Warning – I will be speaking about depression for this specific post. 

          Hello everyone!

          Welcome to my first blog post! Throughout my time as a blogger, I’ll be switching between movie theories and psychological analyses of things and/or characters within movies. In this post, I’ll be doing a psychological analysis of a creature in the Harry Potter Universe called a dementor. It is a more well-known analysis considering the author herself revealed that it was true, but I wanted to start with something more people would have a chance to know the background information about. I do want to put a warning here in the beginning, I will be talking about depression in this post so if you aren’t comfortable reading about that subject, I won’t be upset if you leave. I hope you find it as interesting to read as I did to research (granted I am a Psychology major, so I probably found it a little more interesting than the average person). 

          Here is a little introduction to dementors for those who aren’t very familiar with the books and movies. 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” (J.K. Rowling). During the war towards the end of the series, they allied with Voldemort because he spreads despair, which is what they feed off of (Wizarding World). 

       Image Link

          Dementors in the Wizarding World come from a very real and personal place for J.K. Rowling. She wrote them to embody and put a creature to the emotions we feel when depressed. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression symptoms include “feelings of hopelessness or pessimism” and a “persistent sad, anxious, or ‘empty’ mood”. When we compare these symptoms to the effects of a dementor, we find some shocking similitudes. Dementors “leech happiness and joy from everyone they encounter” (Wizarding World). When given the chance, dementors will completely suck out the soul of a person, leaving them to live the rest of their life as “‘an empty shell’” (Wizarding World). Scary similar, huh? Even the appearance of a dementor is one that invokes fear and dread, with their skeletal bodies “Cloaked in dark hoods, with slimy-looking, decayed hands and…no eyes” (Wizarding World). We always say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so for a soul-sucking creature to have no eyes, for their victim to be looking into a pit of nothingness while they relive the worst experience of their life, is unimaginable.  

The students learning the Patronus charm     

          There is a way to deter these horrible creatures, however. The Patronus charm, officially Expecto Patronum, or “I await a guardian” in Latin, is only able to be cast when thinking of your most powerful happy memory. The Patronus takes the form of an animal that is there to protect you from the dementors (Wizarding World). They are able to drive away a negative force by thinking positively. The spell is also “one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizardkind” (Wizarding World), their most powerful spell, is based on happiness and joy, showing that the light will always beat away the dark. 

          I hope that was entertaining, insightful, and you weren’t bored! Thank you so much for reading my first post, with luck they’ll only get better from here!

 

          Sources-

Ahlgrim, Callie. “All the Known Patronuses of the ‘Harry Potter’ Characters – from Dumbledore to the Weasley Twins.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 19 Nov. 2018, au.finance.yahoo.com/news/known-patronuses-apos-harry-potter-115549964.html. 

“Dementor.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Dementor. 

Pottermore. “Everything You Need to Know about the Dementors’ Kiss.” Wizarding World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019, www.wizardingworld.com/features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dementors-kiss.  

Pottermore. “Why Dementors Are the Scariest Magical Creatures.” Wizarding World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019, www.wizardingworld.com/features/why-dementors-are-the-scariest-magical-creatures.  

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Edited by GrandPré Mary, Large Print Press, 2003. 

Rowling, J.K. “Patronus Charm.” Wizarding World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019, www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/patronus-charm. 

White, Hilary. “Rowling Created Dementors as a Metaphor for Depression.” POPSUGAR Tech, 31 July 2016, www.popsugar.com/tech/photo-gallery/41180052/image/41180427/Rowling-created-Dementors-metaphor-depression.