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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on May 31, 2015 18:36:18 GMT -5
Rhiannon felt lucky to have passed The Bloody Baron gliding along down the same corridor as she was (while dragging Peeves the Poltergeist by the ear). She asked him where the library was, and, noticing she was a Slytherin, he gladly gave her directions.
Hmm, Rhiannon thought, her eyes perusing the library as she stood in the entrance way.
She hoped the book that held the information she was seeking wasn't in the Restricted Section. She was sure Professor Snape would write her a signed note with his permission if she asked, but it was Saturday, and Rhiannon really didn't feel like waiting until her next Potions lesson--Tuesday--to ask him for one.
Where should she start looking? Relief flooded her when she noticed the signs denoting the different sections into which all the books were placed: Astronomy...Charms and Charm Theory...Current Events and Issues...Defense Against the Dark Arts...
Defense Against the Dark Arts--that sounded promising. Rhiannon made a mental note to check that section.
Economics...Education...Fiction...Herbology and Botany...History...
Bingo.
Rhiannon finally found it: Magical Creatures.
Please let there be something here, she thought, making her way over to that section.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on May 31, 2015 19:03:09 GMT -5
Bugger! Rhiannon thought, as she looked meticulously at the spine of each book.
Everything was organized alphabetically by the authors' last names, and Rhiannon wasn't too familiar with authors who wrote about magical creatures.
Many of the books sounded absolutely useless: Men Who Love Dragons Too Much...Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Griffins...Conversational Mermish...The Fire Crab Bible...
Really?
Rhiannon sighed and rolled her eyes.
Come on! she thought. Dementors! I refuse to believe no one's ever written about them!
She'd brought along her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in case Newt Scamander had written an entry on them.
she thought, coming across something that looked good.
Magical Creatures of Ireland and Britain by Siobhan Cain--Rhiannon took it.
A bit later she found An Encyclopedia of Great Britain's Animal Life and Encounters with Magical Wild Life.
She then came upon Nefarious Beasts and Creatures of Great Britain, Europe, and the Americas by Linus Monk. That sounded pretty good, too.
Deciding those four books plus the one she was already carrying on her were enough to start with, Rhiannon found a secluded table and sat down.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on May 31, 2015 20:09:57 GMT -5
She thought Linus Monk's Nefarious Beasts had the most interesting title, so she decided to start with it.
She flipped to the index and found the topics beginning with D. Sure enough, dementors were listed.
Rhiannon eagerly turned to the first page on which they were mentioned. Chapter fifteen was simply titled "Dementors".
Rhiannon read:
Dementors
(A drawing of a dementor preceded the chapter text.)
If there is indeed a higher power of some sort, when I think of dementors, I wonder whether that power does not just despise humankind altogether.
What kind of power creates such a monster? Allows it to sustain itself the way it does?
In my studies of Healing, I truly began to understand the connection between body and mind. If the body ails, the mind, the psyche, may continue to thrive. I have seen witches and wizards fall quite ill, but they kept up hope, and I have never doubted that despite my treatment, sheer willpower was a major contributor to their survival.
Yet when the mind gives up? When the mind is lost? The body is lost. It cannot thrive without the psyche willing it to thrive. It deteriorates, and ultimately, one is lost. Sadly, I have seen this happen, too.
Of course, I also undertook the study of magical creatures. I find myself--like other witches and wizards in the field, such as noted expert Newt Scamander--that dementors both confirm the connection between the human mind and body and defy it.
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Post by Kymber Jones on Jun 11, 2015 17:18:22 GMT -5
Kymber sat in a darkened corner of the library, books on magical theory, Latin word roots, and ancient spells and potions surrounding her. Her own journal sat in front of her, scratches crisscrossing through thrown out ideas and different formulas filling the page the it was open to. Her quill was currently tucked securely behind her ear, the cork top plugged into her inkwell.
This was getting ridiculous. She had been working on this since the end of last year and she was still no closer to finishing than when she began. It really could not be that difficult to make a ticking time bomb of a potion. Something that could be set off at any time after consumption to do as she willed with just a few well placed words.
Biting her lip, she turned a page in one of the magical theory books. She was close, she just knew that the final piece to the puzzle was just out of reach. It just wasn't here. She couldn't find it in any of these gods forsaken books. She slammed the one in front of her shut and sighed in frustration. Nothing would ever get done if she was too wound up to focus. She ran a hand through her hair and looked around at her mess.
