Blowing his cover

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181456

CJ:
> > Even if Harry IS all wound up about his friends and fellow
students (though, as we've seen, not more than a Stunning spell's
worth), then it simply becomes a crime of passion. But a crime of
passion is still a crime.
> 
> zgirnius:
> Attacking Bella and Snape were also crimes of passion, were they
not? I am arguing this Crucio was no different from the others (aside
from the fact that it worked, and was not blocked by its target
> 
> >CJ:
> > Nevertheless, we still have Harry's own admission: "He spat at
you!" The passage just doesn't support any other interpretation.
> 
> zgirnius:
> Obviously, I disagree.
>
Carol responds:

but Bellatrix had just sent sirius through the Veil and snape had just
"murdered" Dumbledore. In both cases, Harry is furious and seeking
revenge against a person he hates (Snape even more than Bellatrix).
But the Crucio against Bella only hurts her for a moment ("righteous
anger won't hurt me for long. You hae to mean it"), and the one
against Snape is deflected. Compared to the provocation in those othe
cases and the rage he's feeling, what's the momentary anger against a
man he doesn't even know, whose crimes (unless his presence on the
tower when DD died counts as a crime) are either hearsay (admittedly
from a reputable source) or as yet-uncommitted (threats). He hasn't
killed a beloved teacher or mentor or godfather; he has merely spat on
her. (Compare Karkaroff's spitting on Dumbledore, for which Hagrid
pins him to a tree with his hand but Harry does precisely nothing).
And yet Harry quotes bellatrix ("You have to mean them").

Not one of Harry's more shining moments. It's not even justifiable
violence, IMO. A Snape-style Expelliarmus (I'm thinking of the one he
used on Lockhart in CoS) would at least as effective, not to mention
that Disarming a DE who was threatening harm to the students would
have been both practical and justified. A Crucio was overkill--and it
would have been a crime had the MoM not been in DE hands (as would his
 earlier Crucios if they had succeeded and/or been detected).

Carol, who didn't need Harry casting a successful Crucio to believe
that he was humanly flawed, thanks, anyway, JKR