Powerfully Magical and other Qualities(was Sectumsempra )

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 156345

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, juli17 at ... wrote:
> > > >Julie
> > > <snip>
> > > And,  most importantly of all, he's FIFTEEN! No fifteen
> > > year old boy is going to  exert such rational thought and
> > > self-control in that situation 
> 
> > Potioncat:
> > But, it seems in other  situations, lack of control have made 
> > spells more extreme--like in charms  when Flitwick is knocked  
> > over, or pillows fly too wildly. <snipped and moved>
> > 
> > When Harry uses Sectumsempra, Draco is cut wide and deep in  
> > several places and blood pours. When Snape used a spell on 
> > James, the boy received a small cut. No one seemed to react and 
> > the cut appeared to be done with by the time the fight was over. 
> > No mention is made of James wiping away blood. It seems as   
> > unsurprising and insignificant as a slight nosebleed in a fight.
> 
> > It really is hard to tell if it was the  same spell or not. But 
> > if it was, it was being controlled. IMO, of  course.
>  
> Julie:
<snip>
>  
> I guess it boils down to these three possibilities:
> 1. The spell Snape used was not Sectumsempra but a lesser spell
> that wasn't capable of causing more than minor damage.
> 2. Snape cast a Sectumsempra, but deliberately controlled it to
> cause less damage, because he didn't want to get in trouble,      
> because he's at heart a humanitarian, or for whatever other reason.
> 3. Snape cast a Sectumsempra but his magic was impaired by the
> Impedimenta spell, thus the resulting spell was very weak. 
>  
> Really, it could be any of the three, but to me #2 seems the least
> likely 
<snip>  

Mike now:

Hey Julie, how about a number 4? Harry is an inately more powerful 
wizard, especially compared to other 16 year olds, therefore Harry's 
S-curse does more damage than Snape's did at the same age or 
younger. We were shown how Harry's 'Protego' was so powerful it 
almost knocked Snape off his feet, even tho it's a defensive curse 
and Snape hadn't yet cast a spell to deflect/rebound. Also, Harry 
*overdoes* his cheering charm on Ron during their Owls. I submit 
that Harry's charms/spells are all going to look like they're 
*overdone* when compared to his peers, simply because Harry is more 
*powerfully magical*. And, of course, who can forget the duel in the 
graveyard. So, no, I don't think Snape was deliberately controlling 
his S-curse, I think that was all he could muster. I'm opting for 
doors number 3 and 4.

Which brings us to Potioncat's repositioned post piece:

> > Potioncat (from above):
> > Or in GoF when DD's spell breaks down a door and sends Crouch!  
> > Moody across the room.

I really don't think this is an example of "lack of control" or 
letting your spell 'run away' from you. Rather, IMO this is the 
first and most stunning example of how powerfully magical Dumbledore 
actually is. His stunning spell blasts through a door!, then 
continues on to hit Moody!Crouch and knocks him out! I didn't get 
the impression any other wizard, even LV, could blast a spell 
*through* a solid object, or in this case, blast the solid object 
out of the way. Heck, even AKs and Crucios done properly still get 
deflected by solid objects, even Voldemorts.

The way I read the books, these two points are connected. I think we 
are meant to understand that there are 3 qualities that determine 
how successful a spell or spell caster is going to be.
1. How powerfully magical the caster is.
2. How tactically sound the caster is. This ranges anywhere from 
what spell to use and when to use it all the way to how sneaky the 
caster is (e.g. Occulumency, non-verbal, and just plain shooting 
them in the back)
3. How much magic does the caster know as well as which spells s/he 
is capable of employing/operating.

Taken in reverse order: I think it's obvious that LV and DD surpass 
everyone else in this quality, and by a far margin. LV has travelled 
far and wide and consorted with the "worst of our kind". In fact, I 
postulate that LV knows more than DD in this capacity. I know 
Minerva thinks that DD is just too *noble* to employ all he actually 
knows, but DD himself admits that LV learned more than any other 
wizard in our age. Someone like Snape is going to score high in this 
quality. Anyone who makes up his own spells has most likely learned 
a lot of the already established spells and how to use them.

