Harry's ability to cast the AK

[johnbowman19]

No: HPFGUIDX 148513

Hello All
The topic of Harry being able to cast an Avada Kedavra has come up, 
I am sure it has come up before and I am sorry for discussing it 
till death (but that is all we can do until JK comes in with our 
answers); but I would argue that Harry could not cast the Avada 
Kedavra curse. The reason is simple: whenever one casts the Avada 
Kedavra curse one is intending murder, not merely killing or 
revenge. 
The reason why Avada Kedavra is murder is also simple; in order to 
cast the spell one must clearly intend the death of another person. 
The distinction between murder and killing, I opine, is that when 
one kills another person, death is not the intent of the action. 
Killing a person is a byproduct of attempting to defend oneself or 
another person and the death of another person is not immediate 
intent of said action. 
Therefore Harry could not cast the Avada Kedavra because he would 
only kill Voldemort in self defense or in the defense of a third 
party. He would never intent the death of another person. 
So then the question is whether or not Harry will murder Voldemort. 
Could a main character whose greatest power is love commit murder? 
No, because in order to murder, one must hate, and if one hates I 
would aver one cannot love. Also murder would rip Harry's soul apart 
leaving us with a hero whose soul is ripped in two. 
I have no cannon evidence for this, except that Harry spared 
Pettigrew, and this points to Harry's inability to allow murder to 
happen. If Harry cannot allow murder to happen he cannot commit 
murder himself. 
Also I think Dumbledore misinterpreted the prophecy as a red 
herring. "Neither can live while the other survives" doesn't not 
mean that the person to kill Voldemort must be Harry or the person 
to kill Harry must be Voldemort. The prophecy does not ascribe the 
death of either individual to the other individual. Instead it says 
that neither can live while the other lives. 
I know the prophecy says Harry is born with "the power to vanquish 
the Dark lord" but the prophecy is vague as to whether Voldemort has 
the power to "vanquish" Harry, or if either will kill the other 
specifically. Just because Harry has the power to "vanquish" does 
not mean he will be the person to kill the 7th part of Voldemort's 
soul. He could be responsible for the destruction of 5 of the 7 
parts of Voldemort's soul and thus be the majority shareholder in 
the "vanquishing" of the Dark Lord. The prophecy does not 
specifically state either has to, or can kill the other.  
 
John who is just trying to offer some food for thought.