Or, more broadly, can the unforgivable curses be used on any (semi?)sentient magical object?

Can the Imperius Curse be used on the Sorting Hat? What about Tom Riddle's diary?

Would an AK "kill" or otherwise completely destroy the Sorting Hat?

Finally, not sure if it was mentioned in the books but let's say it was possible to Imperius the Sorting Hat or Riddle's diary, could the memory of the curse be removed from the hat/diary via a fine-tuned Obliviate?

Many Death Eaters stayed out of Azkaban because they said they were under the Imperius curse, considering that Crouch was almost vigilante in putting them away (and Sirius didn't even get a trial) is there an easy way to check if someone indeed was put under the Imperius? Particularly if memory charms were used to keep them from remembering. Lucius Malfoy could have had someone Obliviate an insignificant moment from his life and cite it as evidence of being put under the Imperius.

I'm working out some plot points and trying to figure out how believable it would be for the Sorting Hat to have been under the Imperius and then Obliviated of the memory.

As well as if someone could Crucio Tom Riddle's diary and get satisfaction that the sentient part was in some form of pain.

I imagine that things could go awry with using spells meant for humans on sentient objects but they could also work very well, maybe two well since there's less of a mind to actually fight or resist.

 

Goblet of Fire could be confounded, so I think using the Imperius on the Sorting Hat is plausible.

I'm not sure what the Killing Curse would do. I don't think it would work as normal, because the Sorting Hat isn't alive in the first place, so can't be killed as such. However, the Killing Curse does seem to react somewhat unpredictably with inanimate objects - sometimes doing nothing, sometimes making them explode - so maybe it'd be destroyed anyway.

And I'm not sure if the Hat can feel pain, so not sure if the Cruciatus would do anything.

 

Well, the Killing Curse I'd say probably yes, broadly speaking. One of the few constants in HP-magic is that the Killing Curse can't be blocked, at least not by any actual spelll, so presumably yes - although that potentially raises fridge logic over why no-one at least tried to use a Killing Curse on, say, the locket.

The Imperius Curse...sentient objects in general, maybe. Horcruxes or the Sorting Hat? Probably not. Resisting the Imperius is a matter of willpower, and I imagine even a shade of Tom Riddle would have the mental fortitude to fight it off, and the Sorting Hat is the product of four of the greatest wizards ever, so I'd be surprised if it wasn't resistant. Memory Charms are even less likely. You could, perhaps, Obliviate the memories Diary!Riddle had, but it wouldn't remove him from the diary, so you'd still have a malevolent spirit in there, it would just be a spirit without any particular goal (unless you go with a blank slate idea, I guess). You could probably remove the memory of being under a curse though - although again, I'd expect something like the Sorting Hat to be resistant. NINJAEDIT: Taure does raise an excellent point regarding the Goblet and Confunding. Really, this one could go either way, depending on how well you write it.

Cruciatus I'd say probably not, working on the assumption that it requires a nervous system to cause pain. I suppose it could be used on something like Diary!Riddle after he'd sucked Ginny dry, but the diary itself wouldn't be affected at all, I imagine.

 

I think the imperious curse would only work on things with a physical brain, otherwise you're just using magic to try and manipulate magic, and the cruciatus would only work on things with a nervous system. The killing curse would only kill a horcrux inside a living being, though I suppose it's effects on random objects are fairly speculative.

You can probably just use a confundus on the sorting hat.

 

Was the Goblet even confounded? All you had to do was put a name and a school, implying Crouch put in a fourth school.

 

It was Confunded into accepting the existence of a fourth school.

 

Well that means that a Confundus could be fine tuned a bit, maybe to make the Sorting Hat forget about one of the houses and therefore be unable to sort students into it. That actually works better than trying to Imperius an object created by the founders as stated by Shinysavage.

Someone should do a 100 Spells Not To Try on the Sorting Hat and\or Riddle's Diary

 

Though in that case you might have to provide a criteria to sort into that house, unless the confused object created them on its own. Though it would be more likely that it would start sorting students based on random criteria like if their names rhyme with something or sorting them into a third house if the decision is tied between two of them

 

One word. Magic.

