I would like to share with everyone some striking similarities between lethifolds and dementors. After presenting the facts in a side-by-side comparison, please fill free to conjure up your own theories, as this is very interesting! For those of you who do not know what a lethifold is, I suggest you pick up a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Basically, lethifolds are extremely dangerous beasts that look like half-inch thick cloaks. These "living shrouds," as they have been nicknamed, are only found in the tropics.
Now, just to be thorough, I'm going to quickly re-cap on what a dementor is. In Rowling's books, they are soul-sucking creatures that guard the wizarding prison Azkaban. What is interesting is how much a dementor is like a lethifold. We know that a dementor is not necessarily a beast because it was not in "Fantastic Beasts." However, boggarts and hinkypunks were not in the book either, even though we consider them magical creatures. But now on to the similarities:
First off, lethifolds look like black cloaks. Dementors are spooky creatures underneath black cloaks. "As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly with drawn into the folds of its black cloak." (PoA pg. 83 US ed.) Secondly, the lethifold glides along the ground. We all know that, in addition to their rotting hands, dementors glide along earth's surface (and not fly like in the movie!) Third, the only way to defend oneself against a lethifold is using the Patronus Charm. In Prisoner of Azkaban, we discover that there are, in fact, "certain defenses one can use" (188) against dementors. The Patronus Charm is taught to Harry so that he can defend himself against dementors if need be. Lupin comments that the Patronus Charm is a "kind of anti-dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor" (237).
So, a black cloak that glides along and feeds on sleeping humans is starting to sound a lot like these black-cloaked creatures that glide along and suck the souls out of humans. The only real difference is the manner/method of the attack. Dementors administer their fatal "kiss" and leave the soulless body on earth. Lethifolds, on the other hand, leave absolutely no trace at all. Primarily lethifolds attack people who are sleeping by engulfing them and digesting them whole.
Instead of dementor creation being related to the ever-mysterious veil in the Department of Mysteries, I think that there is sufficient evidence pointing to a Lethifold/Dementor connection. Perhaps dementors were once harmless, sleeping beings vacationing in the tropics when suddenly a "living shroud" attacked them. After all, lethifolds leave no evidence of their prey and we know nothing so far as to how dementors are created.
JKR put information about Crookshanks being part Kneazle into "Fantastic Beasts" so we clearly cannot dismiss these books as useless. Lethifolds had a lengthy passage devoted to them, could Rowling be hinting at something? Only time will tell... |
User reviews
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| Kimberley |
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| 2006.02.05 |
You make an interesting point, however there is a mention of how dementors ...
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| Danielle Radcliffe |
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| 2005.12.07 |
u made a good connection with the dementors and the lethifolds. but i enjoy...
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| Mrs. Potter |
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| 2005.12.04 |
You rock, Lauren! I never knew about Lethifolds, or their differences with ...
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| backoffharryhermionesmine |
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| 2005.11.10 |
dementors and leithfolds are very similar, but leithfodls, deavour humans, ...
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| melie |
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| 2005.07.05 |
perhaps dementors are the 'humans' that lethifolds 'eat' and their may be a...
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| whiskeysnitch |
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| 2005.06.30 |
At first I was wondering exactly where the prophecy was in this comparison,...
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| Mary |
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| 2004.12.06 |
The parallel between dementors and lethifolds struck me at once when I read...
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