10. The Dementors Symbolise Depression
Warner Bros.J.K. Rowling has been open about her experiences with depression in the past, a result of her divorce and her poverty while writing the early Harry Potter books. In Prisoner of Azkaban, we are introduced to the soul-sucking Dementors: dark, hooded figures that drain victims of good feelings until they feel as though theyd never be happy again. Rowling has since revealed that these Dark creatures, considered the vilest beings in the Potter universe, are symbolic of the debilitating mental illness with which she struggled. To anyone familiar with depression, the parallels are chillingly accurate: Dementors revel in despair and seek to bleed dry all the happiness, hope and joy from those that they feed upon until nothing is left but the worst experiences of your life, sometimes going so far as to suck out the soul of their victim in the Dementor's Kiss. This symbolism, though bleak and eye-opening, is not without its lighter side: as Remus Lupin said, chocolate is always helpful to regain your strength after a brush with the darkness of Dementors.