[HPforGrownups] Re: Young Snape's cutting curse (Was: LID!Snape rides again)

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 150506

--- justcarol67 <justcarol67 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I am still not convinced that the cutting curse in the Pensieve 
> scene was Sectum Sempra for reasons that can be found upthread. But

> if it was SS, it was a very controlled version. If Severus had 
> already invented Sectum Sempra, before Sirius Black tried to kill 
> him, then he could have killed James, or at least hurt him very 
> badly in retaliation for the cruelty of the Scourgify spell, the 
> public humiliation of using his own spell against him, and the 
> unprovoked two-on-one attack. Instead, he merely cut his cheek. 
> That, in a hurt and angry boy who had already created a potentially

> lethal spell, shows remarkable self-control.


FWIW, I don't think the cut Snape gave James was a real spell - just
a blast of energy from his wand.  Had he pointed it at an egg, the
egg might have exploded; hitting a living being, it resulted in a
cut.

I think Snape invented Sectum Sempra after the Prank as a possible
way to save himself should Lupin ever "accidentally" get lose during
a transformation and come after him.  (If he thought the whole thing
was a Marauder set-up, it's quite conceivable that he was quite
prepared for them to try it again.)  It's the equivalent of a
teenager bringing a handgun to school to defend himself; if the
authorities caught him, they'd rant about his homicidal tendencies
and might not realize that to him it's only self-defense.

Magda

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