Harry using the unforgivable curses (LOTR spoiler)

[Diana]

No: HPFGUIDX 86112

If Harry ends up capable of performing the unforgivable curses, I 
would not be at all surprised.  It seems to me that Harry's journey 
toward adulthood and his simultaneous journey toward fulfilling the 
prophecy and killing Voldemort has been all about learning to do the 
hard stuff, and I don't mean complicated spells and jinxes. 

He's had to stumble his way through performing amazing tasks and 
taken enormous risks with his own life as well as the lives of his 
friends.  He's had to grow up in some ways extremely fast and accept 
danger when it was forced upon him, or even to seek it out when he 
felt there was cause to do so.  He's even been willing to accept 
death several times when he thought all was lost (in CoS just after 
the basilisk poisoned him; in GoF when he was sure Voldemort was 
going to kill him, but he was determined to die standing up and 
still fighting; in OoP when Voldemort possessed him and he was in 
such pain he'd rather die than keep living).

While Harry may have put off his homework many times or drug his 
feet on figuring out the egg clue in GoF, he always steps up the 
plate without hesitation when it's is turn to do so.  Which is why I 
don't think he'll fail to learn the unforgivable curses, even if he 
does't actively practice them.  If he needs the killing curse to 
defeat Voldemort, he will use it against him.  If it's imperative 
that he use Imperio on someone, he will do so, even if he might feel 
guilty about it later.  He will be capable of using the Crucio curse 
as well, but I can't see him using that without extreme provocation 
and complete lack of control on his part.  It may happen as he's 
flown off the handle before, obviously.

Whether or not Harry will use the killing curse to ultimately defeat 
Voldemort...no one knows except JKR and she's not telling.  
Personally, I agree with other posters who've said they can't see 
Harry using the avada kadavra curse to kill Voldemort.   It's been 
mentioned several times in several of the books that Harry's ability 
to love (and love quite strongly) is his greatest strength.  Harry's 
capacity for love is even mentioned in the prophecy as a "power the 
Dark Lord knows not".  Harry's capacity for love MUST play a huge 
part in how Harry defeats Voldemort for good.  And using the killing 
cures on someone, even scum like Voldemort, doesn't strike me as 
being an act full of love.  

(SPOILER ALERT IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW LOTR ENDS!) Avert your eyes if 
you don't want to know! 

For example, look at The Lord of the Rings.  Bilbo and Frodo both 
take pity on Gollum and spare Gollum's life.  They felt compassion, 
empathy and pity for Gollum, but many around them couldn't 
understand why they didn't kill Gollum outright.  At the end, when 
Frodo reaches Mt. Doom and decides to keep the ring for himself 
while Sam watches in horror, Gollum, the very creature Frodo had 
spared because of compassion, saves Frodo from the ring in the end.  
Sure, Frodo loses a finger and Gollum doesn't save him out of the 
goodness of his heart - but the results are undeniably the same.  


Diana L.