Harry using the Cruciatus Curse (Re: Harry the Auror)

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 89191


About Harry using the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix, lizvega2 said :
 
> I think Bellatrix actually covered this one for us. You have to 
> really MEAN them (Unforgivable Curses) in order for them to work. 
> No book in front of me for an exact quote, but, she says something 
> along the line of, "righteous anger won't last for long" Even Harry 
> noticed that after he cast the spell, she did fall on the ground, 
> but she didn't scream or writhe in pain. He DIDN'T mean to really 
> cause her pain, he was angry.

Del answers :

I don't see why "Harry was angry" and "Harry wanted to cause 
Bellatrix pain" could not co-exist. Harry was indeed angry, and hurt, 
but he also very clearly wanted to hurt Bellatrix. He made a very 
conscious decision to use the Cruciatus Curse even though :
a. he had never used it before, it was not a reflex action (it's also 
the real reason why it didn't work : he didn't know how to make it 
work)
b. he knew it was forbidden
c. he knew what it did : he'd experienced it himself, he'd seen it 
used on other people.

I remember being quite disturbed when I read that scene, because it 
was such a proof that Harry had no control over his emotions. He's 
angry, he's got a knife, he tries to use it, period. I find it quite 
scary that the WW would put so much hope in someone who could so 
easily slip over to the Dark Side. Not to mention that he doesn't 
hold many regrets for attemping to use an Unforgivable Curse. How can 
he defeat LV if he uses the same weapons as he does ?

Lizvega2 :

> He was't trying to kill anyone, he may have said it in the death 
> chamber, before he ran after Bellatrix, but for those of you 
> familiar with the old Jack Lemmon movie, 12 Angry Men, saying that 
> you want to kill someone doesn't mean that you actually want them 
> dead.

Del answers :

I'm not familiar with this movie, but I don't completely agree with 
your conclusion. I would rather say : saying that you want to kill 
someone doesn't NECESSARILY mean that you actually want them dead. 
You might want them dead, or you might not. Only you can know. And as 
far as Harry is concerned, I think it's quite obvious he DOES want 
Bellatrix dead.

Del

ps : does anyone else find the parallel between Harry's anger at the 
MoM and his attempt to hurt Bellatrix, and Anakin's anger after the 
death of his mother and his murderous revenge, disturbing ? We do 
know that this mass murder is the single act that definitely 
precipitated Anakin's fall to the Dark Side after all...