RSSYou Are Not Your Depression… Dementors Are
19 May 2011 2 Comments
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Oh my god! So, this is a quote from Harry Potter (the third one, if I’m not mistaken) about Dementors. I never realized that this was (I’m going to assume intentionally) a metaphor for depression. Holy hell.
“Yes,” said Harry.
He hesitated, and then the question he had to ask burst from him before he could stop himself. “Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just – ”
“It has nothing to do with weakness,’ said Professor Lupin sharply, as though he had read Harry’s mind. “The Dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don’t have.”
A ray of wintry sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating Lupin’s grey hairs and the lines on his young face. “Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can’t see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. if it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself – soulless and evil. You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life, and the worst that has happened to YOU, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.” …
“So …” Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. ‘The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry – well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.”
“How does it work?” said Harry nervously.
“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus,” said Lupin, “which is a kind of Anti-Dementor – a guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.”
Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-like figure holding a large club.
Professor Lupin continued, “The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon – hope, happiness, the desire to survive – but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it. but I must warn you, Harry, that the Charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.”
“What des a Patronus look like?” said Harry curiously.
“Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.”
“And how do you conjure it?”
“With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.”
Oh yeah. That just happened.
Cheers.
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May 19, 2011 @ 15:35:05
Aha, that’s so interesting to re-read it now, now that I understand depression… I mean it’s not exactly subtle that Dementors make you depressed, that’s essentially ALL they do, but…
This was really cool to see. xD Were you re-reading one of the books or did you find this online?
Jan 25, 2012 @ 08:11:09
Hello! Just want to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.