On the surface, Azkaban seems like a pretty good idea- mainly due to its effectiveness. It’s on a far-off remote island, it has a fortress designed to keep the most dangerous criminals at bay, there are perpetual storms surrounding the island, AND there’s an army of Dementors working as prison guards.
And that’s just the PHYSICAL side of things. Mentally, the prison is an absolute nightmare. The crashing waves and howling winds serve as a natural barrier, isolating the inmates from the world they once terrorized.
The Dementors, with their shadowy forms, siphon hope and happiness from every soul they encounter. And those who enter Azkaban often leave something behind—pieces of their sanity, their will to fight, and sometimes even their humanity.
And all of this is just about borderline acceptable if we consider that it’s meant to house murderers, dark wizards and those who have committed unspeakable acts against others.
But the major issue here is that Azkaban is one of the ONLY Wizarding Prisons in Britain. And what this means is that perpetrators of more MINOR crimes, and in some cases those who have been wrongly convicted, are unjustly sent in to this hell-hole along with the rest of them.
It hardly seems appropriate that someone convicted for say, theft, would endure what is essentially the same punishment as someone who has murdered.
This raises a whole plethora of questions about wizarding society as a whole, but the one we’re going to start with is: WHY one gigantic horrible prison? Why not a network of smaller, more humane facilities that focus on rehabilitation rather than sheer punishment?
Today we’re going to be diving in to all of that, and more, as we discuss the mess that is the wizarding justice system.
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