I don't deny the symbolic power of the name; it does work on more than one level. It just doesn't resonate as deeply for me, I guess. It reminds me of a Reincarnated! Harry's name in a fanfic entitled (appropriately enough) "Reincarnated". http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2716054/1/, where Harry was reborn as an All Hot In The Butt For Draco! Harry, except his name was Charlemagne Frank. It's forever spoiled my ability to enjoy Harry masquerading under another identity derived from either an historical background, or a mythological one.

 

Oh. Well, I guess that can somewhat dim the experience, can't it?

 

You have no idea. :>(

 

Anyone know why the story has disappeared from ficwad?

Edit: Never mind, I just saw their announcement about all stories being offline.

 

Still unresolved is the mystery of why the plot has disappeared from the story.

 

The plot hasn't dissappeared, it is just that Harry has done what he originally wanted to do, free Sirius, and now he finds himself with no reason to stay, at Hogwarts or anywhere. So now the race begins as to who can give him a reason to stay or a reason to go for that matter.

BJH

 

A nice story with a good hard-ass Harry. Like the bits with Narcissa too.

A small complaint is Harry's complete unsubtle nature when it comes to dealing with Dumbledore and the rest of the staff. Losing your calm and shouting = massive loss of sophistication points.

Anyway, I say 4/5.

Its so good that it's worth the 2 hours it takes to navigate ficwad to get to it. I think that's praise enough lol.

 

It's been updated, if anyone is still reading it. Just some filler with good interaction between Harry and his students. Nothing outstanding, but it is needed to keep the story going.

It's a good story so far, and we can only hope it continues this way.

 

Sigh i was liking this fic up until the point with the Avada Kedavra story. Now its become fic #1001 to use the 'Avada Kedavra was invented to put people out of their misery' line. Can no one use a bit more creativity when discussing dark magic? It seems that its always either this story or the Levitating someone out the window one. Hopefully the next chapter will restore some of my lost faith.

 

Okay, you don't like this fic because of one line that doesn't have any effect on the story at all? It's a filler line, not a big plot point, or anything. It's inconsequential. That line alone shouldn't be enough to turn you off a story.

And anyways, I kinda agree with you about more imagination needed in Dark Magic, but think about it. What does the AK do?

1. Instant Death
2. No pain

There are only a couple of explanations you could come up with based on what the AK does. Putting people out of their misery, and the Death Sentence, but wasn't the Veil in the DoM used for that? I don't really remember.

I just think it's a stupid thing to whine about, no offense or anything.

 

I think that this whole 'medical unforgivables' tripe is one giant load of bullshit. What people keep conveniently forgetting is that to cast these curses you need to fill yourself with the darkest emotions imaginable. Why would a spell for CPR require hate towards the patient? Why would the euthanasia curse require a twisting desire to destroy life, not to mention need to be unblockable? That just makes no sense.

 

yup thats why I believe it's bull as well. And i didn't mean i would stop reading it, or that I didn't like it anymore, the fic overall is good I just got really pissed because of that horribly over done line. Filler or not.

 

And who said that? Death Eaters. Why do you assume that what a Death Eater who was sent to Azkaban barely out of his teens (Crouch Jr.) or a raving pyschopath (Bellatrix) has to say is gospel truth? Seems rather niave on your part, Crouch taught what he wanted them to think and cheated to get Harry through the tournament. Why on earth would he teach the people he will be fighting shortly the truth? Perhaps it is the use of these spells for evil or punishment that requires the evil intent? Remember the thrust of this arguement is that it is the person who is evil and not the tool, be it spell or physical weapon. Perhaps all you need is the overwhelming desire to end suffering to make the AK work to end suffering? Or the desire to restart a heart for the Cruciatus? Although I will admit that, given a second chance, I would have equated the Cruciatus to EST rather than electro cardio resusitation. Wizarding Electro Shock Therapy seems more in line with it afterall. Muggles use electrocution to hit the mental reset key so why wouldn't wizards use pain? Oh well, the chapter is posted.

As for them being unblockable, three things: 1) Who said they are unblockable? I refer you to my preceding arguments. 2) They are in fact blockable in canon, or at least two of them. Harry throws off the Imperious and we have several examples of Dumbledore using physical shields to block the AK, so they ARE blockable they just haven't figured out how to block the Cruciatus yet. 3) Why on earth would anyone design a weapon that can be easily thwarted? Use your brain! The weapon is developed first and only after it is used do the people it is used against strive to develop a sheild. Why would you design a shield that makes your weapon moot before or at the same time you build the weapon? Sheesh. And if the spells were developed for medicine there is no need to build a block. Who would want to block a treatment? As an aside, who was it that developed the guillotine anyways? Hmm, let me think for a second... A DOCTOR! A french physician developed it as a humane means of execution, so there are real precedents for this.

I come to this forum for the intelligent criticism without the ego stroking most sites seem to thrive on, but pointless and inane bitching without any logical support is as much a waste of my time as "Dis Rox".

BJH

 

Very nice argument, most of which I agree with.

