(#) brad 2010-05-15
Harry is a rather ... evil ... person in this story, isn't he? Well, with a harsh 'take no prisoners' side to him. But shrouded by secrecy, which is the twist which is a bit disturbing. His hexing the Malfoys surreptitiously with a curse that would render them impotent in 3 weeks. And now in this chapter, sneaking another mortal curse on Umbridge. Very underhanded.
I was a bit taken aback at the students' revolt and wondered why Dumbledore didn't do anything to force them into compliance with his orders (like to go to their common rooms). On the other hand I couldn't think of anything a headmaster could do in those circumstances short of using force, which wouldn't go down well, even in the less progressive magical world.
Had to laugh at McGonagall's revelation as to exactly how Snape abused the points system. Walking too fast/slow/loudly. Hee! :-)
Thanks for the chapter!
Author's response
Harry evil? No (at least I wouldn't say so), but this Harry is part the abused/bullied 14 year old and partly an ice-cold powerful assassin who was trained and then paid to kill 'bad guys'. In a sense, Harry has 'Dumbledore syndrome' -- that is, they are both willing to do nasty things 'for the greater good'
Unlike Dumbledore, however, he is willing to kill killers, and has a different idea on what 'the good' is.
I would say, however, that the only other 'kill on sight' (as opposed to curse on sight, as he did the Malfoys, Snape, and Dumbledore) besides Umbridge would be Bella