Part of the whole specialness of the Boy Who Lived is that somehow he blocked the Killing Curse (which we know was Lily, but most people do not).

 

Blocked? I always thought this was about his survival of the Killing Curse. Meaning he didn't block it with magic shield, but was directly hit and stayed alive after it.

EDIT: Though, I forgot that it rebounded and hit Voldemort too. So, yeah, you can say he somehow blocked and redirected it.

 

Exactly. Some magic blocked it. It hit him but it didn't take effect.

 

I'm pretty sure the act of blocking is a magic shield such as protego stopping a curse from striking. Not a miraculous survival after being hit.

 

You're replying to a post I made before the latest update from Santi where that info was revealed. The new Ch 15 2/2 seems to back me up somewhat anyway. It certainly emphasises the break between Calypso and her father.

Was it determined that Romulus was the source of the leak? Romulus is playing his cards very close to his chest. The leak could have as easily come from Kira. Romulus was given the info by Calypso without the others being aware of it. Kira could have obtained the info similarly from Krum. Just because Calypso believes that Romulus is the only outsider who knew about the testing grounds doesn't necessarily make it true.

They were?

That's an insightful observation. I knew that something was strange about Calypso's behaviour [different to my expectations] as revealed in her conversation with her father, but I hadn't worked out what it was yet. I think you've hit the nail on the head.

edit: @Santi

 

Well, this is mostly semantics. Call it what you will: there was a piece of magic that stopped the Killing Curse, which is supposed to be impossible.

(That said, to engage in the semantics as an aside, blocking is definitely distinct from shielding. People are said to "parry" spells; in CoS they were shown how to block (incompetently, but nonetheless it exists) but didn't know the shield charm until GoF; we've seen spells being blocked before they are fully formed e.g. Snape vs. Harry at the end of HBP.)

 

If you put it that way. But for me "unblockable" is only about stopping the flying spell, not its effect one you.

 

Like I say, this is mostly a matter of categorisation, not really relevant. Whether or not Lily's unintentional protective magic against the Killing Curse should be called blocking or something else, it's still a magical defence. We're specifically told that there is no magical counter. Not just "it can't be blocked" or "can't be shielded" but "no magic, at all, can defend you from it".

 

In a way, that means Harry never was the Boy-Who-Lived at that age, because he never lived through the effects of the spell. Strictly speaking, he was the Boy-Who-Blocked-The-Unblockable. He only truly became the Boy-Who-Lived when he survived his own death after actually being hit and killed by the curse.

 

Or rather, the Boy-Whose-Mother-Blocked-The-Unforgivable-In-A-Magical-One-Off-That-Couldn't-Be-Replicated.

 

I am very happy to see that when I returned to this forum (I've been away for a little vacation), there has been a update of the Santi's great fic. Thank you for imparting your infallible wisdom, wise and noble leader.

As for the latter part of chapter 15, I must confess that I am pleasantly surprised to see a real fight, without the own sweeteners there is in a practical duel during a Dark Arts class.

However, since we could see Harry conjured a curse cruciatus on a frog, was logical that Harry used that same curse on a person in a situation of urgent need. Nevertheless, Santi surprised me to cause this situation just a few weeks before he leave for Hogwarts.

As for the great discussion that Calypso has had with his father, I think she is considering more what she wants (which can be considered selfish, but that obviously includes Harry) that his father has planned for "the greater good of the Rosier family", without neglecting the probable intention of Romulus wants his daughter away in their environment because he is realizing that their former Dark Lord is about to resurface, by the changes that are happening in his Dark Mark.

However, I think Kira was the real person who blew the location of where her boyfriend and his friends were practicing the complex wards.

As for the appearance of Fawkes, I have the suspicion that Dumbledore, as he know that Harry accompany the Durmstrang's delegation during their stay at Hogwarts, he'd be very suspicious Karkaroff. Therefore, would not surprise me that he sent his phoenix to watch Nathan as were sending a letter to his brother, that Fawkes who send out, and incidentally also have a fair description of Calypso Rosier (I do not think wrong if the marriage Potter, and Lily in particular, ask for help from Dumbledore to learn more about his son's girlfriend).

 

On paper, it's a poor combat spell against a group of enemies, for most of the reasons you describe. You can argue that it was effective against this particular group of enemies, though, for purely psychological reasons.

Harry and Calypso using the Cruciatus intimidated the hell out of the kids who were still conscious. As a culturally significant Unforgivable curse, it probably made them realize that this was no mere schoolhouse brawl, but serious "big boy" business they were getting into. It distracted them for just a moment, and that was all that was needed to turn the tide of the fight.

I would not expect the Cruciatus to have nearly the same effect against, say, a coordinated group of Death Eaters. Nor would it have worked in this fight if there were other people facing off against Harry and Calypso, who were able to keep their heads and attack while Harry/Calypso were distracted.

If Santi wants to, he could make a subtle alteration to the scene, and have Harry consciously notice or even anticipate the psychological effect. It's not a big deal, though, IMO.

 

One thing I noticed:

Maybe "at his impressive command" would be better.

 

Honestly, as far as the Cruciatus goes, we know only that is considered unforgivable in Wizarding Britain. We have no idea what the laws are like outside of this one little section of the Wizarding World, so as far as we know the curses may not even be illegal wherever Durmstrang is.

Without Santi telling us that the Unforgivables are unforgivable everywhere we have to remember that not all wizarding areas are going to follow the lead of Wizarding Britain.

 

Santi stills calls them Unforgivables in his fic. I doubt they'd be called that way if they were generally accepted.

 

That makes much more sense. Certainly that's a position that some characters espouse, most notably Calypso and Quirrelmort.

Although I think it's questionable how accurate that is, given that it's Quirrelmort saying so, and his wants Harry to become a DE. Likewise Calypso could easily have a flawed understanding of the deeper mechanics and motives behind "dark" curses, given that she's a kid and has been raised to think one way.

Like everything, multiple possibilites exist.

 

Impossible... right up until Harry proves otherwise by deflecting it. Having the kind of mental focus needed to stare down and overpower a Killing Curse would make him a legend and cement his infamy.