Nasty fantasies of Harry's

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 17538

No, D/H shippers, this isn't for you. ;-)

Inyron wrote:

> > Harry, in a very bad place right then, 
> > fantasized (more forgivably) beating Snape with his cauldron, and 
> > thought "If only he 
> > knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse
he'd have Snape on his back 
like
> > that spider, jerking and twitching
"   That bothered me.  
> 
> 
> I agree.  That was interesting because it showed the depth of his
> feeling.  Of course, he was still estranged from Ron at that point;
> normally they would have shared their feelings and perhaps diluted
> them in the process but keeping them bottled up inside is obviously
> not good for Harry.
> 

Yes--this burst of bad feeling comes in the middle of "some of Harry's 
worst [few days] at Hogwarts" (GF 18).  Almost everyone is giving him 
the silent treatment, he's just been treated to his first sight of 
"Potter Stinks" buttons, he and Ron aren't speaking, he just (two 
seconds before) had a glimmer of hope that they would make up that was 
then quashed, and Snape has just had perhaps his nastiest moment ever 
(putting down Hermione).  In the circumstances, I found Harry's 
sadistic fantasy disturbing, but understandable.  Like Doreen, I think 
one can fantasize about hurting someone in a way that one would never 
do if actually given the opportunity.

Magda wrote:

> I did wonder if this is a foreshadowing of a choice Harry will make
> in the future.  We discuss quite often whether this or that 
character
> will join Lord V. but not much time is given to reasons they would. 
> If Lord V. offers them something they could get nowhere else, then
> the attraction might be irrisistable.  If Lord V. offered Harry the
> chance to torture Snape - with impunity and approval - how would he
> react?

I don't think he would do it for love or money.  To me this fantasy 
was like another disturbing scene, his wave of hatred for Sirius Black 
in PA 11.  We never know whether Harry really has a desire to kill SB, 
but I think he probably does; yet when faced with the opportunity, he 
can't (won't) do it.  He attacks him, but that's in a burst of anger; 
I can't see him ever torturing or killing someone, including Snape, in 
cold blood.  Except perhaps Voldemort . . . 

We do know that Harry is tormented by the thought that his mercy for 
Pettigrew made it possible for him to return to V, a thought that is 
probably even more persistent after Wormtail's performance in GF.  
That might make Harry act differently in the future.  (Though I still 
think Wormtail will be swayed at some crucial moment by, if not 
gratitude, then shame for Harry's having rescued him.)

Amy Z

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 The full list of these fouls, however, has never
 been made available to the wizarding public.  It
 is the Department's view that witches and wizards
 who see the list 'might get ideas'.
                      -Quidditch Through the Ages
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