After cleaning up and levitating the useless books back to their respective shelves, she stuffed her journal and inkwell in her bag. Deciding to put her quill to good use, she quickly twisted her hair on top of her head and stabbed said quill through it to hold it in place.
As she moved through the shadows so that she could escape the library unseen, she noticed a little dark haired girl in a Slytherin uniform sitting at a table not too far from where she had originally been. Squinting just a bit, she could just make out that the girl was reading about dementors. Interesting, she thought. Her intrigue increased when she caught a glimpse of the girl's face. She had heard whispers of an older transfer student, but hadn't believed them. There was always rumors of transfers - generally wishful thinking as that was practically unheard of, transferring between wizarding schools. She couldn't actually remember ever hearing of it really happening.
But that was neither here nor there. New girl. Slytherin. At least sixth year. Researching dementors? Something wasn't adding up and not just because studying dementors was somewhere around third year territory. A sly smirk crossed Kymber's lips. Looked like she had something to take her mind off her current headache.
She cocked an eyebrow and studied the new comer for a moment longer. Then, with a wave of her wand she summoned a very specific book to the girl's table. If she wanted to learn, so be it. But she really must read the proper material - the truly honest, dark stuff.
With one last smirk after the book landed in front of the girl, Kymber melted even further into the shadows and finally left the library.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on Sept 17, 2015 17:58:44 GMT -5
Rhiannon had been deep concentration, as she was reading.
She started at the sudden sound of something landing on her secluded table with a thud.
She looked up.
It was a book.
Rhiannon looked to her left, to her right, and then over her shoulder.
No one was there.
Obviously, she hadn't done anything to make this book come to her.
Rhiannon could only come to one conclusion.
Someone had been watching her.
But who?
No one at Hogwarts really even knew who she was, did they?
What on earth? she thought. Curious...
She picked up the book: Dark Creatures of Renown: An A to Z Encyclopedia (English Translation by Ecbert P. Hollingsworth).
Interesting, Rhiannon thought. I'll have to read this. I'll just stuff it in my bag, and that mad old bat Pence need never know it was gone.
Once again looking all around her to make sure Madam Pence wasn't anywhere near her and ascertaining that she indeed wasn't, Rhiannon slipped the intriguing book into her bag.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on Sept 17, 2015 18:21:28 GMT -5
Deciding to curl up with Dark Creatures of Renown back in the Slytherin common room, Rhiannon returned her interest to Nefarious Beasts.
Here is how they confirm it: dementors require no liquid or solid sustenance to survive. They live purely by feeding off our happiness, our hope, and our will to survive, leaving us with nothing but fear, helplessness, sadness, guilt, grief, and hopelessness.
Not only are we forced to relive the worst experiences of our lives, which are, of course, unique to each of us. Depending on the amount of trauma one has experienced in one's life, one may suffer physical symptoms, as well, including: shakiness, cold sweats, nausea, shivering, light-headedness, visual and auditory hallucinations, even fainting. We Healers recommend comfort foods and drinks to help remedy symptoms after exposure to a dementor. Chocolate and chamomile tea are especially helpful.
Rhiannon snorted derisively at the thought of someone experiencing all of those symptoms.
People like that just must be weak, she thought. Fainting? Really? Honestly, grow a backbone!
She found herself suppressing a giggle. That Longbottom kid probably peed himself the first time he ever encountered the dementors. What a twit...
Then--
Focus, Rhiannon! she scolded herself. The reason you came here was for answers, as amusing as that thought is!
"Forced to relive the worst experiences of our lives," Rhiannon repeated in a whisper.
The worst experiences...
The crying baby Rhiannon always heard whenever she got too close to the dementors...
What if...what if that baby was her?
Did the worst experience of my life happen to me when I was a baby? she thought. That has to be it! I have only ever heard it when I had to pass the dementors!
Hungry for more information, Rhiannon read on.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on Sept 17, 2015 18:51:56 GMT -5
Of course, the more prolonged one's exposure to a dementor is, the more prolonged the symptoms. Studies of the effects of dementors on humans began in the late 1800s.
They experimented on people? Rhiannon thought. Too cool!
She wondered how bad it got.
Healers, Aurors, other magical law enforcement professionals, and experts on Magical Creatures often volunteered, knowing perfectly well what they were getting themselves into.
Oh, come on, Rhiannon thought. Why didn't you experiment on Mudbloods? Or Muggles?
She read on.
