Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing Dementors. I love Dementors, they’re some of the coolest creatures in
the Harry Potter universe, and it occurred to me today that I hadn’t made a dementor
video in a while, which made me sad, so I had some chocolate (I hope you get the reference).
Anyway, I thought a 10 dementor facts video would provide some nice contrast to the sunny
beautiful weather outside at the moment.
For those unaware,
Dementors are cloaked creatures that are 3 metres tall with dark grey scabby skin. Dementors
are foul creatures that represent unhappiness and despair. They were created by Rowling
as a way of personifying all of the negative aspects of depression.
With that charming introduction out of the way, let’s get in to 10 facts about the
HORRIFYING creatures known as Dementors.
They were EXTRA Drawn to Harry
This relates to Voldemort’s relationship to Harry. On Wednesday October 31st, Voldemort
travelled to the town of Godric’s Hollow where the Potter family lived. Voldemort had
plans to murder Harry, however, the loving sacrifice that Lily had put in place ensured
that Harry was protected- which meant that Voldemort’s killing curse came firing right
back at him. And,what Voldemort essentially unwittingly did on this day was turn Harry
in to a Horcrux. You see, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the curse rebounded which split
voldemort's soul - but because Voldemort's body was gone, the victim of his own curse,
he could no longer encase the soul fragment to complete the horcrux formation. Because
Voldemort’s soul was left without any attachment, it latched itself to Harry. For this reason,
Harry contained Voldemort’s soul fragment, but was never possessed by it.
So, why were Dementors EXTRA drawn to Harry? Well, the Dementors were attracted to the
extra soul that Harry carried with him. Unwillingly, Harry went about his life with an extra soul
strapped to him, and I think that this made him a target to Dementors- a sort of 2 for
the price of 1. To a dementor, Harry was the ultimate treat.
They were created by a dark wizard named EKRIZDIS (probably)
Ekrizdis isn’t particularly well-known, but he certainly marked his place in wizarding
history- as he was a practitioner of the worst kinds of dark arts imaginable. Very little
is known about Ekrizdis, other than the fact that he was alive during the 15th century,
and that he was evil-pure evil. No one knows his nationality, and even if it was known,
I’m sure no one would want to claim ownership of him. He was that bad. Ekrizdis was the
original inhabitant of the island fortress of Azkaban, what we now know as the prison
that holds some of the darkest witches and wizards within its walls. While travelling
in the 15th century, Ekrizdis stumbled upon the island- which at the time had no infrastructure
to speak of. When he first arrived, it was just a regular island, but he soon turned
it in to his own little dark arts experiment. Ekrizdis began his dark arts experiments by
luring muggle sailors to the island, then torturing and eventually murdering them. He
became so wrapped up and enthralled in his experimentation with dark magic, that he had
lost his mind, and the poor sailors that he lured to the island witnessed it first hand.
In his madness, it has been speculated that Ekrizdis either unwittingly or perhaps intentionally
created what we now know to be Dementors.
Underneath The Cloak
Now, when we think of a Dementor we often just think of floating, ominous looking black
cloaks soaring through the air. We might even think of that old decrepit looking hand that
sometimes jets out of the sleeve. However, what many don’t think about is just how
horrifying dementors look underneath that cloak. The physical form of a Dementor is
essentially akin to a rotting corpse- they’re grey, full of moisture, and decomposing from
the top down.
Not only that, but they’re over 3 metres tall with massive cavities where their eyes
are supposed to be, as well as a demonic looking hole that’s meant to be their mouth. They
are some of the creepiest looking creatures WITH a cloak on, but let’s just be thankful
that they wear a cloak at all.
Dementors and Animagi
I bet a lot of you didn’t know this one. That’s right, animagi are a little bit safer
from Dementors than your run of the mill witch or wizard. For those unaware, an animagus,
simply put, is a witch or wizard that is able to transform themselves into an animal and
back again.
As Sirius explained, he would utilize his animagus form while imprisoned in Azkaban
in order to protect some of his memories from mental rot. The dementors inside of the prison
were not fully able to distinguish Sirius from his animal form- which explains why he
was able to endure his time in the prison so well. Furthermore, transforming helped
in allowing him to escape from the prison.
The Dementor’s Kiss
So we know that Dementors attack people, and we know that we should be scared of them.
