementor Island.

Eustace_Scrubb:
> And what exactly did happen to Barty Jr. after the Kiss?  If we can
> believe Lupin, the victim, although worse than dead, isn't in fact,
> clinically dead.  Without the soul, the victim has "no sense of 
> self anymore, no memory," but the brain and heart may still be 
> working.  So is Barty in a special ward of St. Mungo's with other
> Kiss victims, just existing, being fed via tubes?  To what extent
> are their brains still working?  

Jen: That would be a considerable justice system problem after 
awhile, as the bodies pile up. Ethical dilemma. This strikes me as 
one of those questions you could ask JKR and she'd say, "oh, he's 
living with his grandparetns and they care for him." Either that or 
she has a plan to reveal more about some sinister MOM plot and we'll 
get to see that ward at St. Mungos or somesuch place.

E_S:
> And about those memories...  Are they really gone or does their 
> owner simply no longer have the means to access them?  Could a 
> legilimens or someone with a pensieve still extract them from the
>  victims' (still working) brains and examine them?

Jen: I imagine they are consumed with the Kiss, never to be 
retrieved. Lupin makes it sound like an irreversible process, and 
then we have all the imagery of them 'sucking' which makes me think 
eating or consuming.

We can talk about the movie here, no? That scene of Sirius' soul 
being sucked out was pretty graphic and I've wondered whether that 
scene doesn't tell us something about the end of the series. Then 
JKR said that bit about wondering why LV didn't die at Godric's 
Hollow; well it's not much of a stretch to say 'because he was 
already dead' or perhaps already souless at that point. The Deal 
with the Dementor where they suck his soul in exchange for bodily 
immortality perhaps? Don't know, haven't thought that one through. 

Jen