[HPforGrownups] Unforgivables (was: Re: WW Ethics...)

[yellows at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 58746

In a message dated 5/27/2003 1:27:12 AM Eastern Standard Time, Pickle Jimmy 
writes:

> Maybe (and don't you love a post that starts with maybe)
> the Transmogrifian Torture isn't an unforgivable curse because it 
> *is* well known, and *everyone* knows the counter-curse. Hence it 
> would only be useful on a defenceless animal (including muggles).
> 
> Transmogrifian Torture... sounds like what Moody did to Malfoy - 
> Transmogrified him into a ferret and then Tortured him.
> 
> So, Lockhart goes off on one of his rants, and drops the first spell 
> he thinks of that could kill a cat - it could just have easily been 
> Wingardium Leviosa (lift Mrs Norris 40 feet into the air and drop her 
> on her head) - just because a Spell/Charm/Jinx/Curse could be used in 
> some means to cause harm, does it make it automatically unforgivable? 
> 

I can see that Lockhart may have chosen a random curse out of nowhere, trying 
to seem much more informed than he actually is. That's part of his character 
and makes perfect sense to me.

But my understanding of curses and counter curses was that you needed to 
perform the counter curse *as* the curse was being performed -- like in the 
Wizards' Duel -- in order to block it. Am I off here? Because, then, if your 
reactions aren't very swift and if your guess isn't correct, you could easily fail to 
perform a counter curse against *anything,* even something that everyone 
knows. Therefore, if Transmogrifian Torture can kill, it's absolutely conceivable 
that it *would* kill, regardless of the popularity of the counter curse. 

In that case, it seems like it is still very dangerous.

Brief Chronicles


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