Bang! You're Dead. (was:Voldemorts animus...)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 86186

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Berit Jakobsen" <belijako at o...>
wrote:
> Kneazy wrote:
> 
> Harry didn't seem to suffer from any moral misgivings when faced with 
> Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, so why should he with Voldemort, the 
> beast that zapped his parents?
> 
> Berit responds:
> 
> Well, Harry seemed to suffer some kind of moral misgivings, didn't 
> he? Why else would he hesitate in killing Sirius? In CoS p. 251 
> (Bloomsbury) we see Harry arguing with himself, trying to justify his 
> urge of killing Sirius. He raised his wand, but Harry remained frozen 
> in that position. The seconds ticked... The truth is he couldn't 
> bring himself to do it. Afterwards Harry is momentarily disappointed 
> with himself for "losing his nerve". But why did he lose his nerve? I 
> think it's because, fortunately, killing doesn't come easily to a 
> normal human being. So yes; Harry hesitating shows he did have moral 
> misgivings...
> 
> And then we also see Harry actively preventing Lupin and Sirius from 
> killing Peter. Reason? He reckoned his dad wouldn't have wanted his 
> best friends to become killers just for Peter... Again emphasizing 
> what makes killing so ugly: It's not about it being so "bad" to kill 
> a baddie, but the problem is more what it does to the person doing 
> the killing. Peter wasn't worth Lupin and Sirius becoming killers... 
> I find that interesting.
> 
> Just a little "sidetracking", but an important one I think :-)
> 
> Berit

Exactly. Imagine the consequences *to Sirius* if he had succeeded in
murdering Peter as he set out to do. Aside from being sent back to
Azkaban (assuming that he escaped the Dementors), what kind of
relationship could he have had with Harry? It was the thought of his
innocence that sustained him for twelve years in Azkaban. What could
he have thought of himself once he got beyond the moment of fierce
satisfaction at having accomplished his revenge? Much better to allow
him at least a little time to heal rather than adding guilt and
remorse to his already heavy burdens. Much better to let him die
heroically in battle with his Amazon cousin (and pass beyond the Veil)
than live with the pollution of murder on his mind and soul.

Carol, who believes that laws exist in the WW as in the RW not only to
prevent endless bloody cycles of revenge and retribution but to
prevent ordinary citizens from indulging in vigilante "justice," which
would result in anarchy for society and moral pollution for the vigilantes