Powerfully Magical and other Qualities(was Sectumsempra )

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 156350

Mike:
> 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.

zgirnius:
HI Mike, nice post, overall, I like your division of the three 
factors that determine a wizard's success....but I have to take issue 
here. First, Harry IS willing to do Dark Magic, he tries both Crucio 
and Sectumsempra in the scene in question, and gets blocked. As far 
as 'fighting dirty', he tries to Stun Snape from behind (a tactic I 
applaud enthusiastically in any real fight, by the way, I am just 
adopting your terminology), and misses. (He probably just needed to 
wait to get a bit closer...but then Book 7 would be much less 
intyresting!) Snape is not winning here because he is fighting dirty 
and Harry is fighting clean. On the contrary, he is winning despite 
the *opposite* being true. With one exception, (the very last spell) 
every spell Snape casts against Harry is a defensive one.

Mike:
> 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.

zgirnius:
I thought the end of PoA was a pretty big hint of this, actually. I 
think, though, that there might be a fourth factor in play. Maybe 
Harry is not innately superior to Voldemort and Dumbledore in his raw 
magical power, or even at hteir level...but is able to function as if 
he were when his positive emotions are strongly engaged. In PoA, he 
was motivated to save Sirius, and was therefore able to cast a 
Patronus of amazing power. This would also explain why Snape had zero 
trouble with him at the end of HBP. A desire for revenge is not the 
most positive of emotions, so he had no chance to blast through 
Snape's various defensive spells.