Inferius

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An Inferius (plural: Inferi) is a dead body controlled through a Dark wizard's spells in the Harry Potter series of books. An Inferius is not alive, but rather just a corpse that has been bewitched into acting like a puppet for the witch or wizard.

Unlike ghosts, it is apparent that Inferi cannot think for themselves. They are created to perform a specific duty assigned by the Dark wizard who commands them, and as seen in the Inferi guarding Voldemort's Horcrux in a sea-side cave, remain idle until their task can be performed.

There are two main differences between ghosts and Inferi. The first is the aforementioned fact that ghosts have a consciousness. The second, as Harry pointed out, is that ghosts are transparent. Therefore, ghosts have spiritual consciousness but no physical body, whereas Inferi have no spiritual or mental consciousness and are mere physical bodies.

Inferi are resistant to most forms of magic, but are easily hurt by fire. When beaten, they return to their idle state.

Inferi are more or less modified versions of zombies, much closer to the zombies of voodoo folklore than the zombies usually portrayed in films.

The word Inferi is a nickname for Hades, the Greek god of the dead and means "the dead" in Latin.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

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