 

And would Hogwarts create a common room\etc. for the fifth house? It seems like magic is tied in with the hat so that students stuff is in the proper dorms so it stands to reason that the hat could influence the castle or connect with the castle magic to provide space for the additional house.

Why doesn't Merlin have his own damn house? What does a wizard have to do to get some respect in magical freaking Britain?

As for Sparklypuff, I see that you are a girl so I won't say anything about that but get away from the damn glitter, CheddarTrek.

 

... the hell is this, grade school?

---------

Was the Goblet of Fire actually confounded (yes, I know they said it was, but what was really meant), or was it that the magic which is inherent to it was manipulated? If so, then spells that affect logic/rationale/emotion/will won't work on an object that isn't animate without magic, only those spells that affect magic itself would work.

So: Killing Curse? Maybe, if it shuts down every element of the body, including any kind of magic intrinsic to the body. Cruciatus? No (at least as I understand it, that it only affects the physical body and not magic). Imperio? No, there's no actual intelligence/will to overtake outside of the outworking of a specific gathering of magic.

 

Damn Cheddar! Give a guy a warning before a link like that, I'm still twitching from the color explosion.

(Of course, that may be my fault for not knowing who/what the hell Lisa Frank [folders?] is/are.)

 

It's better for your man cred that you didn't.

 

I'm going to say no, as it is a hat, but if you get creative with ways to manipulate magical objects you can get around that easily. It wasn't stated in canon directly but I thought it was pretty well implied (common knowledge in the WW?) that Unforgiveables work on living things only.

As for Horcruxes, they are not "living" things, I don't think. I've always assumed that's why Dumbledore didn't simply start throwing Killing Curses around the Gaunt shack (though he may have tried it once and had to dive out of the way when it reflected back in his face, who knows). Killing Curses may randomly destroy/explode objects, but they can probably bounce around a little bit off some inanimate objects.

Maybe stray curses are "drawn" toward the nearest living thing in the room? So you can still misaim, but if you're slightly off there is a bit of homing toward the nearest person/animal. This could be supported by mentioning a curse "bouncing" into Ariana or Hedwig getting fried despite being a really small target. So not only would intentionally using AK as an overpowered blast curse be difficult or impossible anyway (who can really summon the hate and intent needed for AK to blow up a wall anyway, you need intent, that part's canon) but even throwing AK around in a crowded room would be dangerous since the probability of hitting an ally is incredibly high.

(I hope I articulated that properly? I'm about 2/3 drunk off my ass.)

If someone really competent is the one trying to fuck with the hat, you could just have them create a replica and charm it himself. That could be fun to read.

 

I'm going to take the easy option. If it fits the plot, they can work. If it doesn't, have something else happen.

 

That's an excellent idea that I'm going to borrow.

For anyone else interested, here is what the Wiki (http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Killing_Curse)
says about AK on a non-living object:

" However, when this curse hits an inanimate target the effect varies: it can produce small fires,[5] small greenish explosions,[6] or explosions of such intensity that can blow up an entire story of a cottage.[7]

...

However, certain objects, such as the centaur statue of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, managed to block the curse without any visible damage to itself.[8]It should be noted that curse did not terminate the animation of (i.e. "kill") the statue, however, the statue was only animated by magic and so presumably had no real life in him for the curse to take away.

...

If another target is placed between the caster and the targeted individual, then the new target will take the hit of the Killing Curse, which may simply result in an object being destroyed or damaged. One can also avoid the effects simply by dodging or if the caster has poor aim, as with many attacking curses of this type, the spell must be directly targeted at the intended victim."

It makes me rethink a few stories I've read where Harry and co. just AK the horcruxes and why in canon Dumbledore didn't.



CheddarTrek, the idea of slides taking place of stairs and Hogwarts castle becoming like a giant playground - someone needs to write that crack story. Think of all the snogging that can go on when a slide gets clogged