Dueling and Honorariums...

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 157529

"Bored_in_Texas" wrote:
> Why would the Death Eaters bother with anything less than a killing 
> curse?  Unless they feared that a load of missed AKs would bring down 
> the building (like the Potter's house), why wouldn't they?  Are they 
> like homing missiles or like bullets which travel in a straight 
> trajectory?  When Moody said that Harry was the only person to 
survive 
> an AK, is he saying that Harry was the only one to survive the touch 
> of the green light of the curse, in that they never miss?  

zgirnius:
They are like bullets, I think. In Ch. 29, HBP, Lupin says:

"But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for 
Dumbledore. because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight 
and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."

(Gibbon was a Death Eater involved in the raid on Hogwarts).

This statement suggests it is possible for the Curse to miss the 
intended target. (Even if the miss was deliberate for some reason, the 
fact that an expert in DADA can offer this explanation suggests to me 
that it is well-known to be possible).

And this explains why lesser curses would be used-to avoid killing 
one's allies in a fight.