Blowing his cover

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 181425

> CJ:
> However, I'm not sure it's consonant with Harry's past actions. 
He's got 
> a track record with respect to all three of the UCs, having used 
> successfully the Cruciatus and the Imperius and attempted the AK. 

zgirnius:
Harry never attempted the AK. I don't think he ever would. 

He grabs for Crucio when he is furious (at Bella when she kills 
Sirius, at Snape when he kills Dumbledore, and at Amycus Carrow at 
Hogwarts, the first and only time he succeeds with that curse, which 
I really don't believe was just about spitting at Minerva - it was 
all the revelations: his torture of students, and his intention to 
sicc Voldemort on innicent students to cover up his own mistake). You 
may not like the 'war excuse', but it is certainly true that each 
time Harry does use the spell, he is experiencing circumstances which 
could only be present in a war-type situation. It is also pretty 
clear that from a legal standpoint, the Wizard culture makes this 
distinction too - why else would Aurors be permitted to use 
Unforgivables in the first war?

I would not myself call this an excuse, as I do not believe it is 
supposed to excuse Harry's actions, which are on the wrong side of 
neutral. I do think it is supposed to *explain* them and make them 
understandable to readers. Each time Harry is tempted to use Crucio, 
he has just witnessed the aftermath of serious crimes against people 
he cares about, a state of mind in which I personally would *hope* 
people would still act according tpo their better natures, but one in 
which I can *understand* that they do not. 

Harry used the Imperius curse when his plans to steal Voldemort's 
Horcrux from Gringotts went wrong. I'm pretty sure that breaking into 
Gringotts and stealing a valuable artifact from one of its vaults is 
also illegal. This has never bothered me, and nor did the means Harry 
used to commit this 'crime'. 

> CJ:
> One might, perhaps, argue that his death experience changed Harry, 
but 
> we just don't see enough of Post-Death!Harry to make that more than 
a 
> theoretical conjecture.

zgirnius:
I think seeing Snape's memories, the experience of walking to his 
death, talking to Dumbledore, and coming back were all the final bit 
of growing up for Harry, and this had something to do with it. I 
found Harry's patience, waiting for the right moment to reveal 
himself, and then his calm in the face of Voldemort in their final 
conversation, pretty convincing evidence of his new maturity. His 
choice of spell was just part of that.

But even before this point, Harry has often chosen less rather than 
more harmful spells - hence Expelliarmus already being his signature 
spell. He has a temper, and when it gets the better of him, he makes 
bad choices, is what I walked away with from his use of Crucio.