It isn't like it takes much skill to shoot someone whose back is to you descending a staircase a few feet away. And Harry's been making peace with killing At Least since AD's death.
My big questions are:
From what I know of AD, he *certainly* didn't intend Harry to go to Akren, so what were Dumbledore's plans for his Chosen Weapon? Why did they not go into effect? If AD had wanted Akren for Harry, he would have Made Sure that Harry was better prepared. That school takes in some thirty students WORLDWIDE a year, and there is a thirty percent fatality (not drop out) rate. If Dumbledore wanted Harry to graduate from Akren, the old man would have put more effort into training him mentally and physically. Even then, it would have been a major risk, considering that Harry is the only one who could kill Voldemort. I think that AD was never that much of a gambler. He controlled absolutely everyone and everything around him.
Why did the Headmistress accept Harry, anyway? He used an alias and an anonymous post owl. There was nothing to make his application stand out, except that he was from a country that generally didn't even make it into one of the top schools, let alone graduate Akren.
Tuition must be a monster. With that kind of loss of students, and the incredibly high quality of staff and facilities, money is a major issue. Just a side note.

 

Well in that quote I posted it did say that Harry heard the assassin torturing Petunia. He might have used that as justification for his actions because afterall, they are family.

EDIT:

Well I suppose a knife could be used if the guy lost his wand, because wandless magic is supposedly diffficult to do in this story.

 

A gun – perhaps. (What if the Wizard is playing undercover as a cop ;p)

A knife – I disagree. There are a number of uses a magic-user could have for a knife. For instance: What if you're disarmed and your cocky opponent walks up to you (something that Voldemort might even do)? You stab him when he's not expecting it.

You could also charm a knife in some way – give it some sentience or degree of autonomy.

You're not limited to drawing it and lunging at your opponent – that I agree, is stupid.

Edit: And no matter how powerful a wizard is, I'd hope he'd be willing to concede that perhaps he should have a sliver blade on hand, just incase.

 

I would think the Reason Harry had a gun is because he knows bugger all good curses and it took it out of Vernons draw.

 

I think Sree was asking why the assassin had a gun.

 

It was Vernon's gun. Why a knife? He couldn't do magic, so he decided to keep some weapon on his person? This is cannon Harry here.

Pretty much explains why he was accepted. Even if it was only curiosity to see how he would do. Not much hair off her ass if he dies.

The story is very ooc. There isn't much Harry Potter left. Frankly, I don't mind. Maybe it is one of those love/hate stories.

 

And he had the knife cause Fred and George gave him one. WHy not Sirius gave him a knife once.

 

What other options did he have besides killing him? He wasn't going to use magic.

If you read her other fics they're terrible. Absolute shit and she wasn't a great author to start this series either. She's gotten leaps and bounds better as the story progresses which is a common occurrence in HPFF.

Why most likely a muggle hating wizard? That makes no sense~ Most wizards don't hate muggles.

 

Maybe he was scared that another AK would reflect and end his sorry ass. Maybe the blood wards prevented hostile magic against Harry. Maybe he was intended to be a muggle (or squib) but the author messed up and added the line about the cruciatis curse. Or perhaps Harry only thought his aunt was under the curse, he claimed to be able to hear screaming through a supposed silencing charm.

It isn't made clear but it also isn't that important. It provides Harry with motivation to learn magic, a reason to get out of the country and it introduces the assassin sub-plot.

 

Assuming that this Assassin is in it purely for the money, then a gun is a reasonable weapon to carry. He *isn't* pushing the purebred agenda, he doesn't CARE about what "a proper wizard" should want to use. He's a professional, and he's good enough at the job to be the first one to find Harry's family. Perhaps he has some sort of disguise spell on the gun, to fool the cops if he's picked up. It would be ...intelligent... to be skilled in the use of both muggle and magic weapons.
If he was afraid of magic being tracked in Harry's neighborhood, then he might well have simply used ordinary techniques to get information and verify his location. After all, most civilians aren't going to be all that intimidated by some weirdo waving a stick.
On the other hand, by the time Harry heard him, the assassin was indoors with a muggle who has an idea of exactly how dangerous that wand can be.

 

I may be completely off base but I seem to remember some mention of a ward that kills any non-Akern that directs magic at someone currently attending the school.

Deus-Ex ward I agree, but it does fill the plothole.

 

What plot hole?

 

I grew up in the south east US. Children (especially boys,) are generally taught the use of firearms or other offensive weapons starting with airguns at age 10. I have no problem with a boy who has survived four murder attempts, a running battle (DoM,) months of abuse by two of his teachers culminating in helplessly observing the murder of a mentor by a trusted subordinate... well, I can see Harry reacting to a murderous home invasion with lethal force.
Mild torture (mostly threats, you realise, but he was convincing) is only a little more of a stretch. After all - Petunia was tortured. Not Imperiused, which is a little odd now that I think about it. The intruder was a murderer and a torturer, but apparently not into Unforgivables. Hmmm.

 

I'm pretty sure civillian owned firearms are banned in Britain, and were banned when Harry shot the assassin. Plot hole anyone?

 

I'm pretty sure he shot the guy from point-blank range, which shouldn't have been too hard to hit from. The breach in morals could be attributed to adreniline.

It would have been much more realistic if Harry had some sort of crash after it was all said and done. Since everyone knows that killing a fellow human being does nothing to your mental stability.

 

Assasin's gun: Read Last Straw.

Knife: Fred and George gave it to him.

Torture: Empty threat?