What shows up in Priori Incantatem? (Was Re: FAQs: Lily died before James?)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 103621

Debra wrote:
> Priori Incantatem supposedly shows, in reverse order, the 
> spells the wand performed, not the people the wand killed. Why, 
> then, was there no echo of the intermediate magic VDM performed to 
> get to various stages on his quest for resurrection? Possibly they 
> weren't performed with his own wand, but how do you explain the lack
> of echo of the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses we saw him perform on 
> Harry in the graveyard? And the Cruciatus Curses he had undoubtably 
> performed on Wormtail for disservice, which Harry didn't feel 
> because the connection was not yet strong enough? And then there's 
> that tried and true question of why nothing came out of the wand 
> that represented the failed curse. And then, consequently, what 
> *should* have come out of the wand? Maybe an echo of the lightning 
> bolt scar?

Del replies :
I just replied to that point on another thread, so I'll repeat myself.

PI shows, in reverse order, the *results* of the spells that were
cast. Not the spells themselves, only the results. We don't hear
"Avada Kedavra", we only see the person the curse killed. Similarly,
we hear people screaming when a Cruciatus curse is cast, but we don't
hear anyone actually saying "Crucio".

But there are spells which have no visible and obvious results. What
is the result of an Imperius curse, for example ? How do you *show*
that people are being controlled ? Same question with a Memory Charm.

And I believe it's the same for the failed AK. It produced no result,
hence there's no shadow of it. After all, the scar, the rubble and
Vapormort are all the result of the *rebound* of the curse, not the
result of the curse itself. In and of itself, the failed curse did
*nothing*. That's only when it came in contact with Lily's old magic
that something happened.

Del, who thinks that's why PI isn't used more often : because it's
useless in most cases.