However, I do believe that some things would be invented or created without a counter; look at the human race: We invented the bullet well before we had bulletproof vests or even shields/metal armour that could slow them down enough not to rip straight through someone, or even better we invented the A-bomb and we still don't have a counter for that other than 'don't be there when it blows'.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in the case of something that allows one an extreme advantage over the enemy is not always thought through this much... Imagine you find a way to slaughter 99% of your foes when you are losing a war: most commanders would say to hell with the consequences and use the damn thing to either win or at least die taking as many of them as possible with you. I could easily see some dark lord getting hunted down by an international group of aurors and inventing the AK as a last ditch defense to prevent them from winning, but eventually, after slaughtering %90 of the attack force, the remnants turning the curse on the insane inventor. The aurors now now have on their hands something that can take down the worst of criminals, and like any secret worthy of a pandora's box, it eventually gets out to the more unsavory elements, maybe after a few hundred years of careful and sporadic use against the worst Dark Lords, and quickly becomes widespread once the secret is out.

Just like the Harry in the story, you are speaking of absolutes, in that all magic can be used for bad or good. Spells that fillet a person alive by ripping their muscles off their bones, spells that crush internal organs are simply designed for ill will, no matter how hard you twist it. Why would you want to fillet someone's muscles when you can simply vanish them painlessly (hey, Lockhart did bones, so muscles can't be that much of a stretch)?

I grant you, there are probably counters to and benevolent feelings behind a large part of the magic considered 'dark' - eg, raising the dead a la Anita Blake to interview them about wills or their mysterious deaths before portraits were conceived of - but you have to admit that some things just can't be taken across the line. I can't conceive of a way a bruise healing charm can be misconstrued as malicious, just as I cannot see how an organ crusher can be benevolent.

Maybe you can address this in the next chapter, have a brief interlude where Harry is reading Draco's essay before having someone come in to meet him or something. Feel free to use any of my arguments or thoughts above.

Regardless, I really did like how you used the Cruciatus curse as an example of a wizard just not thinking hard enough about the consequences of his actions while inventing a spell. Very well thought out and designed chapter; I for one think that you needed to have something like this to allow Harry to justify his actions to himself; after all, he did run away from his old world, which surely shows that somehow, even in a slight respect, he must not have been perfectly secure in the path that he had to take to win. I feel that his justification here by in large allows him to bury some of his actions and move on. Keep up the good work.

 

Why would Crouch lie about that? What was his angle? He was trying to appear as Moody - the die hard light auror - under Dumbledore nose. Why do you think he'd risk his entire plan just to... what? Make kids believe the unforgivable require dark feelings? Why? It just doesn't make sense.

Also, if Crucio doesn't require hate, why had Harry failed to cast it? Bellatrix had corrected him about the hate issue, and she didn't seem to have any problems at all.

Counter-argument. Why wouldn't he incite as many kids as possible to turn dark?

Besides, light wizards don't use the unforgivables. Your argument doesn't make sense.

That's reaching.

Then everyone would use those emotions instead of hate. You don't have even the slightest canon indication that this is the case.

Oh, and 'desire to restart heart' isn't emotion, but a complex thought.

Because heart is operated by bio-electric signals emitted by brain. Electro-shock can peak this electric activity, thus restarting the heart in some cases.

Pain, on the other hand, is basically made of bio-electric signals traveling from pain receptors to brain. They don't have anything to do with the working of heart.

Once again, your explanation doesn't make sense.

And I refer to my 'why would fake Moody dig his own grave' argument.

Besides, does 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' ring any bells? It's not like there were people saying "Oh Lily must have cast that super-shield that reflects AK". Without an unblockable AK, the whole premise of HP wouldn't make sense... just like your theory.

Actually, there was never mention of Crucio and Imperio being unblockable; just AK.

And Dumbledore had blocked AK by conjuring solid objects, not with a magical shield.

Err, have you been just warming up? Because now you're not making sense even worse.

Who says that the same person must make the curse and counter-curse? If that was the case, than any shmock could create his own unforgivable.

And since when do the shields come premade for specific curses?

Well, I think since the Ministry had banned these spells, they are the ones who'd be interested in counter-curses. Not to mention the victims' families. And the aurors. And other dark wizards... How about everyone?

BTW, it's interesting that these 'medical' spells are designed to work at distance. I'd have thought no one would need an euthanasia or CPR spell that can shoot like a gun (or curse, if you will).

You're right! All doctors must be evil! Like Dr. Moriatti! Or... or Dr. Frenkensten! Or... or... Dr. Evil! Or... or... ouch! *getting hit in the head with a guillotine thrown by a muggle criminal, who will get tried and executed for using an unforgivable*

Why seek criticism, when you can't take it.

BTW, the story is pretty good otherwise. It's just this detail that bugged me.

 

I'm in agreement with ip. All canon evidence points to the unforgivables requiring dark emotions to cast.

However, this is fanfiction, where we're allowed to mess around with canon.

My problem is that this particular idea has been used so much it belongs in the "Fanfiction Cliches" thread.

As an aside, if the Cruciatus really did mess around with the heart, it would most likely kill the person very quickly.

 

I don't really have a definite opinion on this, as I can see both sides, but I do have something to say about requiring dark emotions to cast the unforgivables.

To use the Imperius, you have to want to take away their free will. Dark. I can see that.

Cruciatus? Want to cause pain. Again, dark.

AK? You have to want them to die. Not necessarily dark. Majority of the time, yes, it's dark and evil and all that shit, but I think it ties in with the whole euthanasia thing.

 

Wrong. It's not enough to simply want to cause pain: you have to enjoy the pain.

Ditto for the others.

 

About AK being painless - the only survivor of the Killing Curse, who remembers the incident, described it to his followers:

 

This seems to be not a matter of the killing curse itself, but of the nature of why it rebounded (Lily's sacrifice) and the curse conflicting with the ways Voldemort made himself immortal.