Ok i have always thought this but, Specters from the HdM (golden compass) books are almost invisible and eat the soul of all adults, they cannot be hurt or killed. And Dementors are dark beings that suck the soul out of all beings and cannot be killed aswell. Now in the potter books if a dementor gets you you can still run away or block it with a partonus, but with spectors if thet get you you are gone, the dementors kiss sucks the soul right out of you and you are like a shell and it is almost the same things with specters. But the specters think nothing of children unlike the dementors who will eat anything. Now the question is are they the same? And if they switch stories would they have given the same problems? Did Jkr get the idea from Pullman or thought of it herself?

Spoiler!!!!


At the end the angel says tht they have ways of dealing with the spectres now did we ever find out if you could get rid of Dementors?

its an interesting point and i remember comparing the two while i was reading HDM.
however, i think JKR has said that she got the idea for Dementors after her mother died. dont quote me on that.

Spectres can be killed by the Subtle Knife, can't they? So that's a bit of a difference. But, I do think they are indeed very similiar. They both essentially take the soul of the person they attack leaving the victim "alive" but completely incapacitated. They can only be seen by certain people; Dementors can only be seen by Witches/Wizards, and Spectres can only be seen by a person whose dæmon has settled (an adult). And your right the angel said there was a way of dealing with Spectres, but the only way I know of getting rid of dementors is the Patronus Charm, but I don't think there is a way to "kill" a dementor. I do, however doubt that Jo took the idea of Dementors from The Subtle Knife, even though POA was published two years after The Subtle Knife.

Im sure ive read that the idea for dementors came from the time when Jo was suffering from depression and they’re are sort of an embodiment of that feeling.

Considering the similar subject matter it is expected that some images would seem similar. Don't the Demetors--especially on screen--resemble the spectral creatures hunting the Hobbits in LOTR?

Harry and Frodo are attacked by giant spiders. Harry Potter of the creature feature Troll and Harry Potter of HP both are unaware they are magical boys and fight a giant troll. There was some talk of Jo's main character resembling one of Neil Gaiman's characters. Frankly I think Harry resembles Neil Gaiman: glasses, lots messy black hair, green eyes.

We have the manipulative guy with the white beard, although Dumbledore's control even surpasses Merlin and that's saying something.

Unless an author tries to invent something that doesn't reach into the same references and myths, some images and even story lines will cross over.

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Thanks for your understanding
Marielle
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From post DH interviews, the dementors apparently started dying off when the mood in the wizarding world improved. I think they demonstrate the self-enhancing nature of depression - when they breed they bring more depression, which in turn promotes their further breeding. Something dramatic has to change to stop the cycle.

In contrast, I believe the Spectres didn't breed. Wasn't one created each time the Subtle Knife was used?

The specter's were created each time the Subtle Knife was used to open a door way between worlds. So, no they didn't breed, but they increased as the Knife was used.

Which also explained why Citagaaze was so full of specters. It was the place where the subtle knife was created and it was a sort of crossroads between many worlds, although there were a number of scenes in the book where Will cut a window directly into worlds without going through Citagaaze first so I'm not sure how that really worked.

Since HP is set in Britain I guess its quite appropriate that dementor breeding would involve mist.

While the way Dementors and Spectres leave people after they take their souls is similar, I don't think JK Rowling 'stole' the idea. The Dementors represent Depression and it is happiness and hope that drives them out, Spectres are created by the Subtle Knife and cannot be driven away by feelings.

Creatures similar to Dementors have appeared in many books prior to Harry Potter, as have practically every other creatures in the book.

I agree with Luna_Sparkle...

However...

Dementors and Specters both feed on souls. And ghosts can fight them because they don't have a body to speak of to encase their soulds.

So happy thoughts get rid of dementors, and it's almost like NO thoughts or mundane thoughts get rid of spectors.

Remember when the older brother came out of that towar in citigazze? He tried counting bricks to keep them away. It's almost as though speters crave what Dementors despise.

Are you saying that Ghosts can fight Dementors? or Specters? I agree that they aren't affected by either, but I don't think that they can fight them. Ghosts have no physical form, they're an imprint of a departed soul, they can't have an effect on the physical world, can they?

I don't know if ghosts can have a tangible effect in the "real" world, but belief or disbelief in them can certainly affect the "real" in the physical world. If a person feels "haunted" by a ghost, ie. things they cannot resolve to themselves or to the person who left the imprint, it could serve to diminish their own confidence in themselves, letting the specter or dementor's effects feel more pronounced and powerful. On the other hand, a ghost that is inspiring to your personal confidence and acts as an encouragement can create those happy and positive thoughts that keep the dementors away, and act as a shield for your soul, leaving it intact, strong and shining as a beacon of hope.

Well Lee Scoresby and John Perry lead an army of ghosts against the specters.

I would add that both the Spectres and the Dementors seem to descend from Tolkein's Nazgûl.

Interesting also that Muggles can feel the affects of Dementors, and in a similar way, Will realises that there may be Spectres in his world, though they are invisible. Making the connection to depression explicit...

The Spectres are destroyed at the end of TAS though the Dementors remain (but are controllable) in the Potterverse. I have to admit I hoped that opening the door of the Love Room in the DoM would destroy the Dementors, though maybe that would have been too easy...

I'm getting the idea that Dementors, Spectres and the Nazgul could have been forms of the Celtic Banshees, or bean si.

Since these harbingers of Death were said to be fairy folk, I could definitely see that in the Wizardly treatment of house elves and other "lesser" magical creatures, that the banshee power was harnessed and manipulated by Wizards to keep the most heinous criminals in line. This enslavement might have twisted the nature of these entities, having them harvest the souls and therefore all living happiness, of whomever they "kissed", whether it was their "appointed time", or not. In some of the Banshee stories, it mentions that meeting a banshee could either be a pleasant experience, or a terrifying one - especially if the banshee associated with that particular family had a vengeful score to settle with the soon to be deceased.