Harry is opposed to people feeding other people to Dementors, slowly, over many years, until they die. If Dementors were just dangerous evil creatures roaming out there and occasionally killing unlucky people who didn’t Apparate away in time—like trolls, or dragons—Harry wouldn’t care much about them and their association with Death.
This is precisely what I’m saying: he previously swore to end death (not just Dementors!) but now he’s swearing to end Azkaban—a much smaller goal. In fact it’s insignificant in comparison. Let’s hope it doesn’t get exclusive priority on Harry’s time.
This is precisely what I’m saying: he previously swore to end death (not just Dementors!) but now he’s swearing to end Azkaban—a much smaller goal. In fact it’s insignificant in comparison.
I don’t think the important thing in Ch. 63 is that Harry changed his goals (you’re right, he didn’t really) but that he changed the methods he’s willing to consider. The long-term argument (since chapter 35) between Harry and Quirrell has been about the utility of democracy. When Harry declared himself with the 3 and against the 47, he is acknowledging (at least the way I read it) a willingness to become a benevolent dictator if necessary.
Agreed that taking out the Dementors is a relatively narrow goal compared to other goals he might have adopted instead. (Like immortality, or unlimited Fun, or whatever.) He’s only human: it may take him another year or two to completely reshape the universe.
The fact remains that he just made a commitment to oppose Death, in a universe where Death really does seem to be something other than just death, and (unlike his previous oaths and determinations) this declaration seems to have had some implications in terms of the foreseeable future.
If Dementors were just dangerous evil creatures roaming out there and occasionally killing unlucky people who didn’t Apparate away in time—like trolls, or dragons—Harry wouldn’t care much about them and their association with Death.
“Humanism” suggests he’d technically want to eliminate them anyway, and as it turns out this desire seems wise. Dementors can breed (asexually) if whatever makes decisions for them decides to prepare for more victims. It happened in canon. In the absence of any Patronus 2.0 this seems like an existential risk or a risk of an unpleasant future for humanity, depending on how the Dementor decision maker works. And again, given the existence of Dolores Umbridge with her canon use of Dementors, I see no reason to believe that every present and future Ministry official will refrain from offering them Muggles. Nor does it seem wise to wait until Dementors start multiplying before reducing their numbers.
Now, Harry doesn’t know all this, but “hole in the world” sure sounds like a possible threat to humanity’s existence. He must believe in a non-zero risk from Azkaban. Logically Harry should ask if this risk exceeds the Star Goat or Anti-Pascal’s probability. (Example: the chance of cryonics working, in any particular case, seems to far exceed the Star Goat probability of it interfering with or preventing an afterlife.) And neither his pessimistic mentor nor his conditionally pro-death mentor seems to consider the chance of ending humanity through killing Dementors worth mentioning.
Harry is opposed to people feeding other people to Dementors, slowly, over many years, until they die. If Dementors were just dangerous evil creatures roaming out there and occasionally killing unlucky people who didn’t Apparate away in time—like trolls, or dragons—Harry wouldn’t care much about them and their association with Death.
This is precisely what I’m saying: he previously swore to end death (not just Dementors!) but now he’s swearing to end Azkaban—a much smaller goal. In fact it’s insignificant in comparison. Let’s hope it doesn’t get exclusive priority on Harry’s time.
I don’t think the important thing in Ch. 63 is that Harry changed his goals (you’re right, he didn’t really) but that he changed the methods he’s willing to consider. The long-term argument (since chapter 35) between Harry and Quirrell has been about the utility of democracy. When Harry declared himself with the 3 and against the 47, he is acknowledging (at least the way I read it) a willingness to become a benevolent dictator if necessary.
Agreed that taking out the Dementors is a relatively narrow goal compared to other goals he might have adopted instead. (Like immortality, or unlimited Fun, or whatever.) He’s only human: it may take him another year or two to completely reshape the universe.
The fact remains that he just made a commitment to oppose Death, in a universe where Death really does seem to be something other than just death, and (unlike his previous oaths and determinations) this declaration seems to have had some implications in terms of the foreseeable future.
“Humanism” suggests he’d technically want to eliminate them anyway, and as it turns out this desire seems wise. Dementors can breed (asexually) if whatever makes decisions for them decides to prepare for more victims. It happened in canon. In the absence of any Patronus 2.0 this seems like an existential risk or a risk of an unpleasant future for humanity, depending on how the Dementor decision maker works. And again, given the existence of Dolores Umbridge with her canon use of Dementors, I see no reason to believe that every present and future Ministry official will refrain from offering them Muggles. Nor does it seem wise to wait until Dementors start multiplying before reducing their numbers.
Now, Harry doesn’t know all this, but “hole in the world” sure sounds like a possible threat to humanity’s existence. He must believe in a non-zero risk from Azkaban. Logically Harry should ask if this risk exceeds the Star Goat or Anti-Pascal’s probability. (Example: the chance of cryonics working, in any particular case, seems to far exceed the Star Goat probability of it interfering with or preventing an afterlife.) And neither his pessimistic mentor nor his conditionally pro-death mentor seems to consider the chance of ending humanity through killing Dementors worth mentioning.