Bathroom scene again WAS: Re:Weasley Family Dynamics/To t...

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 165047

Sherrie:
> > Still - even if he were off-balance, as you state, Harry had 
other  options, short of that figurative shank. "Stupefy" should have 
come  more easily to his lips than a spell he'd only just read - and 
it's  easier to say quickly.

Amiable Dorsai:
> I must say that I'm truly impressed by the number of people on this 
thread, who, when a split second decision has been thrust upon them, 
have, apparently, never said the wrong thing, never zigged when they 
should have zagged, never hit the brakes when they should have turned 
the wheel and who have always, even when a choice needed to be made 
in the time between "cru" and "io", weighed their options, consulted 
a lawyer, prayed for guidance, and made a cost-benefit analysis 
before acting.

I congratulate you.

Ceridwen:
Thank you, AD!  As I used to tell my kids, I'm perfect.  ;)  That 
didn't last long, even with innocent toddlers.  But it was nice those 
few cumulative weeks it lasted!

I agree with Alla that Harry used Sectum Sempra because it had been 
on his mind and was marked 'for enemies'.  I also see merit in what 
Sherrie is saying, that Harry has taught defense himself and several 
other spells for use under duress should have presented themselves.  
He did use quite a few, if I recall correctly, and so did Draco, 
which was why the bathroom was in such a mess.  The two boys seemed 
evenly matched.

I also don't think that, because Draco was doing a task for LV, he 
would have been able to throw a properly working Cruciatus curse.  He 
may have been, but he may not have been.  If the tables had been 
turned and he did manage some pain for Harry, I think it might have 
appalled him, given where the story eventually went.

As it is, Harry was the one to pull off a nasty curse, waving his 
wand violently and slashing Draco horribly.  And, Harry was 
appalled.  He didn't mean for something like that to happen.

Someone (wynnleaf?) said that if Harry thought the curse was this 
bad, then he shouldn't have wanted to use it on McLaggen.  If he 
didn't think it was this bad, then he should probably have reached 
for a different spell.  I can see the logic in that.  But I think 
something else happened in the bathroom that made Harry change his 
mind about what 'for enemies' really meant.  Until then, the spells 
had been prank hexes.  'For enemies' didn't make much sense since 
Harry didn't know who the prince was.  Enemies could mean other guys 
who are trying to steal your girlfriend or who would short-sheet your 
bed.  I think that, when Harry and Draco were duelling, he twigged 
onto what the prince probably meant.

Which doesn't mean that he suddenly realized he had a nasty curse at 
his disposal, but that the curse wouldn't be a joke curse like 
curling toenails or sticky tongues.  There had been nothing so far to 
foreshadow such a serious curse written in the book.  For all Harry 
knew, the curse could have knocked Draco into a wall, or broken 
Draco's wand.  I do think Harry reassessed what 'for enemies' meant 
in the prince's context.

So, I think Harry was between his zig and his zag, not meaning to use 
something so dark, but wanting to use a more serious (as in not a 
gag) spell 'for enemies'.  Harry's big mistake was in waving his wand 
wildly, slashing Draco repeatedly.  He didn't know.  Who was it that 
asked about classical languages at Hogwarts?  So far, we haven't seen 
any such classes that Harry's had to sit through, nor have we seen 
him doing homework for a Latin class.  Since it seems that they don't 
teach Latin (why wouldn't they, when many of the spells use Latin?), 
then Harry, not being Hermione, wouldn't know what Sectum Sempra 
meant.

Harry wasn't punished for using the spell.  The spell he used gave 
Snape the information he needed to know where Harry was getting his 
Potions genius.  He was punished for lying to  a teacher.  If his 
punishment had been for trying to disect a fellow student, I imagine 
it would have been a stricter punishment.  At the least, helping 
Filch chisel gum from under desks.

Ceridwen, who has made several zigs when she should have zagged, but 
who has never made a cost-benefit analysis since math is not her 
strong point.