Why is an Inferi so feared?

[tombo125]

Originally Posted by thewbacca

You misunderstood me. I meant shooting a shotgun at the shoulder, taking the whole arm off.
If you reduce the thing to pieces, what the hells it gonna do, groan at you?

Whos to say you can even do that? It is held together by magic, remember. The inferi would be much harder to deal with without magic anyway. Most of us cannot just summon fire whenever we want to. And I dont walk around with a shotgun. The only thing I could do is run away from it, and that would not work in a situation like Harry was in. And good luck taking a moment when a inferi is anywhere near you. You may have trouble thinking logically and react instinctivly and run or freak out.

No disrespect is meant by this post.

[High_Lion]

Originally Posted by tombo125

Whos to say you can even do that? It is held together by magic, remember. The inferi would be much harder to deal with without magic anyway. Most of us cannot just summon fire whenever we want to. And I dont walk around with a shotgun. The only thing I could do is run away from it, and that would not work in a situation like Harry was in. And good luck taking a moment when a inferi is anywhere near you. You may have trouble thinking logically and react instinctivly and run or freak out.

No disrespect is meant by this post.

I think a few people are getting Inferi mixed up with zombies.

From the little we see of an Inferi, when DD and Harry are at the cave, we can deduce that:-

They are magically re-animated corpses. Quicker moving than "zombies".

Assume:-

Their capablities would rest upon their master. Voldemort a very powerful wizard can make them do all sorts, as we see in the lake. Jumping out of water, trying to pull Harry in the water, and succeeding in doing so with Regulus.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by ecardina

It's a reanimated corpse with the soul purpose to do you damage. Isn't that scary enough? Maybe it's the ongoing reminder of death or the disgust and revoltion created by the presense of a festering body.

Dead people don't frighten me, so long as they arn't moving. If they get up and start the whole zombie walk I think i'd be running for the hills. Good for Harry, he could stomach a lake full of them. I don't think there is anything quite so frightening as having something from beneath a watery surface trying to drag you down. Ick.

actually,for me, if i met an inferi, its more of the surprise that something like that could exist or happen. so if i were living in the wizarding world and was informed that dark wizards may use inferi, i wouldnt be that freaked out. if i met one in real life, i would be running for the hills, especially since i dont have any way to stop it. if i were a witch who didnt know about them, i would freak out if it were chasing me for the first few minutes, but by the time im out of breath, i might try to stop it. I think its more of the surprise than everything, or if it were someone you loved, that would be horrible too.

[unconvinced]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

the psycological aspect is the thing im not as sure about. I could definitely scare the body of a loved one with fire, or stun them or soemthing, so that isnt as much of a problem, and if i really needed to, i could convince myself that the body is dead, and i shouldnt care, but it would probably be hard. but if it was just a regular dead inferi, i think only the fact that its dead that confuses a wizard on how to hurt it that makes it hard to defeat.

What I mean is that a loved one being killed by a dark wizard is one thing but having their body used as a tool by that wizard is quite another.

Originally Posted by High_Lion

Their capablities would rest upon their master. Voldemort a very powerful wizard can make them do all sorts, as we see in the lake. Jumping out of water, trying to pull Harry in the water, and succeeding in doing so with Regulus.

Yeah I agree, also I think that the dead body would really only act as a channel for the magic so it wouldn't matter how many legs or arms were shot of as the inferus is powered by magic it would keep going until the magic stopped of the entire body was destroyed, hence the fire.

[USNAGator91]

Good points all, but I also think that on a much deeper level people have an indelible fear of their own mortality. They fear death. For the most part, many cultures hang on to the concept of a life after death, so the concept of the Inferi offers a proposition diametrically opposed to that concept. Throw in the factor that one's loved ones could be animated to do evil, in death, it becomes anathema to virtually every concept of death and heightens the fears of death that people have.

[xFluerDelacourx]

They are probaly feared because Voldemort liked to use them to do his bidding. Grindelwald probaly used them too so maybe thats originally what made people afraid. I always though the inferis would be pretty creepy.
I also agree with what USNAGator91 said. Very good point.

[ecardina]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

if i met one in real life, i would be running for the hills, especially since i dont have any way to stop it. if i were a witch who didnt know about them, i would freak out if it were chasing me for the first few minutes, but by the time im out of breath, i might try to stop it. I think its more of the surprise than everything, or if it were someone you loved, that would be horrible too.

Well- if I were a witch and did know of such dark magic- I think i'd still be pretty darn freaked out that I was witnessing one. It would all depend, really, on the Inferi's task whether i'd run off or not. I mean, i'd run off if I didn't need to get past it or help another person because theres no point hanging around near a dead person for no particular reason, esspecially if they are moving.

If it were someone I loved, I wouldn't run off at all. I'd probably not be able to cope with the fact they have been killed, as they seem to be alive. I'd probably get killed by hanging around, trying to question their motives- like in the horror films when a character is stupid enough not to read the signs

Inferi are similar to zombies except they don't want to eat you (or your brains, which is relief enough) and they don't spread disease. So if anyone did come across one, I supose it would be relatively easy to get away from an inferius... but inferi may be a tad more difficult.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by ecardina

Well- if I were a witch and did know of such dark magic- I think i'd still be pretty darn freaked out that I was witnessing one. It would all depend, really, on the Inferi's task whether i'd run off or not. I mean, i'd run off if I didn't need to get past it or help another person because theres no point hanging around near a dead person for no particular reason, esspecially if they are moving.

