Protego

A mutual friend of mine and Pauli's was recently having a few beers at a bar with me and we were talking about (among others things) Harry Potter. He had a really good theory/observation: When DD freezes Harry on the rooftop there are a million and one other ways a master like DD could have handled that situation; he handled it that way for one simple reason - to Protect Harry. He is not primarily protecting Harry from whoever is coming up the stairs, he could have simply blocked the door. He is primarily protecting Harry from .... Harry. He knows what is about to transpire. He knows that although Harry was not able to use the Cruciatus on Belle in book 5, this was probably due to the fact that he did not know Bella well enough to have the grudge he has against Snape and Malfoy. If he sees Snape or Malfoy taking these actions that are possible, Harry could damage his own soul by committing murder or torture, by lashing out in hatred at SS or Malfoy. DD probably knows that Harry used Sectum Sempra on Malfoy, knows he is capable of lashing out (having indiscretionately used a very dangerous curse not knowing the results ... he may not have known what it was, like he knew what Crucio was, but his apathy toward the danger of an unknown result is plenty of evidence of enough antipathy to "want" the results howver bad they may be) (I have recently come to the conclusion that Snape was following DD's orders and that it was all planned, but I still have problems with Snape "pulling a trigger" and side with some version of the "stoppered death" theory. DD praised Ron's chess game in book 1 and I think he would be the best judge of that game. I think DD is probably a chess master in that he is able to think his moves out throughout the whole game, and plan for all contingencies ... it is highly unlikely he did not see any of what happened that night as a contingency. The timing may have surprised him a little, but DD is a master of adaptation ... The "planned appearance of murder" theory is now the one that seems to make the most sense. I still cannot buy Snape as "simply really good actor and spy," I still think he has a serious struggle with Harry that borders on hatred the same way Harry's issue with him does.)