Reading, Writing, Rowling

The journey to the past continues as we delve deeper into the magic of memory in Harry Potter. In the second part of our conversation with Louise Freeman, we continue discussing the ethics of Memory Charms and move on to the memories stored in wizarding portraits and Horcruxes. Magical portraits can carry some of the memories of their subjects, allowing viewers to converse with them after their deaths. New developments in artificial intelligence purport to offer something similar. How healthy is it to dwell on memories, for wizards or Muggles? Portraits, the Mirror of Erised, and the Resurrection Stone all offer glimpses of lost loved lones, which can be helpful to a certain extent but come with warnings about becoming too attached. While portraits can be a safe and healthy expression of the transhumanist impulse to live on through an object, the creation of Horcruxes is a dark, dangerous, evil expression of that desire. The Tom Riddle who emerges from the diary refers to himself as a memory, indicating a c