AK / Waterproofs / Snape'sMSN / SoulSplit / EvilHarry / Petrificus

[exodusts]

No: HPFGUIDX 148461

Exodusts:

Regarding the origin of Avada Kedavra, here is JKR on the matter, 
from her site:

"Does anyone know where avada kedavra came from? It is an ancient 
spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of abracadabra, which 
means 'let the thing be destroyed'. Originally, it was used to cure 
illness and the 'thing' was the illness, but I decided to make it 
the 'thing' as in the person standing in front of me. I take a lot of 
liberties with things like that. I twist them round and make them 
mine."


> Catherine:
> Just a quick thought. As I was re-reading CoS again, I noted
> something interesting. In Ch 11 "The Duelling Club" pg 138 (U.K.
> edition) yet another mention about Hermione's ability to make
> portable water-proof fires. Skipping ahead to HBP, fire is the one 
> thing that stops the Inferi. I'm thinking a water-proof fire will
> end up being quite useful in book 7.

Exodusts:
If you want to view the second task in GoF as foreshadowing also, 
perhaps R.A.B. swopped the lockets, but soon afterward had to toss 
the real Horcrux into the cave lake, when the Inferi came for it. So 
Harry and chums could go Diving with the Dead (possible chapter title 
TM), armed with portable fires, to recover the Locket? Maybe they get 
to meet the remains of Caradoc Dearborn, if he accompanied Regulus in 
to the cave, but never made it out.


> Angie:
> I've been wondering how LV communicates with Snape at HW.

Exodusts:
I don't think he had to. LV doesn't trust or rely on his subordinates 
like the good guys do, so is there any point in touching base a lot? 
Remember what happened to Sauron when he was trying to handle Saruman 
remotely in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings? Snape has to physically go 
to LV in after the graveyard resurrection, when he wants to get back 
in with his old master. He might have later acquired a communication 
device or method, but surely DD's Hogwarts protection magics would 
have made it very difficult to use, and risky. Snape was in deep 
cover, so he probably had orders to make contact only where 
necessary. He might have met an intermediary at Hogsmeade if it was 
essential to pass on information.


> Dung:
> I reckon the bit of Voldy's soul that ended up in Harry, has been
> knitting with Harry's soul in the kind of healing process that
> Anne's theory would predict. Harry's soul has incorporated the Voldy
> fragment. Harry doesn't have to *die* to get rid of the last
> Horcrux, he has to *kill*.

Exodusts:
This is definitely one possibility for the conclusion - Harry casting 
AK and splitting his own soul beneficially, to remove Voldy's bit. 
And as I suggested in an earlier post, the split piece *might* have a 
life of its own, and try to possess someone else, if there was anyone 
suitable nearby, with potentially tragic consequences for the good 
guys.


> Jen D:
> What bothers me, really, is the recognition of his skill that Harry
> seemed to give young Tom Riddle. I don't want to say anything
> stronger because I realize I am in a murky area here. But Harry
> seemed to be giving him grudging respect for his careful cultivation
> of Slughorn, the right amount of hesitancy and flattery, the drawing
> back when necessary. Harry wasn't repelled. That bothers me. I never
> expected this, never looked at the things Harry did before he took
> the Felix Felicis, (the master manipulator)as manipulations. I felt
> the things he did prior to Felix were necessary to survive in an
> often hostile environment without parents. Now I know it's
> absolutely necessary to defeat LV, but there are lines I wouldn't
> want Harry to cross. That's kind of what I am dancing around trying
> to say and doing it fairly ham-fistedly judging by the number of
> times I have said this!! Forgive me.

Exodusts:
I really think this is just absolutely necessary foreshadowing for 
JKR to lay down. Why? Because the good guy is going to win. And in 
this case the good guy is a hormonal teenage orphan. A wizard maybe, 
but still not really a match for LV. So JKR has to build up the 
special, fated connection between the two. Otherwise LV's defeat will 
just seem contrived. Unless we come to understand Harry as absolutely 
understanding LV, having a super-special insight into him (especially 
his feelings) in a "know-your-enemy-as-you-know-yourself" manner, him 
beating Voldemort just won't wash with the rational reader. Harry 
isn't going to the Dark Side.


> Carol:
> "As Harry plunged after them [Snape and Draco], one of the Death
> Eaters detached themselves from the fray and flew at him: It was the
> werewolf, Fenrir. He was on top of Harry before Harry before Harry
> could raise his wand. Harry fell backward with filthy matted hair in
> his face . . . hot greedy breath at his throat--
>
> "*Petrificus Totalus*!" (HBP Am. ed. 598)
>
> The werewolf falls away, petrified and Harry is free. He cannot have
> cast the spell himself as he's unable to raise his wand. The speaker
> is unidentified.

Exodusts:
I understand the appeal of the symmetry of Snape saving Harry from a 
werewolf, but to me it is clear from the text that it is Harry who 
casts the spell. Firstly, JKR writes Harry using PT in exactly the 
same manner (without any "Harry said") only moments before the 
instance you describe, when he casts it on the brutal-faced Death 
Eater. Secondly, the chronology does say Harry sees Snape disappear 
round the corner. Third, when Tonks says she didn't know what Snape 
said, Harry says "He said It's Over", and that is indeed what Harry 
hears Snape say, in text description of Snape's flight before the 
second PT. JKR even calls it the "hated voice" for Harry. Is Harry 
going to mishear *that* voice then? Finally, Snape has been Mr 
Careful, Mr Sneaky, Mr Occlumens Champion of the Potterverse. He's 
even killed to maintain cover. He isn't going to start 
yelling "Petrificus Totalus" to save Harry, even assuming he came 
back round the corner. He could use a non-verbal spell. He could use 
some kind of whole area- affecting spell that would give Harry a 
chance to get away, and himself a chance to bring Fenrir to heel. He 
could blast Fenrir in the rump with a jab of Crucio, then scream: "He 
is for the Dark Lord alone!" Any number of things that he might get 
away with, and would achieve all the same effects (including 
impressing Harry as his saviour, when he comes out as a goodie) 
rather than PT.