Murder or killing splits the soul. This is reinforced time and time again. But despite this fact,

we see it happen again and again throughout the Harry Potter series, and not just by the bad guys.

It makes sense for death eaters to kill. It's clear where their moral compass lies, and I would presume

that killing and the subsequent impact on their soul is the price they're willing to pay to achieve their cause.

But this topic also raises a much bigger question, because if there are such serious consequences tied to taking a life,

how do the good guys do it? Molly Weasley does it, Dumbledall does it, and even Neville Longbottom does it.

Today we'll be diving into all of that and more as we discussed the implications of murder

in the wizarding world, specifically in the context of The Good Guys.

Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.

Now, it's no surprise that the bad guys kill people in Harry Potter,

and the spell most commonly associated with this act is Avada cadavera,

a spell with really only one singular purpose, killing. And because Avata cadaver has such a strong association with murder, it's often the only spell considered

in this context. But if you think about it for a second, there are many other spells that can

achieve exactly the same thing. Avata cada cadaver is particularly bad in that there is no nuance to the spell.

It's basically all or nothing. And because it's alleged to damage the soul of those on the receiving

end of it. It's for these reasons that it's considered unforgivable. But if your sole purpose,

see what I did there, is just to get rid of someone, there's no reason something like

Bombata Maxima wouldn't do the job,

and in a seemingly much more brutal fashion, I might add. And here's the thing, no matter what

spell you used to do it, murdering someone is going to inadvertently impact you as well, whether it's

Avada cadavera or Akia. Killing, or more specifically murder, inherently renders the soul

unstable. There's evidence of this in the books. The soul is supposed to remain intact and whole.

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