I will agree that they are encouraged to use unforgivables; a lesson dedicated to them and the - mostly - consequence free chance to use them on the professor is proof enough. But what I was thinking of is a not particularly well liked half-blood casting an illegal spell before witnesses on another student. I half expect this to end in expulsion or Azkaban.

As for sappy pleading, I just wanted to properly establish myself as a whore.

 

By plausible deniability, I mean the unreliability of the witnesses. They just attacked the guy, loosing 3v9. I figure that some are likely to make wild accusations.

 

Wild accusations that can be proven by a medi-witch's report, memories and veritaserum.

Sure, most won't be honest about being defeated by a pair of fourth years and a seventh year known for dropping two subjects and almost failing transfiguration after ambushing them in a remote location with superior numbers. But it only takes one person to decide that they'd rather have retribution than their pride to cause problems.

Maybe Harry can claim self-defense, but I'm not sure.

 

I disagree that this update shows Calypso to have chosen Harry over her father. It seems to me that she has chosen herself over her father. She wants Harry. It's that desire that she's fulfilling, not Harry's best interest. She's actively hurting Harry's interests in order to fulfil her own desire to be with him.

 

Medi-Witch can only say that their symptoms might be caused by cruciatus - not that they are, and definitely cant say sho caused it. Veritaserum isnt fool-proof and has never been used in a coutt - for a reason.

 

First of all I find myself baffled that CheddarTrek's assertion that the Cruciatus curse isn't dark in the same way that a dark cutting curse is. It's an unforgivable. It's rather worse than a dark cutting curse. In fact, Santi went out of his way in earlier chapters to emphasize just how bad the Cruciatus is.

That being sad, the Cruciatus struck me at first as well. Upon further reflection, I'm fine with it. I think it can be rationalized in any number of ways. First of all, they aren't in England. Maybe the Cruciatus isn't illegal where they are. Or if illegal, it may not be the one way life sentence it is in England. It certainly won't end in "Azkaban" as someone suggested, if only because Azkaban is an English wizarding prison.

It's also been well established that violent, dangerous magic is cast by students at other students with some degree of frequency at Durmstrang. It's expected. It's not all beyond the realm of possibility that normal laws do not apply to Durmstrang. It's a realm unto itself.

Also, if any of the attacking students were to accuse Harry and Calypso, they would be implicating themselves in a crime. The other students assaulted Harry and Calypso with deadly intent first. To get Harry and Calypso in legal trouble they would have to expose themselves to prison and/or expulsion as well. If someone else pulls an illegal gun on you while you're mugging them, you probably aren't going to report them to the police. Not an exact analogy, but certainly a very similar situation.

Furthermore there's the well established fact the Professor Rosier scares the living shit out of most students. In any attempt to implicate Harry, the fact that they tried to maim/kill Calypso will become public knowledge. None of them want to test Professor Rosier that way.

 

I forgot about veritaserum not being used in courts, but I believe the medi-witch still could be used. I most likely am blowing the cruciatus and its consequences out of proportion, but it feels like it should be a "Big Thing".

On an entirely unrelated note I'm confused about whether or not Nathan actually owns a firebolt.

It was said Nathan recieved a Firebolt to help distract him from Peter's attack and supposed death.

But by his birthday it sounds like he doesn't actually own the broom. Is this a mistake or am I missing something?

 

No he doesn't own a Firebolt. Santi accidentally posted an outdated version of the the aftermath of Peter's attack. The later chapters are correct.

 

Yes, you are missing something. Something that has been explained at least two, possibly three times by now. But, even though it was only about a week ago that someone else asked the same question, I suppose you could have still missed in the unholy cesspool that is this thread.

There was a mistake in James' letter, Nathan never got the broom. So no, Nathan does not have a Firebolt. The Santi has already rectified this.

 

Thank you for replying and I'm sorry I was unaware. I've only recently stumbled upon this thread and I'm still trying to find everything that's been previously explained.

 

It is a big thing, and it's intended to come across as such I believe. It's a clear progression in Harry's descent into the dark arts.

Ultimately, this is a Dark Harry fic.

 

I meant bigger than what we've seen. Yes, he had to intend to torture them and he's feared in Durmstrang. But his family is still out of the loop, there was next to no reaction from the faculty and there have been rumors about Harry since he first met Calypso.

 

My problem with the Cruciatus curse being used isn't a moral/legal one, but a practical one. The Cruciatus is a curse to use when you're in a position of power to exact punishment on a victim. It's not really powerful combat magic. It only hits one person, and theoretically it doesn't permanently take them out of the fight - the curse has to be maintained, and while you're maintaining it you're vulnerable to other attacks. If you had to break off from torturing someone with it to defend yourself, your victim - if they have sufficient will (like canon Harry) - may still have enough in them to cause you trouble.

It makes no sense that the Cruciatus is Harry's "last resort" combat spell. It's no more effective than the spells he was already using. In some cases, less effective. I was expecting him to break out some kind of spell with a large effect. Something like a powerful blasting curse (think Pettigrew).

 

The unforgivables cannot be block with shield charm. As such they provide an advantage to the caster. Add the fact that the cruciatus inflict such great pain that the target rarely stay up or continue fighting after a couple of second under it; I can understand how it could be used in combat to dispatch an opponent.

Although I agree with Taure. I was expecting something else than that spell. More advanced Dark Arts, an area of effect spell, etc.

 

Is that something Santi has said? That the Cruciatus can't be blocked? Must have missed it.

 

I think the unforgivables being unblockable was canon. Unless that was only the killing curse in which case nevermind.

 

You only have Romulus' point of view on how the faculty took what happened, and they're certainly not ignorant about what likely occured, even Romulus admits that Karkaroff was "incensed" by what happened.

Essentially, what was implied was that Karkaroff would have gone after Harry and Calypso, but Romulus (looking after his daughter and perhaps himself), Rosemburg, and Kosarev (looking after their prize student) essentially told him to drop it.

Karkaroff is a good wizard, but he's not Dumbledore. He's needs to be a bit more diplomatic when dealing with his teachers. So, when the three most talented professors tell him not to pursue something, he's put into an awkward position, especially with Romulus.

As for the Cruciatus not being a good finishing spell, I'd disagree given the circumstances. Like Taure mentioned, I considered a more impressive display of elemental magic or an area-effect spell, but I just couldn't see Harry using excessively destructive magic when Viktor could be collateral damage and accidentally taken out of the fight.

The Cruciatus can't be shielded against or deflected. I generally see that as a prerequisite of an unforgivable. Also, I think you're underplaying the pain it causes. The Cruciatus is exponentially more painful than the skin-shredder, which we've already seen take someone out of a duel. And, I admit, I needed an excuse for Harry to use the curse on a person for the first time.

 

Thank you for imparting your infallible wisdom, wise and noble leader.

As he wasn't punished and there was no mention of being questioned/lectured by one of the professors about the use of illegal magic in combat I'd assumed it was entirely ignored. Does this mean we'll be seeing some changes in how he's treated by his teachers?

 

In canon, it's just the Killing Curse, yes. But Santi has said that it can't be blocked above, so I guess it's now part of BWL canon.

/me tries to contain nerdrage.

(Kinda undermines the uniqueness of the Killing Curse).

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

 

I thought the killing curse was unique in that it killed with no apparent cause. The spell wasn't so fast it couldn't be dodged and we'd seen Fawkes and summoned objects take the hit in battle. I never thought of it's unblockable nature as anything special.