Humanoid Heart

That title sounds odd.

Earlier, I was thinking about the inhumanity of Voldemort. If you define him generally, he is a humanoid creature who cannot feel as a real human being does.

I've got this character. Her name is Priscilla.

So I was wondering. Could you not use magic to make yourself humanoid at heart, not completely human? Just not using such dark magic as Voldemort did.

Another way to phrase the question: Do you think that one could obliterate a certain emotion with magic? I've got this idea that Priscilla might not be able to feel fear because...either she's very confident and quick, or she might have performed some sort of magic upon herself that prevented the feeling of fear from coming to her at all.

Hayden

I'm sure that it could be possible to create a humaniod heart, I'm just not so sure that it could be done without Dark magic.

I have a few reasons for thinking this. One of the defining characteristics of Dark magic is that it goes against the natural order of the universe (taking control of someone's mind and body, taking their life before their time, or contorted the body in ways that could not be done otherwise to cause severe pain). A heart is said to be what defines us as humans, a creating a non-human heart and to have one beating inside one's chest seems like something that could go against anything that could be conceived as good.

This is just reasoning on literary basis. Does anyone have reason based on anything else?

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Do you think that one could obliterate a certain emotion with magic? I've got this idea that Priscilla might not be able to feel fear because...either she's very confident and quick, or she might have performed some sort of magic upon herself that prevented the feeling of fear from coming to her at all.

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You can block sadness with antidepressants, pain with morphine, hyperactivity with Ritalin and endorphins with narcotics ect so I think it would be possible to block an emotion using magic, because you are able to do it through muggle methods, so why not magical ones.

There is a brilliant book series called Fearless by Francine Pascal. The main character Gaia can't feel fear due to a genetic abnormality; maybe you could find a spell that mimics the DNA altering effects of radiation??

I really like this idea, good luck :)

Jess

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The main character Gaia can't feel fear due to a genetic abnormality; maybe you could find a spell that mimics the DNA altering effects of radiation??

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I may actually go and read this book. But as for the spell, I'd need help. I think it's close enough to what I'm looking for: changing up the DNA. See, I needed something that is permanent, that is a part of the person, not just an aid like morphine...which, I think, only holds off pain till a later point...

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A heart is said to be what defines us as humans, a creating a non-human heart and to have one beating inside one's chest seems like something that could go against anything that could be conceived as good.

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I'm not trying to create a heart--I just need to change it. That probably would be even Darker, haha. How Dark you guys will classify it? It's just messing with the person's brain and attitude, not like killing someone and then splitting the soul. I'm only trying to make Priscilla more confident and clear-headed in the face of danger--she's not completely Dark. She does bad things, but it's not like the Death Eaters or Voldemort. This lack of fear simply helps her.

What do you think? That can't be so bad.

Also...I might have a flashback. So how would the spell work? What might the person have to do? We don't know how Horcruxes are created, but this will probably be less complicated. So any help?

Hayden

I personally think it would be a very Dark thing to do, but, of course, you can be Dark and not be a Death Eater. The two terms aren't synonymous, but I do think that ultimately changing your genetic make-up would be seen as very Dark magic.

Why does there have to be a spell to make her not feel fear? Can't she just find a new determination to overcome her fears? Is there nothing you could do to the character to make her naturally just not see the dangers of what she's going to do? To me, it doesn't seem like you want your character to be a Dark wizard, so why do you want a spell? Not saying that using a spell is wrong, but that there might be a less complicated way of getting what you want.

Sarah x

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It's just messing with the person's brain and attitude, not like killing someone and then splitting the soul.

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This is the Imperius Curse but in another form. It's an Unforgiveable and so it is Dark. Messing with someone's head and emotions could possibly seen as worse that killing them. You're altering their emotional make-up, that's akin to taking away any vestige of free will that they have. At least splitting your soul when you create a horcrux is affecting yourself, and not another person.

If you take away someone's fear, then you take away all their reflexes and also their common sense. Think about it: what stops you from running across the road in the middle of fast moving traffic - fear that you'll die. If you have no fear you'll be squished quicker than a bug.

~Carole~

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I'm only trying to make Priscilla more confident and clear-headed in the face of danger--she's not completely Dark. She does bad things, but it's not like the Death Eaters or Voldemort. This lack of fear simply helps her.