However, the following question remained unanswered for some time: what were the effects of long term exposure to dementors?
In 1910, then Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement Thelonius Gibbs voiced his idea. Most likely influenced by his time as Head of the Auror Office, Gibbs suggested answering the above question using incarcerated witches and wizards as subjects. Due to his record of bringing many criminals to justice, Gibbs had established a great reputation for himself. He was widely respected in the magical community, which could be--and most likely was--the reason why no one questioned the morality of his idea.
Who cares? Rhiannon thought. It's cool!
So it was decided: dementors would be granted access to Azkaban Fortress and thus to those imprisoned there.
Two years later, Gibbs was elected Minister. One of the first pieces of legislation he signed into law was the Safe and Secure Prison Act (SSPA), which permanently installed dementors as guards of Azkaban's inmates. Thought the sturdy fortress rests on a tiny island, secluded from the rest of Britain, though there are anti-Apparition spells in place, Gibbs had quite a crowd of supporters inside the Ministry and out, so the act quickly garnered the legislative support it needed to become law.
Once news of SSPA broke internationally, a few countries spoke out against it, calling it a human rights violation, given what had been known about dementors previously and the results of the study.
Which were what? Rhiannon wondered.
She read on.
The Dutch Minister at the time, Anneke Koning, called it "barbaric and unnecessary".
So what are the effects of long term exposure to these monsters? Within a month, in addition to all previously listed symptoms: constant fear, paranoia, frequent nightmares, insomnia, panic attacks, agitation, psychosis, loss of appetite, loss of the will to live, partial or complete loss of all magical abilities, delirium, and deterioration of mental stability--in other words, madness.
Madness? Rhiannon thought. Cool!
Some inmates began expressing the desire for death. Three attempted suicide, one of whom succeeded. (The warden found the man dead from having cut his wrists with the knife he was given to use with his dinner.)
Even cooler! Rhiannon thought.
She continued to read.
Unfortunately, that incident was kept classified by the Ministry until much, much later in 1960, when a group of progressive-minded charms experts found the sealed records while reorganizing their department and broke the Concealment Charms on them. There was backlash after the experts went to Witch Weekly and the academic journal Charms: Work, Theory, News, and Research with the news, but the Ministry decided not to discuss it. A few progressive members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement have attempted to get the SSPA repealed, but none of them have gotten far. And so incarcerated witches and wizards continue to be exposed to several dementors day-in and day-out.
Will dementors ever again be brought up as a human rights violation? That remains to be seen. The issue has not been challenged recently, and the status quo does not change unless it is challenged.
So, due to the observed effects of dementors on willing and unwilling subjects that I have just discussed, one sees that they do indeed prove the intertwined nature of the human mind and body.
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Post by Rhiannon Lestrange on Sept 17, 2015 19:26:56 GMT -5
Can the connection between mind and body be broken? In all my years of research, as well, as discussion with my colleagues, I conclude that indeed it can, and dementors are the only known creatures on this earth who can do it.
The witch who nicknamed the dementors' worst, pure evil capability, Rosalind Quigg, had a very dark sense of humor indeed. She named this power "the dementor's kiss" in the late 1900s, and the term has stuck ever since.
This indescribably horrible ability dementors have is proof that the connection between the human mind and body can be broken. Dementors and dementors only possess this power. No other magical creature known to humankind is capable of such barbarity.
The dementor's kiss happens thus: the dementor lowers its hood, grasps its victim, clamps its mouth over the mouth of its victim, and sucks out the victim's soul.
"Wow!" Rhiannon whispered.
Dementors could suck out human souls--suck them out.
Rhiannon was one of many who believed the soul could and would leave the body--but only at death. Upon death, the soul would leave the body behind to decay, while continuing to exist on its own, immortal.
But no--it was possible to separate the body and the soul without death.
And there were dementors here--here, right now, at Hogwarts. They were guarding every single entrance to the school's grounds, watching for Sirius Black--always watching.
There were creatures at her school, at that very moment, who could suck out a human soul right out of its body.
Rhiannon didn't know if she should be more horrified or impressed. Truth be told, she was both.
I wonder what that looks like? she thought. Probably terrifying and awesome at the same time!
Rhiannon couldn't deny it. She was fascinated.
And what became of those who lost their souls? Did they die? How did someone exist without a soul? Was that even possible?
Rhiannon wondered if having no soul was like someone in a coma--what the Muggle doctors called "a vegetative state".
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