But..How do they actually HURT us? Well, as it turns out, Dementors pose a significant
threat to witches and wizards alike because of their KISS. Now, there’s no hug involved
in this kiss, and this kiss probably isn’t the kind that you’re accustomed to.
When a Dementor kisses someone, they immobilize their body, grab on to their face, and proceed
to begin sucking out their soul. The soul of a Dementor’s victim can literally be
sucked out of them, leaving them alive- but ‘empty’.
Dudley Dursley and Dementors
In August of 1995, we see Harry and Dudley Dursley chased by Dementors. Unable to escape,
Dudley is attacked- but after his escape, we’re never told what it is that Harry’s
childhood bully saw:
“Dudley seemed incapable of saying. He shuddered again and shook his large blond head, and
despite the sense of numb dread that had settled on Harry since the arrival of the first owl,
he felt a certain curiosity. Dementors caused a person to relive the worst moments of their
life. What would spoiled, pampered, bullying Dudley have been forced to hear?”
As it turns out, JK Rowling actually answered this in an interview:
"People usually ask me, what is it that Dudley saw during the Dementor attack?" Rowling said.
"My feeling is that he saw himself, exactly for what he was, and for a boy that spoiled,
it would be terrifying. So he was jolted out of it. Dementor attacks aren't usually good
for people, but this one was."
The ministry of magic (and dark wizards like Voldemort) hire them
The Ministry of Magic certainly have a knack of making some questionable decisions. However,
one of their most QUESTIONABLE decisions dates back to the 1700s, when they first HIRED Dementors
to work for them.
As it turns out, Dementors have served for a long time. The ministry of magic first ‘hired’
dementors back in 1718- when new Minister for Magic Damocles Rowle was elected. Rowle
saw the Dementors as a potential asset- and rather than trying to get rid of them, felt
that he could utilize their ‘abilities’ at Azkaban- helping to keep dark prisoners
in check. Knowing that the prison needed guards, Rowle felt that by using extant non-beings
like dementors, he would be able to prevent endangering the lives of witch or wizard guards.But
WHY- you might ask now, would Dementors serve the Ministry of Magic?
The main reason was that the Ministry allowed the Dementors to feed on the emotions of the
prisoners within its walls.
On that note, it should also be mentioned that the Dementors will basically serve whoever
is in power. Under the ministry they’re allowed to feed on prisoners, and under Voldemort
they’re allowed to feed on many others.
Intelligence and Sentience
Just because we don’t hear Dementors speak, and because we don’t see Dementors particularly
interact with anything or anyone (outside of kissing them)- it doesn’t mean that they
aren’t intelligent. In fact, they are extremely smart creatures that show all kinds of signs
of sentience.
Interestingly enough, the Ministry of Magic actually classifies them as ‘Non-Beings’-
which, by definition, means ‘a type of magical spirit created out of human emotions’ - a
classification which they share with poltergeists like Peeves.
Their ability to coordinate attacks and switch sides as need be are other clear indicators
of their unassuming intelligence.
They have their own language
That’s right, Dementors SPEAK. Well, at least with each other. However, with that
said- we have absolutely no idea what their language is, what it sounds like, or if anyone
can understand it. What we do know, however, is that the Dementors relayed certain information
about Sirius’ behaviour in jail to ministry officials. So, either they can speak a wizarding
language in common with someone at the ministry, or someone at the ministry can speak the language
of the Dementors. Either one sounds terrifying.
How to stop them There are two known ways to stop Dementors.
The first is the Patronus charm. A Patronus charm is produced when a witch or wizard casts
the spell Expecto Patronum. There are two types of patronus charms, corporeal and incorporeal,
and the type that the witch or wizard casts will depend on their experience / preference.
The second way to stop a Dementor is a lot less technical: chocolate. However, chocolate
only helps victims of Dementors- it doesn’t actually scare them away.
Per Pottermore:
“The mood-enhancing properties of chocolate are well known in both the Muggle and wizard
worlds. Chocolate is the perfect antidote for anyone who has been overcome in the presence
of Dementors, which suck hope and happiness out of their surroundings.”
And that’s it for this terrifying list of Dementor facts. If you enjoyed the video,
please leave a LIKE, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.
Until next time
Remember
Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on
the light.