Bathroom Scene - A Different Perspective

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165124

Mike wrote:
> <snip>
>
> 2. The Battle in the Bathroom < Carol, should we start a campaign to
> get it renamed the washroom, toilet, restroom, or lavatory ;-) <snip>

Carol:
Ah, a point we agree on. Heck, I'd settle for "loo." But it's not a
bathroom, it's what's called a "toilet" in the earlier books. :-) 

Mike:
> Draco started the fight, Draco escalated the fight to an unwarranted
level. Two boys trying to Stupefy each other or land a Leg-Locker
curse is one thing. To attempt a Crucio is all out of proportion to
the situation at hand, as well as being criminal in intent. *Any*
curse that Harry chose at this moment, short of an unforgivable, is
entirely justified and well within his right of self defense. 

Carol:
I'm not going to say much about the fight in the, er, restroom,
because I've already given my views and we're never going to agree.
I'll just repeat that Harry had the means of *disarming* or *knocking
out* his opponent, either of which would have been wiser (but less
productive for the plot) than using an unknown curse marked "for
enemies." That's what DADA--*Defense* against the *Dark Arts* is
about. And Harry is the closest thing in his year or maybe among all
the students to a DADA expert. What he didn't do, and I can hardly
blame him under the circumstances, is *think.* Harry is responsible
for his own actions and Draco for his. (And Eggplant, a "he", I
believe, is wrong in saying that Harry was punished for using
Sectumsempra. He was punished for lying to Snape, who could have asked
for his expulsion for using dangerous Dark magic but did not.

Carol earlier:

> Snape is the inventor of the spell that Harry used. He recognized it
> instantly and knew the counterspell. <snip> I doubt that anyone
else, including Madam Pomfrey and even Dumbledore himself, could have
saved Draco.
>
Mike:
> I firmly believe that Snape used a healing charm not the counter-
curse. Once the cuts had occured he had to heal them, he couldn't
undo them. That's why he went over them three times, a little more
healing with each pass. Dumbledore used the same healing charm in the
cave. So I also think that most if not all of the staff could perform
this healing charm, most certainly Madam Pomfrey.

Carol:
I firmly believe otherwise, and, if I'm right, that it was fortunate
indeed for both boys that Snape showed up. Sectumsempra is his curse;
he recognized it instantly; he knew exactly which countercurse to
perform. I *don't* think it was "the same" healing spell that DD used
in the cave. That was a quick nonverbal spell to heal; a nonmagical
cut. Snape used a complicated chant to heal a Dark magical curse whose
meaning is not "cut" but "cut always." This is Dark Magic of the sort
that Healer!Snape knows how to cure (he ought to, in this instance, as
it's his own spell he's healing) and Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse,
who has no familiarity with Dark Magic (DD went to Snape, not Madam
Pomfrey, for the ring curse), could not have cured him. If it's as
simple as any witch or wizard waving a wand over Draco, why would
snape refer to the spell as "such Dark magic"? The whole point of the
scene (aside from what it reveals about Harry and Draco) is to *show*
the special Healing powers that Snape has been credited with offscreen
(the ring, the opal necklace) throughout the book, and credited with
again just before the tower scene. And what do you mean, "he couldn't
undo them"? That's exactly what he did. They healed up instantly. (I
think sending Draco to the hospital wing for dittany was as much for
his psychological benefit as to prevent scarring. And of course he
wanted to separate the boys and leave Harry to sit in the bloody
bathroom to think about what he'd done.)

*Maybe* he found that complex spell in a book of ancient magic, or
maybe he invented it as he invented the countercurse to Levicorpus
(Liberacorpus), but I'm betting that no one else in the castle, not
even Dumbledore, could have saved Draco. It's a lucky thing for both
boys, IMO, that he was tailing Draco.

Mike:
IOW, I think it was unfortunate for Harry that Snape was the one that
turned up, but like you, I don't think it was coincidental. I think
Snape had been shadowing Draco one way or the other, all year. <snip>

Carol:
At least we agree that he was tailing Draco. But I think Harry would
have been facing expulsion if not Azkaban if anyone but Snape, the
Dark Arts expert and inventor of that particular curse, had shown up.
And, yes, he was facing the consequences of the UV if Draco died, but
I don't see one iota of emotion from him. He acted with remarkable
swiftness and calm.

Carol, hoping that Draco will feel proper gratitude to Snape for
saving him twice in HBP