Abracadabra/Avada Kedvarda

[Scheherazade]

No: HPFGUIDX 46782

Ashfaex quotes me...

>>Also, there are many curses that a person cannot block against.
>>Hexes, which have been mentioned in the books, are cast from afar by
>>concentrating on a person, and would be very hard to block unless
you >>were paranoid like Moody. 

...Then replies:

"But these hexes do not kill outright. They might immobilize or
inconvience a person, or even cause extreme pain, but they don't
solely kill in the way that Avada Kedavra does. There's still at least
a _chance_ that you could block it, or that someone else could
interfere, or more importantly that the effects of the curse could be
undone." 

Hm, well, I guess this might go into the morality question, but there 
were a few hexes that are pretty much worse than just killing 
someone.  I remember a folk tale that affected me in particular, that 
was about a girl who was cursed to have every person she loved die.  
Again, it's a morality issue, but, I think the common morals of the 
wizarding comunity would come down harder against planned brutality 
and torture more than a single murder.  We're given a hint to this 
when we're shown how Sirius is feared by the general wizarding 
community.  He did not use Avada Kedavra, but a different spell, yet 
was considered one of the most vile dark wizards of their time.

And thanks for the information on the origins of abracadabra! I knew 
it was used to get rid of illness, but not much else.  

Ashfaex also says:

"As for the relative morality of Avada Kedavra vs. Cruciatus
and the like, that's a matter of opinion, methinks."

Ah, too true.  However, if I was in the wizarding community, I would 
question how horrible they were in relation to one another, so I 
can't imagine that noone would in the Potterverse.

-Scheherazade