Hate to open an old wound, but...[night of J&L Potters' death]

[vderark at bccs.org]

No: HPFGUIDX 26213

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., mellienel2 at y... wrote:

> We don't know this for sure. A spell isn't really cast if it 
doesn't 
> work 

Yes it is. It's cast. The only way it wouldn't be cast is if it never 
left the wand in the first place. Your theory that it doesn't appear 
because it wasn't cast doesn't really work. But considering how 
important intention is to spell casting, it is possible that it 
doesn't appear because it didn't work as intended. It was 
unquestionably cast, however.

-- witness all the blind sparks that go flying when it misses 
> its target. Whatever hit harry did cut his skin (had to be a spell, 
> because of the suggestion of power behind JKR's choosing a 
Lightning 
> Bolt scar), but then rebounded, destroying Voldy.

Again, clear indication that the spell was indeed cast. We don't know 
that the scar was the direct result of an Avada Kedavra spell, 
however. There is some hint that the scar is something more, some 
form of connection with Voldemort, not just the result of an errant 
bolt of energy. When you add to that the fact that the house was 
destroyed, an effect which doesn't seem to be in keeping with the 
action of the Killing Curse, it is likely that there was more going 
on there than we know about yet.

I think the most likely explanation is that JKR messed up. She made 
other mistakes in that passage too, so it's very possible that she 
simply forgot to include all the spells that she should have.

Funny, though, now that I'm thinking about scars...I wonder if 
there's anything to Dumbledore's statement about scars being useful 
and that he has one on his knee that is a map of the London 
Underground. Strange statement, that...

Steve Vander Ark
The Cynic