TBAY: Stunning!Harry

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 39134

The Captain paced the deck of the Big Bang Destroyer, wondering why 
it is that none of the crew is willing to do any actual *work* 
around the place.  Oh, there was lots of lying about in skimpy 
swimsuits, a certain willingness to sip pricey blended drinks, 
plenty of hogging all the cheese on the nachos, but no one was even 
*trying* to Bang.  The Captain was getting *tired* of doing all the 
Banging on the Destroyer.

But then Caroline approached.  Caroline, who earned her keep by 
devising Stoned!Harry and demonstrating her considerable mastery of 
alchemy.  Caroline called urgently to the Captain, something about a 
new theory.  The Captain stalked over to the snack bar to confront 
Caroline and Laura, neither of whom appeared to be cooking anything 
or cleaning anything.

"What's it going to take to get you ladies to pull your weight 
around here, huh?" the Captain snarled.  "I've reached the point 
where I'm reduced to *Humpty Dumptying the Bangs* for cryin' out 
loud, and I've had just about enough!"

Laura gulped audibly, but Caroline stepped forward and addressed the 
Captain directly.  

"It's . . . it's Laura, Captain.  She has been listening to Harry 
Potter again, and she's given me an idea.  I think that Harry might 
have some sort of natural protection against curses.  Listen to this 
bit of CoS:"

>"Harry swung his wand high, but Malfoy had already started on 
>`two': His spell hit Harry so hard, he felt as though he had been 
>hit over the head with a saucepan. He stumbled but everything still 
>seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his 
>wand at Malfoy..."
 
"And think about this," Caroline continued.  "Has anyone ever 
successfully stunned our Harry?  I mean, those DE's in the graveyard 
were kind of pitiful when they tried to do that."

Laura nodded vigorously, her eyes wide.

Caroline went on, her voice rising above the sound of the Big Bang's 
Huge engines.  "You know, along with dormant immortality, Harry may 
have a dormant curse shield that works when he really needs it."

The Captain considered, stroking her chin thoughtfully.  "That's not 
half bad, Caroline.  Not bad at all.  You've got some good canon 
there.  I especially like the way you've moved us away from the Ever 
So Lame 'Harry was saved by his mother's love' bit.  That's twice 
you've done that.  Nice work."  

The Captain seized the nearest margarita and sucked the staw 
vigorously, making a hollow, slurping sound.  "There is one other 
small canon you might wish to add to your SHIP, should you choose to 
launch it.  For some unexplained reason, Harry has trouble with his 
Shield Charm.  That's really odd, isn't it?  Here we are at the end 
of a tremendously long book.  Why is JKR going on about Shield 
Charms at the end of GoF, anyway?  Harry never masters it or tries 
to use it in the tasks or graveyard.  No one has ever used or 
mentioned a Shield Charm before.  So why even introduce the concept?"

Laura and Caroline stared at the Captain, speechless.  Laura 
clutched her own margarita to her breast.

"Could it be," continued the Captain, "that the reason JKR 
introduces the idea of a Shield Charm (and the reason Harry can't 
get it to work) is that Harry already has a shield?  So attempting 
an ordinary Shield Charm won't work because he already *has* a 
shield?  It's *redundant*, don't you know?"

"Redundant?  Redundant magic?" Laura ventured.

"That's right," said the Captain.  "Have we seen anything in canon 
whereby a character accomplishes anything useful by layering a spell 
on top of another spell?  Nothing comes to mind, does it?  So if you 
already have a natural magical shield, and you try to work a Shield 
Charm, you'll fail every time, won't you?"

"Nice Banging, Caroline." The Captain handed the margarita back to 
Caroline, who examined the straw closely but did not sip from 
it.  "Very nice indeed!" 

***********

Cindy (thinking Stunning!Harry is probably rather fetching)

*******************
 
For an explanation of the acronyms and theories in this post, visit
Hypothetic Alley at 
 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin20Files/hypoth
eticalley.htm 
 
and Inish Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database?
method=reportRows&tbl=13