[HPforGrownups] Re: How would Harry have killed Sirius in PoA?

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 49721

bboy_mn:

Harry was angry enought to kill, but he hesitated. Partly for moral
reasons, reason of conscience, but partly because the only spell that
could have done any real damage he didn't learn until the next book. I
think to some extent, he was dazed in his anger. <snip>


> So, I think the ulitmate answer is he didn't use a deadly curse
> because he didn't know any, but in the heat of the moment, it didn't
> consciously come to him that he didn't know any.
> 
> Did that make sense?

Yes. Although, as has been pointed out before, there are potentially lots of 
ways of killing someone magically and a specific 'killing curse' isn't 
necessarily the only way. In fact Catlady has listed - oh I don't know - 
oodles of them in the past.

For instance, Harry had witnessed Quirrell conjure ropes to bind him in 
PS/SS. We don't know if Harry could do that, but if he did, he could, shall 
we say, have bound Sirius rather *tightly*, particularly in the region of the 
throat.

But another thought. We have seen so many examples of Harry's unintentional 
magic at times of emotional intesity, particularly of anger; blowing up Aunt 
Marge inevitably comes to mind. With the rage and heightened emotion he feels 
towards Sirius, I find it mildly surprising that nothing happened at all.

Now before someone points out that all Harry's unintentional magic has been 
wandless, I know that. But of course, in none of those incidents did he have 
a wand available. 

There was a recent thread on the use of wands with no words. That little 
child at the QWC seems to have been too young to know spells or controllably 
to use a wand, yet he managed to engorge a slug by poking it with his 
father's wand. And isn't there an incident somewhere of someone's wand 
letting out a few sparks apparently indicative of the wielder's anger? <
checks> Yes, it's Snape's, as he shouted (looking dranged) at Hermione in the 
Shrieking Shack (PoA, 264, UK PB).

So I do wonder, if it hadn't been for his hesitation, whether Harry *might* 
truly have inflicted some damage on Sirius, even killed him, as a result of 
his sheer rage being focussed through the wand in his hand.

~Eloise

> 
> 



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