CHAPDISC: HBP24, Sectumsempra

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 161283

<SNIP> Useful summary by Carol
> 1.  How in the world could Ron "make it snow"? What might be the
> significance, if any, of this particular piece of accidental magic?

Goddlefrood:

Could come in handy if Ron ever wanted to freeze someone or at least 
make them cold. A useful source of water perhaps, which would tend to 
suggest that this may have been an Aquaspumanti (or whatever) that 
went wrong.

> 4. Harry undergoes a number of temptations in this chapter, among 
them to try out Sectumsempra on McLaggen and to use Felix Felicis 
either to strengthen his chances with Ginny or to help him get into 
the Room of Requirement so he can find out what Draco is up to. What 
do these temptations reveal about Harry and about his ability to deal 
with temptation in general? Might they foreshadow a more serious 
temptation in Book 7?

Goddlefrood:

These certainly show that Harry is rather weak-willed and easily 
succumbs to try out new ideas and spells. This, of course, can be 
both a good and a bad thing in that he is not abashed to experiment 
while at the same time the same could lead to potentially bad 
situations. Look what happened to him after he actually tried 
Sectumsempra for instance.

It is a plausible scenario that Harry will be tempted, as he has been 
many times before, to try spells he is clearly not suited for. Here I 
am thinking of his attempted use of Crucio on more than one occasion. 
Perhaps he will get to the final confrontation and before figuring 
out how to prevail will attempt an Avada Kedavra thus giving 
Voldemort the nosebleed that would distract him from his purpose and 
lead to his downfall (just a thought).

> 6.  Were you shocked that Harry would try out Sectumsempra under 
these circumstances, especially given the label "For Enemies"? Why or 
why not? 

Goddlefrood:

Harry had no idea of the effect of the spell and probably because of 
the rider "for enemies" he used it when he did. He had just had a 
Crucio directed at him after all and was in danger of further attack 
from a boy who had shown himself in the  past to be unaverse to using 
any tricks he can to gain an advantage in a duel (with or without 
prompting).

> 11. Professor McGonagall tells Harry that he could have been 
expelled. Why does Snape tell the staff "precisely what happened" yet 
punish Harry only for being "a liar and a cheat"? Why didn't he so 
much as threaten to expel Harry when he could have done so? Are the 
Saturday detentions primarily intended to punish Harry by tormenting 
him with his father's indiscretions or does this tactic disguise 
Snape's real purpose for keeping Harry in his custody every Saturday 
until the end of term?

Goddlefrood:

Perhps you forgot that Snape would not have a power of expulsion over 
Harry as he did not in CoS after the flying car incident. At that 
time it was either stated or strongly impled that only heads of house 
could expel pupils in their house.

There could also be an element of Snape protecting Harry in this as 
he certainly could have referred the matter to McGonagall and if 
indeed she knew all the facts it is a fair prospect that she would 
have been compelled to expel Harry. For this reason I do not believe 
Snape actually told the staff of the use of the Sectumsempra spell. 
This could also be for the reason that it was a little known spell 
and Snape wanted to keep it that way for potential future use by 
himself.

> 13. Why do you think Snape continues to use his old office in the
dungeon, complete with dead creatures floating in colorful potions,
now that he's the DADA teacher and his classroom is on another floor?

Goddlefrood:

Having actually gone to a school not entirely unlike Hogwarts I can 
tell you that once teachers move departments they rarely moved 
offices and I see little more in this than that. Just shows JKR has 
done her research.