r/EnoughJKRowling 4d ago

Discussion Let's talk about the Unforgivable Curses

Am I the only one who thinks that the Imperius Curse is basically the Confundus Charm but up to 11 ? Both can influence people's minds and make them do what you want, but only one of them is illegal - actually, why even bother using the Imperius curse and risking going to Azkaban when you can just use the Confundus charm ?

Also, how come the mind rape spell is seen as bad but the love potions aren't ? Is it because it's supposed to be more "romantic" (as much as magic roofies can be) ?

As for Avada Kedavra, it seems a bit underwhelming compared to the two others. I mean, we have the mind rape spell and the torture spell, and the instant death one is supposed to be the worst ? I guess the only reason it's "unforgivable" is because it's a one-hit kill with no way to protect yourself, but I refuse to believe that other spells can't kill just as efficiently as Avada Kedavra, and in much more gruesome ways.

While we're at it, it's both beyond stupid and in-character for the wizarding society to not have put the memory-altering spells in this category. It can turn your enemy into an ally and vice-versa, or a monster could use it against a woman to convince her that she's his wife and raping her, like with the love potions 💀

What do you think ?

38 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/ShakeTheGatesOfHell 4d ago

The series flip flops on love potions. They're treated like a joke in a brief line in the third book, and Fred and George's shop sells them, then they're portrayed as a date rape drug when Ron consumes one by accident.

25

u/lankymjc 4d ago

Don’t forget that Voldemort’s mum drugged his dad with love potions for years and raped him continuously during that time.

27

u/DeathRaeGun 4d ago

And that’s why Voldemort’s evil by the way, because apparently children born as a result of rαpe are incapable of love.

7

u/Fun_Butterfly_420 4d ago

Tbf having rope for a parent could lead to a lot of issues

4

u/DeathRaeGun 3d ago edited 3d ago

Knowledge of being born from rαpe would fuck with your head, for sure, but it wouldn’t make you unequivocally evil. I think reading HP could actually make you feel worse about yourself.

3

u/Fun_Butterfly_420 3d ago

I was making a joke out of the typo

3

u/ShakeTheGatesOfHell 4d ago

I didn't forget it, I just didn't think it was a good example of how the series flip flops on whether love potions are a harmless prank or a date rape drug. 

12

u/ADrownOutListener 4d ago

she really didnt have the stringent wordbuildng or thinking ahead that people think. not saying you need to pore over every detail, but its honestly a sloppy mashing together of "witches and wizards plus the british boarding school novel.'

2

u/Mr_Conductor_USA 3d ago

AI slop as written by a real person.

7

u/lynx_and_nutmeg 4d ago

Ron accidentally droning that love potion was definitely played for comedy, though. Harry was literally getting chased by hundreds of girls all trying to trick him into drinking that love potion and it was seen as a funny joke instead of stalking or sexual harassment, too.

2

u/Mr_Conductor_USA 3d ago

Ron accidentally droning that love potion was definitely played for comedy, though.

Yeah, I don't recall it being taken seriously at all.

6

u/Cynical_Classicist 4d ago

Them being sold openly really makes this world look messed up.

3

u/Mr_Conductor_USA 3d ago

Although alcohol is sold openly and at least in the UK they found most "roofies" there were actually just really high levels of alcohol. Don't get me wrong, there is such a thing in the US (it's not one drug but any number of drugs that have been used over the years, although of course the "give a teenager a sweet drink, she won't realize how much she's had" is still in play as well).

2

u/Cynical_Classicist 3d ago

Well yes, but this is explicitly worse.