Book 6, chapter 23: <PERSON> telling <PERSON> "Yes, <PERSON>, you can love." ... "When given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, <PERSON>." ... "You are protected, in short, by your ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against power like <PERSON>'s. ... <PERSON>, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? ..." While not outright information about obscurials, it does shed some light on <PERSON> that we can use to postulate a few theories perhaps. When you compare what we know of <PERSON>'s life to what little glimpses we got to see of <PERSON> sad and abused life, heard about the eight year old imprisoned girl from Sudan and <PERSON>'s account of his sister <PERSON>'s experience, we can see that a pattern of sorts emerges. 573
The individuals who developed these parasitic forces have been mistreated and abused, whether it was a single traumatic event or prolonged exposure and multiple events. We don't know when <PERSON> actually developed into an obscurus. Was the scene in the movie where we first see <PERSON> his first incident? We're there others? Since <PERSON> and his creatures are blamed or the events and deaths we can only assume that it burst out of <PERSON> at such a level around the time of <PERSON>'s arrival. We know from <PERSON> that her adopted son <PERSON>'s mother was "a wicked, unnatural woman". I wonder what <PERSON> did to <PERSON>'s mom that she was able to take <PERSON> away from her and keep him? Is she dead? Murdered in some horrific witch trial by the Second Salamers? Did <PERSON> see or know about it? In addition to the beatings and punishments he suffered at <PERSON> hands, he was also called freak and trash by the Senator, and in general, ignored and likely made fun of by most people.
Another aspect I found fascinating was the similarities between how the dementors being the wizarding equivalent of depression are the obscurials the wizarding equivalent of another mental illness or feelings made manifest? Then we also have examples of <PERSON>'s mother, <PERSON>, and <PERSON> and even <PERSON> to a certain extent, losing their powers from unrequited love. So we can see a precedent that your emotional state is relevant to your power and abilities as well as your knowledge and experience. I see these all as related because they are aspects of the human condition and show a variety of different choices and outcomes. So what do you think? 247