"You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no … anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just — exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever … lost.”
--Remus Lupin (PA12)
The Dementor’s Kiss is the instance of a Dementor removing a person’s soul from their body. It was formerly used at Azkaban to punish the very worst wizarding criminals. The Dementor puts back its hood and clamps its jaws on the mouth of the victim and sucks out his soul, leaving him an empty shell, alive but completely, irretrievably “gone.” (PA12, PA20).
- Harry and Sirius were almost kissed by Dementors, but were saved by Harry's patronus (PA20, PA21).
- The Dementor's Kiss was administered to Barty Crouch Jr. (GF36).
- As a child Petunia overheard Snape telling Lily about the Dementor's Kiss (OP2, DH33).
- Some Death Eaters wanted to let Dementors "kiss" Harry to weaken him for the Dark Lord, but Harry fought them off with his Patronus (DH28).
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Tags: dangerous punishment scary soul