Of course our hero is woefully behind here, despite the fact that 
JKR has told us (Melissa/Emerson interview) that Harry has learned 
more than he realizes. One of my pet Peeves (can he be trained?) is 
how poorly Harry is in employing new spells and quite frankly I do 
blame JKR for this. In HBP he still uses 'PT', something Hermione 
showed us she could do in year one. In fact, he seems to have 
learned a bunch of combat spells in GoF and hasn't learned anything 
new since (besides the HBP spells, only one of which is really a 
combat spell and he won't use that one again). He just finished a 
NEWT level course with the best DADA instructor (yes, better than 
Lupin) that Hogwarts has shown us, and Harry (or is that JKR) has 
nothing to show for it.

In this regard, Harry has been rather intellectually sloppy. If it 
weren't for Hermione, Harry would be in dire straights by now. To be 
fair, probably because of Hermione's bookish capacity, Harry is 
learning a lot more than his peers, given the overall poor quality 
of DADA instructors at Hogwarts. But for someone that has known 
since the end of his first year that the most evil wizard in the 
world is after him, Harry doesn't seem to take his situation nearly 
as seriously as he should.

In our second quality, Tactical Ability, LV and Snape both lead the 
league. And I would put Snape in Voldemorts league here. Snape has 
all the abilities to act tactically sound and even seems to try to 
teach Harry in this area, although Harry doesn't seem to realize 
that's what he's doing. I'm sorry to disappoint everyone, but 
Dumbledore is not at the top of this category. Whether out of 
*nobility* or sense of *fair play*, Dumbledore will never fight 
dirty and fighting dirty gives one an edge. Dumbledore would never 
endanger innocent bystanders, in fact, he will lose tactical 
advantage to protect them (Tower scene anyone? What about jinxing 
Bella before she got Sirius instead of letting them continue to 
duel?). 

And after Harry and Snape's encounter on the lawn, does anyone doubt 
that Harry is nowhere near their league? Harry is encumbered with 
his sense of *fair play* (or at least he won't use Dark Magic, 
whatever that is). But Harry can't do Occlumency, doesn't seem to 
know but one non-verbal spell (Really! after a whole year of 
practice), and would never hit em when their down or not looking; 
although I have a feeling he might bend that rule for Voldemort.

So how can Harry compete? Ah, now we're at *Powerfully Magical*. 
Canon has told us that Dumbledore is more powerfully magical than LV 
(the only one he feared), and showed us that he is more powerfully 
magical in the duel at the MoM. DD had him beat, until LV turned to 
*dirty tricks*. Let their be no doubt, had Harry not been there to 
give LV a "tactical advantage", LV would have been caught by DD. As 
it was, LV just barely escaped when DD turned his attention to 
Harry's well being. Even without Harry, LV may have just apparated 
out of there once it became apparent he couldn't win. But Dumbledore 
is definitely more powerfully magical than Voldemort.

So what about Harry. Well, we've only been given hints, but those 
hints seem pretty obvious to me. Harry not only has the *power of 
love* in spades, he is also is powerfully magical.

I have wondered, ever since Sirius told us that Barty Crouch Sr. was 
*powerfully magical*, what the nature of this quality is. One learns 
spells, learns how to employ them and when to employ them. One can 
even learn tactics and the peripheral skills in this area. But it 
seems to me that being *powerfully magical* is something inate. It 
is not something that one can learn, not something one can get 
better at, not a skill at all. It is a quality of being.

I think we will find that Harry has this quality. I think we will 
discover in book 7 that Harry will be shown to be the *most* 
powerfully magical wizard, even more than Dumbledore. This will be 
Harry's lone advantage over Voldemort. A spell cast by a powerfully 
magical wizard has the chance of overcoming the best defence/shield. 
It can make up for lack of good tactical sense with the ability to 
*blast* through one's mistakes. Harry's advantage is more 
significant than his weaknesses, indeed has the ability to make up 
for his shortcomings in the other areas.

My question lies in how *powerfully magical* will manifest itself. 
My money is on something Harry will discover in the *Love Room* of 
the DoM or in that spell DD used on LV in the Duel. My gut tells me 
that Harry will discover what that spell was and when he throws it 
at LV, no shield will block it!

If you've read this far, thanks for your indulgence :-)
Mike