dark arts at work
fear is a social construct.
Harry Potter is my absolute favorite. the books are magical. the movies bring the fantasy to life. the world of Hogwarts is enormous and never-ending. all in all, there’s nothing about it I don’t adore.
don’t believe me? take this as proof. 😎👇
see that? that castle is PERMANENT baby. so I reserve the right to say my obsession comes with a deep knowledge and understanding of the story that I love to share. yet, no matter how many hundreds of times I’ve watched each and every movie, or that this series features on my yearly re-read list during the holiday times. i still learn something new each time. it’s absolutely astonishing! i don’t know how JK did it.
aaanyways.
i was watching arguably my favorite, the third one, Prisoner of Azkaban—i’ll throw hands if you don’t think Sirius is the best character—and it was the scene about the boggart.
maybe you haven’t seen or read the series (i highly suggest giving it a try, but i understand it’s not for all) so for a little background.
a boggart is basically that supernatural creature from English folklore that decided personal boundaries were optional. think of them as the original shapeshifters with serious commitment issues—they literally become whatever scares you most. how's that for toxic behavior?
in the wizarding world, these delightful little nightmares are non-beings that live in dark, confined spaces. wardrobes, cupboards, that scary closet you refuse to clean, basically anywhere that gives off definitely haunted vibes.
boggarts aren't technically alive or dead. they are sustained entirely by human emotions—specifically fear. they feed off your terror like some sort of emotional vampire, which honestly? relatable content.
the good news? they can be defeated with the Riddikulus charm, which essentially forces you to turn your biggest fear into something ridiculous. imagine your worst nightmare wearing a tutu, suddenly not so scary, right?
you’re probably like, “okay. what’s the point?”
i’m getting there! patience.
while JK expanded on what a traditional folk story would say a boggart is, it’s an extremely profound idea she had. they turn into what humans fear most. read that again.
that got me thinking. what do I fear most?
i was watching Neville and Ron have their turns and my brain was checking things off. spiders no. snakes are just misunderstood not scary. and i love the moon being a vampire and all. i’d much rather it pop out than that bitch the sun. always makes me fucking sweat, I hate it.
when the scene ended, I couldn’t come up with an answer. i actually thought how nice it’d be for a boggart to show up and scare me, so I’d know for future what i fear most.
now, i’m sitting here threatening to expose myself to the masses because I feel like I need that fear. i feel like the thing i’ve been missing is that fear of the unknown.
it’s like i’m chasing after this fear with out any fear about finding out my fear because i don’t know what that fear is or how scared to actually feel about the fear itself.
ya know what i mean?
fear itself it just a social construct anyway. a way for those in charge to control the masses below them. the fear of instability. the fear of death. the fear of fucking missing out. there is a fear factor built into everything we do in life. you think that show was just for kicks?
that show was a way for those in charge to drip feed us what was happening in reality. it’s called propaganda darlings and it’s been happening for as long as those in power have been set on keeping it. they were getting us used to understanding that fear is something to think about before making any decision. you can fight it if you’re strong enough, of course. but you have to deal with the consequences. that thought alone makes more people stop and start on a different path than a goddamn “beware sign” ever could.
if you cannot yet tell, i have a problem with authority. always have. always will. i just don’t believe in someone who is equal to me, being human beings and all, telling me what i can and cannot do with my life. hot take i know but guess what? it’s my truth.
so we might have fallen down a rabbit hole but it happens to the best of us with too many thoughts running around our minds at once so back to the point. how do i do this? is there something i’m missing? why don’t i know what i fear most and how do i figure that out without some crazy fear driven obstacle course?
big drama sigh i’ll be asking myself this daily until i figure it out. hopefully, bringing awareness to my lack of information will help me find this fears hiding place inside my mind.
am i the only one that thinks this way? what do you fear most and how the hell did you defeat it?
much love,
🫶 CA