No, he killed Moldyshorts as part of a pitched battle, in a war situation. It's a different context. Plus, he'd been traiing for that kind of "special forces" mission for several months, so he would have overcome any qualms that way in the course of that time. Tom had to die; Harry is the only one who can kill him -- ergo, Harry has to do it. Once he has accepted that, he can focus on his mission -- and, as an incentive, what waits for him once he's done it, namely . He may well suffer remorse in the future, but just then, having fulfilled the destiny that has ruled his life to that point, all he feels is relief that it's over. Then, oif course, Ginny lands and grabs him, thoroughly distracting him as only she can...

I can understand your point, but by the time the final battle takes place, Harry and his comrades are soldiers and have accepted that to win a war, the enemy must be killed. It doesn't mean that, say, the Twins can't be revolted by the effects of their Chase-Me Napalm, but the very nature of the weapons they are using do not provide for much else in the way of an outcome; there's no Stun setting on an assault rifle.

You may have a point as regards the effects of magic on technology, but postulating something like that opens up a huge can of worms. If magic interferes with chemical reactions, but not those in living creatures, then what about fire? We know that Hogwarts is heated and lit by fires, and ISTR mention of logs and even coal in canon -- how, then, does that work? And pens... what the devil stops a ball-point pen (or even a fountain pen), a purely mechanical device, from working? It's as bad as having magic interfere with electrical devices but not the human brain! You can technobabble your way around it, but it's extremely hard to do so consistently.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. It was fun to write, though my personal inclination in such a situation would be to call in airstrikes!

Well, in response to your first response,another word: Wards. Not too hard to stop a DE from bugging out or even shifting around, particularly if a battle is to be fought at Hogwarts. And in any case, fighting a foe who Apparates around the battlefield is no different whether you use spells or bullets -- except that the bullets are faster! Spells can be seen to move, which suggests that they have a relatively low speed; bullets are supersonic and effectively undetectable: you can't see them and by the time you hear the shot, it's already hit you (or missed).

The Imperius curse is another matter, but again is no different in principle whatever weapons you use. And a wizard or witch using the curse makes him- or herself vulnerable to attack while s/he concentrates on making his target obey his/her will, so it's more of a sniper-type weapon rather than a spell to use in the middle of a pitched battle. Again, there ought to be standard procedures for dealing with the use of this curse in a fight, but wizards don't seem to be all that organised in a military sense.

Still, thanks for thinking about it, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

That's the way to do total annhilation, by heavy weapons!

As I recall there was a disscussion on this about a year ago on the boards (The Final Battle: How would it end.  {or something like that} was the thread title) regarding Harry using muggle weapons.  Actually it started out discussing from magical means and I had mentioned something about why magic at all A we'll Placed LAW shot would finish Voldy well enough, and you just helped illustrate that idea a bit.

Great Job!

I'm not so sure... I think wizards would have one very big problem with bullets -- reaction time. Remember, bullets are supersonic, so by the time you hear a shot, it's already happened -- and the round has hit something. A Charm of any sort won't help, because you'll never get to cast it. The only defence that would be effective that way is a kind of shield that's always up, and that has its own problems -- it's a drain on the user, how does it work (a Levitation or Banishing Charm might be ineffective against a very-high-velocity sniper rifle, for instance) and what other effects are inherent in the spell, just to begin with. We don't know; we don't even know if a standard Shield spell will work against non-magical objects.

I'll grant you the Flame-Freezing Charm vs napalm, though I do wonder if the gel aspect could be troublesome -- but there are such things as Cleaning spells...

Overall, I think that there are quite a few possibilities, but which ones would apply depend on details that we just don't know, and may never know. I wouldn't be so sure of the lack of strategic effect, anyway.

You make a very good point about using weapons to defeat ol' Voldie. It is perfectly possible, but I don;t think that JK Rowling will fit guns and stuff into the canon of the books! But this story was just brilliant!

~Maria~ 

Hmm ... I think this is quite plausible, but unlike by JKR.  Probably because she wants to keep the muggle and magical world totally separate.

But I'll agree with you on that this is quite possible.  Nice story.