queenrikki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
queenrikki) wrote2005-03-11 05:40 am
queenrikki) wrote2005-03-11 05:40 am
I Was Reading PoA for the 87th time...
And I noticed something interesting. There are two quotes from Prisoner that relate to my thinking. The first is Flitwick's description of the Fidelius Charm
"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical
concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is
hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth
impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to
divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who
could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and
never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their
sitting room window!"
--(Raincoast ed, pg. 152-3)
The other is Lupin's explanation of the Dementor's Kiss.
"They call it the Dementor's Kiss," said Lupin, with a slightly twisted
smile. "It's what dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I
suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp
their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and -- and suck out his soul."
--(Raincoast ed, pg.183)
What I find interesting about this two quotes is the mention of the soul. In the first, I'm not sure if Flitwick is using the term is being used to mean a person or individual or is it literally referring to hide the secret in a person actual soul. If it is the latter than the second quote can be seen in a new light.
If, when using the Fidelius Charm, the secret is literally hidden within a person's soul, than what is the consequence of that secret if that individual is kissed by a Dementor? Does the secret remain hidden forever or is it destroyed along with the persons soul.
"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical
concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is
hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth
impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to
divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who
could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and
never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their
sitting room window!"
--(Raincoast ed, pg. 152-3)
The other is Lupin's explanation of the Dementor's Kiss.
"They call it the Dementor's Kiss," said Lupin, with a slightly twisted
smile. "It's what dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I
suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp
their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and -- and suck out his soul."
--(Raincoast ed, pg.183)
What I find interesting about this two quotes is the mention of the soul. In the first, I'm not sure if Flitwick is using the term is being used to mean a person or individual or is it literally referring to hide the secret in a person actual soul. If it is the latter than the second quote can be seen in a new light.
If, when using the Fidelius Charm, the secret is literally hidden within a person's soul, than what is the consequence of that secret if that individual is kissed by a Dementor? Does the secret remain hidden forever or is it destroyed along with the persons soul.
no subject
I was wondering about that myself, actually...so...if Voldemort had sic'd a dementor on Peter, would he then have known the secret or would it have died with Peter? I am thinking he still wouldn't have known, because Jo's use of the phrase 'unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper choses to divulge it' is very key here. I think the idea of CHOOSING to divulge is the underlying factor of the spell.
Answering both you and VH...
And he was giving a little of his own back into her. Hmmm, now where did Voldie leave his soul so that he could be immortal? That is how he is getting this "no death" thing. He is hiding his soul so that it can't be stolen by death. I'm betting it's in an EGG.
There was an interesting essay about that a little while ago.
I was wondering about that myself, actually...so...if Voldemort had sic'd a dementor on Peter, would he then have known the secret or would it have died with Peter?
Would anyone have been able to find them? Would the Dementors have been able to see them and have an effect on them?
How did Hagrid find them? Sirius? If no one knew where they were, how on earth did Dumbledore know? Did they tell Dumbledore, and when they made Peter their Secret-Keeper did Dumbledore forget?
When JKR writes about the soul, she seems to be writing about it as a very literal thing. The ghosts at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle becoming corpreal through Ginny's unwilling gift of a soul, and the voices beyond the veil are all very real on our plain of existence in the Potterverse. They are something that you can detect with one of the five senses. So, when you hide the secret, it becomes a living, breathing thing, IMO. You seem to swallow it and keep it warm inside, protected from harm, thereby protecting the ones you love from harm. The Dementors have the opposite effect.
Where the Dementors symbolize Depression, The Fidelius seems to be a metaphor for home - It's much like the Patronus, but stronger. It encompasses what you actually see as home; your house, your family, the people you love, the things you surround yourself with. Where you feel safe, warm, and loved. No one can take that away from you unless they betray you utterly.
Does that make sense?