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If you're completely taking away all her ability to fear, that wouldn't make her just "confident and clear-headed" and "simply help her". In my opinion, not feeling fear would be more of a hindrance than anything. She'd not fear for her life, so she would be incredibly reckless and probably die very soon. She'd not be afraid of getting hurt, so how long until she loses a limb?

I'm sorry, but I really don't see the advantage in this. That's why I'd go with Sarah's idea rather than actually altering something (because that's very black-and-white, while Sarah offers a grey area.)

The genetic altering or whatever would cause her fears to be entirely switched off. All her fears. There's a reason why we're afraid of stuff - it helps us survive. Not being scared doesn't make you stronger.

I think I just don't really get what you're trying to do with this.

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How Dark you guys will classify it? It's just messing with the person's brain and attitude, not like killing someone and then splitting the soul.

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"Just" messing with someone's brain and attitude actually sounds very dark to me. Only because the Horcrux is like the darkest thing you could possibly do doesn't make what you're planning less dark, even in comparison...

Yeah, I feel like anything that would permanently take away anyone's emotions would have to be the work of Dark Magic. Even if it did take away all her fears, it wouldn't make sense if she didn't also feel things like love, happiness, and peace. That sounds absolutely horrible to me.

And I also agree with Carole that it would take away a lot of people's natural instincts, as well as one's intuition. This most certainly sounds like the work of Dark Magic.

Honestly, the picture that pops into my head when I think of someone who completely lacks fear is someone who is totally plastered (sorry - drunk). Their survival instincts are inhibited, their ability to interact in a social environment goes out the window, and they just don't have the tools necessary to survive in any kind of society.

Fear isn't just that feeling that sets your knees knocking when you're about to go into a fight. It's what keeps you from insulting everyone you meet (fear of rejection), what keeps your actions legal (fear of authority), and what keeps you from jumping across hundred-foot chasms for fun (fear of death). Even if you plan for Priscilla to do illegal/bad things, she probably needs to interact socially if she has any kind of development/relationships.

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How Dark you guys will classify it? It's just messing with the person's brain and attitude, not like killing someone and then splitting the soul.

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Just. There is a reason why drugs for mental issues take so long to clear FDA testing, longer than drugs whose side effects are cancer and seizures. It's the same reason why mind control is one of the plotlines in most TV or film series that has definite good guys and bad guys. It's because a person's mind is his very last refuge. If his mind is violated, he is usually beyond rescuing. Propaganda follows this pattern to an extent.

I quite like your concept of Priscilla, whose fear instinct has been repressed. However, for the survival and writability of the character, the fear instinct should not be completely destroyed. One example I know of where a person has his fear instinct suppressed is under intense emotional scarring. Like watch-your-family-die scarring. Traumatic events can completely block off the part of a person's brain in which he houses those emotions that provide a "weapon" to people around them. It can make their flight-or-fight reaction lean more often toward "fight", and make them more confident.

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Originally posted by Apollonious
I quite like your concept of Priscilla, whose fear instinct has been repressed. However, for the survival and writability of the character, the fear instinct should not be completely destroyed. One example I know of where a person has his fear instinct suppressed is under intense emotional scarring. Like watch-your-family-die scarring. Traumatic events can completely block off the part of a person's brain in which he houses those emotions that provide a "weapon" to people around them. It can make their flight-or-fight reaction lean more often toward "fight", and make them more confident.

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I think this is what I'm looking for. Priscilla would definitely have to know when to draw the line. She does interact with all sorts of people, and I don't think she would jump across a chasm without strong magic. Priscilla travels, and that's how she meets all these people. She is older; she was a child when World War II and Grindelwald's War (I think they happened at the same time, or very close) and I imagine that a lot of children were made orphans. I don't want to make her sound tragic, though. It is, but Priscilla isn't sappy. And lots of people were involved in Grindelwald's war, or whatever it is called in canon.

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How Dark you guys will classify it? It's just messing with the person's brain and attitude, not like killing someone and then splitting the soul.

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Just.

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Not just. I misphrased. I understand what you guys mean now. My bad. Messing with the brain is very much like the Unforgivables, so...I understand now. Don't know what I was thinking before.:rolleyes:

So now is this Dark Magic or just did this happen on its own? She's always confident, level-headed--I'd like to think there was some Dark Magic involved, just a little. War would probably do something negative to your attitude.

What do you think?

Also, Priscilla talks to Voldemort. Voldy's not exactly terrifying when they meet, but still. She saw him kill a fox.

She's not afraid.

Hayden