OotP: Chapter 35 - SPOILER: DA vs DE

[medeacallous]

No: HPFGUIDX 63909

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "glory" <glorificus21 at b...> 
wrote:
> 
> Chapter 35, 'Beyond The Veil': In discussions with a friend of 
mine about the battle between 'The Order' and DA vs. the Death 
Eaters that begins in this chapter and my friend raised a very 
interesting point. Why is it, that while fighting against DA and co. 
the DE's don't use Unforgiveables? I mean, they've already been 
outed as DE's, they don't really have anything to lose and they're 
trying to fight their way out against some pesky opposition, so why 
didn't they just AK the lot of them and escape?
> 
> Were they specifically told not to kill? Even after the Prophecy 
recording had been destroyed? It seems unlikely, considering the 
lengths DE's have gone to in the past. Or perhaps not all DE's can 
perform AK?
> 
> Apologies if this has already been discussed.
> 
> 
> Glory



I have several theories about this (although it bugged me too - 
seemed a little too much like a plot device).  One reason is that 
the theatre might have been too small (meaning that they were all 
fighting in such close proximity that there would have been too much 
risk involved, if the spell was blocked or missed its mark).  
Another is that, having recently come out of Azkaban, they weren't 
up to it yet.  Or, not all of the DEs there might have been able to 
cast AK.

Or finally, their years of torturing for pleasure might have made 
the notion of causing pain before death so ingrained and instinctual 
that (like cats) they couldn't stop themselves from playing with 
their food, so to speak.  Perhaps they were counting on subduing 
their opponents so they could torture them at their leisure, and the 
fact that they were getting their asses kicked didn't register well-
enough to make them twig to just killing everyone as quickly as 
possible.

MC