A Discussion on the Mind Arts
In the conversation Snape had with Dumbledore during The Prince's Tale, specifically the part about there not being any distinction between the mind and the soul, the latter being a major part of the Harry Potter series by way of dementors and horcruxes (to name a couple). The Mind Arts is the magical ability over a witch or wizard's mind, either to perform Legilimency to invade another person's mind or Occlumency to shield against outside influence.
This thread exists to discuss the implications of the Mind Arts. What is their full range of abilities? What are their weaknesses?
First, my self-reccing some poetry I wrote about the process of Occlumency:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44248123
Plus, I had been wanting to write a very subtle, acoustic / music-based occlumency technique for a while, so there it was.)
Then, a number assorted thoughts / headcanons that I have; and each one, I think, links something what HP would term soul-related to psychological, psychiatric or neurological disorders, so what I really want to say is that yes, mind and soul are intricately linked:
- The Horcrux is known to influence Harry's emotions and behaviour, in a way that could be diagnosable in the line of psychiatric disorders (I personally headcanon something like frontal lobe syndrome - hence Petunia's comment that Lily must have drunk, but I digress; can explain more upon request - but other fanfics have also explored possibilities like schizophrenia).
- And thus: since "soul" is somewhat substantial in HP, there must also be the option of "soul surgery" (apart from the creation of Horcruxes) / "soul medication" (chocolate -> biochemical substances that help against depression; would antidepressants help agains Dementor effects?).
- Would very skilled Mind Magicians also be able to perform soul-related procedures? For a certain universe, I created two categories of mind magic (psychemancy like legilimency or occlumency; and spirimancy which is anything soul-related)
- If Dementor's kiss is comparable to vegetative state, what would the (ethical) implications of that be? If you think it's more similar to catatonia, what then?
- And since long-term cruciatus exposure can cause something like catatonia: what kind of soul-malady would that be? Does the Cruciatus cause "soul-pain", and if so, what would it be? (re: "total pain" in terminal patients)
Hope you don't mind that this devolved into "soul magic" rather than "mind magic" but...
And another comment:
- the Imperius is also a sort "mind arts", in my opinion. Harry can cast the Imperius, but only after he learns a way of keeping Voldemort out... What does that mean for how the horcrux influences Occlumency / Legilimency skill? (I headcanon that the Horcrux is something of a chronic wound of the soul with persistent "foreign matter" causing any sort of - well, anything that can be equalled to "inflammation" in the brain, except it also affects the soul? That also means a permanent opening to Harry's mind whether he wants it or not. You can't close a wound if there is still shit embedded inside.)
Okay that was really long. Hope it was at least still somewhat coherent and on-topic since I strayed pretty far into some bio-physio-psychological thingies.
- The Horcrux is known to influence Harry's emotions and behaviour, in a way that could be diagnosable in the line of psychiatric disorders (I personally headcanon something like frontal lobe syndrome - hence Petunia's comment that Lily must have drunk, but I digress; can explain more upon request - but other fanfics have also explored possibilities like schizophrenia).
Hadn't thought about the behavioral side of it, but you're right. Even apart from Harry, Tom Riddle's diary was able to essentially mind-control Ginny into opening the Chamber of Secrets and doing all of the legwork. The same thing with the locket happened, bringing out the worst in each person who wore it (especially in the case of Ron).
Another point would be the creation of the Horcruxes themselves and how they impacted Voldemort's psyche; the more he created, the more unstable his mind/soul grew.
- And thus: since "soul" is somewhat substantial in HP, there must also be the option of "soul surgery" (apart from the creation of Horcruxes) / "soul medication" (chocolate -> biochemical substances that help against depression; would antidepressants help agains Dementor effects?).
I believe Dumbledore mentioned that remorse could repair damage done to the soul, but it's possible that substances could influence that as well.
- Would very skilled Mind Magicians also be able to perform soul-related procedures? For a certain universe, I created two categories of mind magic (psychemancy like legilimency or occlumency; and spirimancy which is anything soul-related)
St. Mungo's had a ward for people with mental problems, such as the Longbottoms and Gilderoy Lockhart, but it doesn't seem that the field was developed enough. And if the mind is intrinsically tied to the soul, then it's probable that they don't have much development on that front either.
- If Dementor's kiss is comparable to a vegetative state, what would the (ethical) implications of that be? If you think it's more similar to catatonia, what then?
The Dementor's Kiss seems either like a lobotomy or perhaps the inducement of severe dementia.
- And since long-term cruciatus exposure can cause something like catatonia: what kind of soul-malady would that be? Does the Cruciatus cause "soul-pain", and if so, what would it be? (re: "total pain" in terminal patients)
That's interesting to think about. On the one hand, the Cruciatus Curse is said to break the Memory Charm; on the other, it reduced the Longbottoms to insanity, to the point where they don't recognize their son.
- the Imperius is also a sort "mind arts", in my opinion. Harry can cast the Imperius, but only after he learns a way of keeping Voldemort out... What does that mean for how the horcrux influences Occlumency / Legilimency skill? (I headcanon that the Horcrux is something of a chronic wound of the soul with persistent "foreign matter" causing any sort of - well, anything that can be equalled to "inflammation" in the brain, except it also affects the soul? That also means a permanent opening to Harry's mind whether he wants it or not. You can't close a wound if there is still shit embedded inside.)
Well, being a horcrux, and with Harry's mind being invaded by Voldemort and vice versa, Dumbledore thought that Occlumency would be able to shut Voldemort out. My read of it is that Occlumency has power over a fragment of Voldemort's soul.
I believe Dumbledore mentioned that remorse could repair damage done to the soul, but it's possible that substances could influence that as well.
He did say that, yes. Or was it that remorse can undo Horcruxes?
St. Mungo's had a ward for people with mental problems, such as the Longbottoms and Gilderoy Lockhart, but it doesn't seem that the field was developed enough. And if the mind is intrinsically tied to the soul, then it's probable that they don't have much development on that front either.
That is true. (I have a Lot Of complaints about how Mungo's is written in general, but that's beside the point, I guess.) Plus, Occlumency and Legilimency are Obscure (tm) fields of study, from what I took from HP canon.
That's interesting to think about. On the one hand, the Cruciatus Curse is said to break the Memory Charm; on the other, it reduced the Longbottoms to insanity, to the point where they don't recognize their son.
That reminds me: Electroconvulsion therapy for severe depression. -- accuracy of the analogy? Implications?
Well, being a horcrux, and with Harry's mind being invaded by Voldemort and vice versa, Dumbledore thought that Occlumency would be able to shut Voldemort out. My read of it is that Occlumency has power over a fragment of Voldemort's soul.
My take, I guess, is that Occlumency WOULD be able to shield him if Harry already had the skill; except learning traditional Occlumency is much harder if a permanent intrusion is present.
