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harry potter - Casting a Vanishing Charm to a human


Just thought about this:


What will happen if you cast a Vanishing Charm to a human? Will they to end up in "nothingness"? If that is true, then why was it not an unforgivable curse?



Answer





  • Regarding "What will happen if you cast a Vanishing Charm to a human":




    "Into non-being, which is to say, everything." (Minerva McGonagle, answering a riddle to enter Ravenclaw common room about "Where do Vanished objects go?".



    This means that if you cast a simple Vanishing Charm on a human, they will permanently vanish - though her answer may imply that their matter may be distributed around if taken scientifically and not philosophically.


    Note: Don't confuse Vanishing charm with Vanishing Cabinet which acted like a transporter and did NOT actually use the Vanishing charm despite sharing a name.








  • As far as it being a "an unforgivable curse", there are 2 reasons:




    1. First, because the spell, as @beichst's answer noted, the spell isn't a pure attack spell. It has non-combat uses, and isn't even considered a Dark spell as it's being taught in Hogwarts.


      Please note that MANY MANY spells can be used to kill someone (e.g. see Molly Weasley killing Bellatrix). You can't make EVERY spell that can be lethal if used in offensive way an "unforgivable".


      In mortal world, if you're strong and skilled enough, you can kill someone with a pen or a rope just as well as with a gun or a knife. Same with Wizarding - a random person can't kill someone with Vanishing spell (or Avada for that matter)... and someone powerful and skilled can kill with A.K., with Vanishing, with tons of others (up to an including Wingardium Leviosa, a spell taught to grade 1).




    2. Also, like any other legal system (especially a medieval one that Wizarding World uses), it's full of contradictions and arbitrary decisoins. Including in "unforgivable" designation.


      Notice that there are TONS of spells used to mess with someone's mind (Legilimency, Lockhart's memory charms - the latter can be used to make people do your bidding) but only Imperio is an "unforgivable".



      Then you have a non-lethal "Crucio" - despite the fact that you can use tons of OTHER spells to hurt and torture someone none of which is "unforgivable".






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