If it were someone I loved, I wouldn't run off at all. I'd probably not be able to cope with the fact they have been killed, as they seem to be alive. I'd probably get killed by hanging around, trying to question their motives- like in the horror films when a character is stupid enough not to read the signs

Inferi are similar to zombies except they don't want to eat you (or your brains, which is relief enough) and they don't spread disease. So if anyone did come across one, I supose it would be relatively easy to get away from an inferius... but inferi may be a tad more difficult.

that is definitely true. i probably wouldnt even notice one dead person on the streets of say, new york city, but if i were in a situation like harry was in, it would take me several minutes to do calm down and think straight, and by then i would probably be dead.... or at least if i had no idea what was happening and didnt know inferi existed and that they were surrounding me and couldnt do anything.

[LoonyMagic]

The thought of a dead body, being the puppet of a dark wizard just brings shivers down my spine. It's a disgusting thought and it would be even worse in the flesh. It really would scare me

Originally Posted by USNAGator91

Good points all, but I also think that on a much deeper level people have an indelible fear of their own mortality. They fear death. For the most part, many cultures hang on to the concept of a life after death, so the concept of the Inferi offers a proposition diametrically opposed to that concept. Throw in the factor that one's loved ones could be animated to do evil, in death, it becomes anathema to virtually every concept of death and heightens the fears of death that people have.

Some great points made in this post, and I completely agree. If you fear death, one of the most terrifying thoughts would be that of the Inferi Also, with the threat of people you know being turned into dead, gross puppets is a distasteful and horrible idea. It would also be unsettling knowing that this could happen to your own dead body and you would have no control over it.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

wait, i just realized something. In the lake, the inferi were just swirling in the lake, but their flesh wasnt like rotting and stuff. They were just sort of dead and empty. so would you be scared if you had a dead but not rotting man chasing you?

[iluvsnape17]

i would be scared if any kind of dead person was chasing me... unless it was a stupid 'bbbrrrrraaaaiiiiiiinnnnnssssss.....' type zombie

[DARKastheRAIN]

"'These Pictures'---he[Snape] indicated a few of them as he swept past--- 'give a fair representation of what happens to those who..., for instance,... provoke the aggression of the Inferius'---a bloody mass upon the ground." HBP ch. 9

yeah, they sound perfectly harmless to me.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

im talking about how scary they are. if they arent rotting and bloody, at least you could think straight long enough to find some way to run away or beat them.

[Peruvian]

Yeah , but still if you could still run away from them , that doesn't take any of the creepiness from them . The idea of a dead person chasing you is pretty terrifying . What happens if one of the inferi is someone that you know that died ? What would you do ? The idea for me is still pretty creepy

[ecardina]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

wait, i just realized something. In the lake, the inferi were just swirling in the lake, but their flesh wasnt like rotting and stuff. They were just sort of dead and empty. so would you be scared if you had a dead but not rotting man chasing you?

The magic probably kept their body in the form they were when the person died.

Either that or Voldemort pickled them

But being serious, from a dark wizards point of view, why on earth would I want to be situated with a walking piece of rotting flesh. I mean- think of the flies. If you set something like that on a mission it would probably come back with missing limbs or something. It would be pointless, they wouldn't last long at all. I'm sure even Dark Wizards have some bounderies, esspecially if it effects them. The smell would be unbearable. It makes much more sense that the magic helps them keep in the form they were when they died.

[Nandra]

Very rational, true.
But come now, you can hardly expect people to be rational when confronted with a rotting, fermented corpse lumbering towards them, can you?

[Raven_Girly]

I think the fact they are associated with death is one of main things that makes them so disliked. Not many people like the idea of death. I personally would not appreciate a bunch of rotting corpses springing to life and coming after me.

[canismajoris]

Originally Posted by Nandra

Very rational, true.
But come now, you can hardly expect people to be rational when confronted with a rotting, fermented corpse lumbering towards them, can you?

Well we aren't evolved to be rational in situations like that. We have instincts (facilitated by certain hormones like epinephrine/adrenaline) that very authoritatively override our thought processes when we realize we're in danger. We usually hesitate when something isn't right... stand upright, listen attentively, scan the surrounding area, and try to figure out what's going on. If indeed there is a problem, the body becomes primed for muscular response, such as running away at high speed or engaging in combat. This sort of stress response makes it possible for us to instinctively determine the best method of survival without having to waste time reasoning it out ("on the other hand chuck, it could be a guy in a costum--hey, it bit me!"). Some people don't have great instincts, however, and I fear that most would be easy prey for an inferius.

[LoonyMagic]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

im talking about how scary they are. if they arent rotting and bloody, at least you could think straight long enough to find some way to run away or beat them.

Even if they are not rotting, the idea of a corpse doing a dark wizards bidding is a scary thing. I think one factor of their scariness is that a dark wizard is in control of them, which means they could do anything and everything. They can be unpredictable - you can't deduce what they are about to do because they are not alive and their features cannot give them away, and also you cannot perform Leglimency on them. Death seems like the defining factor. Even if it's not rotting, it's still dead and a corpse walking around and moving just isn't right to many peoples way of thinking. That's how I see it anyway

[ecardina]

Originally Posted by Nandra

Very rational, true.
But come now, you can hardly expect people to be rational when confronted with a rotting, fermented corpse lumbering towards them, can you?

If you've killed a number of time and you're a Dark wizard who likes to tamper with the dark arts i'm sure that seeing as you've created the inferius, that dark wizard would be acting quite rational. There's no threat from the inferi unless something goes horribly wrong.

Do the same to anyone else (save Death Eaters on orders) then I think they would probably be quite irrational.