Blowing his cover

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 181438

> CJ:
> I disagree. Amycus' spitting on McGonagall, while it did occur in a 
war, 
> could as easily not have. And even in a war, I'm not convinced that 
> expectorating is justification for torture, even when the target IS 
your 
> favorite teacher.

zgirnius:
If I thought Harry Cruciated Amycus because of his discourtesy to a 
teacher, I might agree with you.

Harry has just met (and seen!) Neville and the other DA members who 
are hiding out in the RoR, and has learned of the Carrows' excesses 
all year. Amycus's sister and partner in crime has just summoned 
Voldemort to Hogwarts, and Harry can feel that Voldemort will shortly 
be on his way. He hears Amycus threaten to torture the students of 
Ravenclaw House, make a plan to blame the summons of Voldemort on a 
pair of innocent students, and threaten to make Minerva go along with 
it. All of this together, in my opinion, is why he acts as he does. 
It is all absolutely not within the realm of normal, non-wartime 
experiences, and I do believe it makes Harry furious. 

Additional evidence of his emotional state, as I see it, is the way 
the spell works when he casts it. More normally, a victim of this 
curse falls screaming to the ground and continues to experience 
excruciating pain until the caster deliberately stops the curse by 
raising his wand. Harry's spell sends Amycus crashing into a wall, 
where he promptly loses consciousness.