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In the Order of the Phoenix, two dementors chased Harry and Dudley and one was about to kiss Dudley before Harry's patronus got him. Both Harry and Dudley were innocent and hadn't done anything wrong.

My question is:

  1. Does Ministry have a record of Dementors? How many are there in the country? Who's placed where? How do they identify one from another?
  2. In a case like above, if any dementor (if they are identifiable from one another) breaks the law and kisses an innocent, what punishment will he be likely to receive?
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  • The way I see it, dementors are little more than gards dogs... While there is some tentative to put animals on trial, it generaly fails, and in most legislation, owner of an animal is the one legaly responsible for his actions.
    – dna
    Jun 12, 2021 at 10:34
  • Dementors are not living being, they are entities that cannot die and cannot born like an animal. So if is difficult to punish a wild animal in real life, how you punish something that cannot die. The only way i can think is don´t feed them , but i thinks than dementors don´t have enough individuality to choose a single dementor
    – wolfpirate
    Jun 12, 2021 at 13:10
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    Perhaps someone can look up enough reference to make this an answer: 1. Yes, MOM can track dementors bit there is no evidence it can distinguish one from another. 2. No consequence. Dementors cannot be destroyed or otherwise controlled except as a matter of stalemate negotiation. All this can be explained following the "unauthorized" attack on Harry and Dudley
    – Dúthomhas
    Jun 12, 2021 at 15:21

1 Answer 1

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During the hearing (in OotP) Fudge mentions that "...there are no dementors that are not in our control...", so yes, maybe they have a count and identification. However, we need to look into some discussions that happened in PoA.

  • Dumbeldore mentions "... it is not in the nature of Dementors to forgive ..."
  • Fudge mentions that Dementors tried to kiss Harry (w/o authorizations) and Sirius. So he had to send the dementors back to Azkaban.

So, if we look into these points:

Does Ministry have a record of Dementors?

Yes (mostly), but after Voldemort come back to life, the ministry loses control over them. Later they were disbanded.

How many are there in the country? Who's placed where? How do they identify one from another?

Again, yes they had. From Harry Potter wikia [1, 2]:

Post 1998 After the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry of Magic became headed by former-Auror and Order of the Phoenix member Kingsley Shacklebolt. Due to their actions during the war (allowing Death Eaters to escape back to Voldemort and joining forces with him themselves), Shacklebolt disbanded the Dementors as guards of the wizard prison. It is unknown where they went or what they did without their only known application. After the Dementors were removed from the prison, Aurors were placed in the prison as guards.

Also, "They cannot be destroyed, though their numbers can be limited if the conditions in which they multiply are reduced, implying that they do die off eventually."

In a case like above, if any dementor (if they are identifiable from one another) breaks the law and kisses an innocent, what punishment will he be likely to receive?

No, I don't think they 'can' be punished like that. Like in PoA when they tried to administer the kiss they were just sent back to Azkaban.

Another thing, in OotP the Demenotrs that attacked Harry and Dudley were sent by Umbridge. So, there was no point in punishment.

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  • "Sent by Umbridge" -- anything to back that up?
    – Dúthomhas
    Jun 17, 2021 at 12:44
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    I guess it is mentioned in both books and movies! (Not sure about the book though), anyway, you can check the wikia-link which says: "According to Dolores Umbridge, many in the Ministry were talking about silencing Harry, but none acted. She decided to take it upon herself to silence and discredit Harry once and for all, thus sending two Dementors after him in August."
    – Mr. Hobo
    Jun 17, 2021 at 14:20
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    Order of the phoenix chapter 32, Umbridge told it hereself: 'What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him,' said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry's body in turn, apparently trying to decide where it would hurt most. 'He never knew I ordered dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same.' 'It was you?' gasped Harry. 'You sent the dementors after me?'
    – Dheeraj Kumar
    Jun 17, 2021 at 16:11
  • Huh, I had forgotten that detail... Well done!
    – Dúthomhas
    Jun 17, 2021 at 23:40
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    @Mr. Hobo I was hoping to find something that Rowling said on the matter. But I guess as there were only 2 breakouts from Azkaban ever (Sirius was first ever and then Bellatrix and gang), there were hardly any chances to push charges against Dementors in the books except the 2 cases (Little Whinging and the lake) where they weren't prosecuted. So yeah that's the answer.
    – Dheeraj Kumar
    Jun 19, 2021 at 8:30

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