Boggart
A Boggart was a ‘non-being’ which meant it wasn’t considered alive. Thus, boggarts couldn’t technically ‘killed’ and even if an equivalent spell was casted, the boggart would somehow come back from elimination.
Boggarts would usually take shelter in cupboards, wardrobes, sinks, or they would even live beneath beds. Boggarts tended to live in dark enclosed places.
Muggles would sometimes witness boggarts that would change into the most feared form of the muggles that witness a boggart.
Often times, young muggles would witness boggarts from their closet or beneath their bed and run for their parents telling stories about ‘the monster in the closet’ or the ‘monster beneath their bed’. Boggarts were shape-shifters that would transform into whatever its witness fears the most.
The boggart would possess some properties that were generally weaker of the form that it replicates. Wizard and witches could repulse a boggart by some focus, and the spell ‘Riddikulus’ while thinking of a funny form of their most dreadful fears.
Along with focus, thinking and skills, the spell ‘Riddikulus’ would transform the boggart that shifted to the worst nightmares of the witness into a funny form. If the wizard and witch is able to laugh at the Boggart, the boggart would disappear
. Every wizard and witch had their own most dreadful fears so a boggart would shift into different forms depending on who confronts the boggart.
The form that a boggart takes wasn’t fixed and may change even when a single person encounters a boggart. For example, Molly Weasely confronting a boggart witnesses the death of the Weasley family members which the boggart shifted constantly through each member.
Ron Weasley’s boggart was a giant spider or an acromantula while Herimone Granger’s boggart was Professor McGonagall informing Hermione that she failed her exams.
Harry Potter’s boggart was a dementor but rather than Harry was afraid of the dementor itself, Harry Potter feared the state of all his joy drained left only with fear which he experienced during his first encounter with a dementor. In other words, like Professor Remus Lupin’s explanation, Harry Potter feared ‘fear’ itself. Interestingly, Professor Remus Lupin feared a full moon.
Kneazle
Kenazles didn’t appear on film but knowing a kneazle is important to understand Crookshanks, Hermione Granger’s cat. Kneazles are cat-like magical creatures with larger ears and a lion like tail. Kneazles could breed with cats and they had a very high intelligence.
Kneazles were somewhat aggressive against people that they don’t trust and due to the aggression of kneazles against certain people, although kneazles were raised as house pets, they must be registered and licensed the Ministry of Magic.
Crookshanks was partial kneazle and showed an unusual extent of aggression against Ron Weasley’s rat Scabbers.
Characteristics of a Dementor
Dementors were creatures that resembled a ghost with grey skin covered with black robe. Dementors didn’t have any eyes but had an empty eye socket.
Dementors were thus, blind but they could detect people’s emotions and their general health status, which made them the perfect guards for the wizarding prison Azkaban as any kind of concealment magic would be useless.
Dementors fed on the emotions of people, especially they were able to drain the positive memories of the victim leaving the victim strongly depressed. If a victim is exposed near a dementor for too long, the victim would drown in their negative emotions and depression that would eventually drive them crazy.
Dementors were attracted to people with strong emotions and strength which they could feed on more. Dementors were blind and couldn’t tell people apart if people had similar strength and number of emotions.
Also, around a dementor, heat and light diminishes which created an unusual cold and dark environment around a dementor.
Dementors were also a non-being that weren’t considered ‘alive’ and there weren’t any known methods to terminate a dementor. Dementors were possibly related with a Lethifold as they share a lot of similarities.
Dementors & Ministry of Magic
Although how they communicate is unknown, dementors were intelligent magical creatures and they could share information and communicate with each other as well as communicate with wizards and witches.
Dementors were long known as one of the most dangerous magic creatures associated with dark magic. There were records of dementors pledging allegiance to powerful dark witches and wizards.
However, the Ministry of Magic never encountered a location with so much dementors before they’ve discovered Azkaban.
Azkaban was massed with dementors and unknown dark magic when the Ministry of Magic first discovered it that no one dared to investigate Azkaban.
However, the Ministry of Magic saw potential of Azkaban as an unbreachable prison and the potential of dementors as the perfect warden and started to negotiate deals with the dementors.
Despite fearsome oppositions within the wizarding society, the Ministry of Magic made an agreement with the dementors to use Azkaban as a prison and hire the dementors as wardens of Azkaban allowing them to feed on the prisoners.
The Ministry of Magic formed a mutual alliance with the dementors and dementors would provide services to the Ministry of Magic as convoys, sheriffs as well. People like Albus Dumbledore never trusted the cruel and dark nature of dementors and claimed to put more security measures on the ‘fragile alliance’ with dementors.
Dementor’s Kiss
Dementors could pull off their hood and place their mouth close to a victim and actually consume the victim’s soul. This action of a dementor consuming a victim’s soul due to how it looks was called a dementor’s kiss.
The British Ministry of Magic restricted dementors from performing dementor’s kiss, however occasionally the dementor’s kiss was approved as a punishment further than the extent of execution.
Prisoners feared the dementor’s kiss and it was considered an even crueler punishment than a death sentence. Victims of a dementor’s kiss would remain ‘alive’ but unable to move nor were they conscious at all. The victim would simply merely ‘exist’.
The soul of the victim would never return and the victim can’t even become a ghost as its soul was consumed by the dementor.
Protection against Dementors
Dementors could not be eliminated even by the deadliest death curses. The only method known to repel a dementor was the Patronus Charm which was casted by the spell Expecto Patronum. The Patronus charm was effective against a close relative of dementors, the lethifolds as well.
The patronus charm required high magical skill itself but powerful witches and wizards could summon a patronus or a spirit guardian which was an animal form with an even stronger protective effect.
Casting a patronus charm required focused positive memories along with magical skills and this was the only known method to repel dementors. The caster of a patronus charm if already targeted by a dementor and emotions were already being drained would face even more difficulties to repel them.
Model of Dementors – J.K. Rowling’s experience with Depression
The scheme and the idea around the concepts of the dementors are based on J.K. Rowling’s personal experience with clinical depression. J.K. Rowling had a tough time before her Harry Potter series became a world-wide famous masterpiece.
The concept that a dementor is not able to be killed may be a description based on how patients fight clinical depression.
Also, how dementors only take away the positive emotions of its victim is similar with the medical conditions of depression. People with strong emotions and good health aren’t necessarily immune to depression and may even suffer more from depression.
The characteristics of the dementor may resonate a lot with J.K. Rowling’s actual experience with depression.
Hippogriff
Hippogriffs were magical creatures with a horse body with a head of an eagle with wings. Hippogriffs were strong and dangerous creatures but they could be tamed.
Hippogriffs in general had a personality with pride so a wizard or witch would have to bow and wait for the hippogriff to show its respect by bowing back to avoid any aggressions by the hippogriff.
Hippogriffs would pay respect to those they recognize and hippogriffs were loyal to those who has built credit through time. Although wizards and witches could ride hippogriffs if tamed, using hippogriffs as transportation was illegal by the Ministry of Magic.
