Harry, Draco and bathroom

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162451

Alla wrote:
> > If the gun is directed at me and I am somehow able to do something
to prevent the shot, my first thought would be that I am protecting
myself from being killed, not from some sort of easier wound.
> 
Random832 responded:
> Yeah but I'd find it suspect if you argued that someone could have
> beaten you to death if they'd kept at it if you used deadly force
> against an unarmed attacker. To render someone insane requires that
> they be held under the Cruciatus for a prolonged period. It's not a
> matter of chance or aim.

Carol adds:
Also, Harry knows quite well that a Cruciatus curse doesn't kill; it
can cause excruciating torture if cast by an expert, but the victim
generally recovers. He has felt it himself. He knows exactly what he's
protecting himself from. He also knows, but probably doesn't make the
connection at that moment, that the curse doesn't work well unless the
person casting it enjoys causing pain. No doubt he forgets his own
experience and attributes more sadism to Draco than he really
possesses. (Anger and a desire to inflict pain in retaliation for
injury or insult apparently are not sufficient motivators for the
caster.) So Harry isn't protecting himself from death or insanity.
He's protecting himself from pain, possibly more pain than Draco is
actually capable of causing, but Harry doesn't realize that. 

The weapon in Draco's hand is more like a whip than a gun. A person
being whipped would certainly be justified in removing the whip from
his attacker''s hand but not for using it against him or shooting him
with a gun in retribution. To his credit, Harry doesn't cast his own
Crucio, but he does cast a spell he must know will cause pain
considering that it was labeled "for enemies"--a move which, though
understandable, is neither wise nor commendable. His motive, if he can
be said to have one under such circumstances, appears to be as much
retribution ("How dare you cast a Crucio! I can cause pain, too!") as
self-defense against torture. If his motive were purely self-defense,
he could have used Expelliarmus, Stupefy, or Petrificus Totalus, any
one of which would have disarmed or disabled Draco and protected him
from the Crucio without causing pain or serious harm to Draco. Harry
has mastered all of those spells. They served him well against Death
Eaters in the DoM. They would work even better against a single
opponent of his own age. (I would suggest Protego, deflecting the
curse onto the caster, but I don't think it would work on an
Unforgiveable. If it did, though, it would teach Draco what a Crucio
feels like as an unknown curse clearly intended as retribution for
injuries would not. Yes, that would hurt, unlike the other defensive
curses I suggested, but it would teach Draco a lesson. Then again,
Harry hasn't learned that lesson, has he? So I'm back to my other
suggestions--disarm your opponent or render him incapable of casting
an Unforgiveable or anything else.)

Carol, who thinks that Harry should have remembered what DADA is and
used a spell intended as Defense against the Dark Arts rather than a
spell labeled "For Enemies," which is clearly intended to inflict pain
rather than protect against it