When I said they, I meant JK Rowling and the film-makers. The point was that they had to establish early on in the story that Harry can speak Parseltongue. The scene at the zoo does not establish that.
They didn't know then that Harry could speak in Parseltongue...I remember that in the book Snape just enjoyed watching Harry, who was scared and didn't know how to fight the snake.Perhaps Snape wanted to prove that Harry wasn't able to protect himself from any kind of attack...And it was a symbolic attack, Slytherin against Gryffindor.
posted over a year ago
Hmmm, that would make sense. It was clearly an attack Harry wasn't expecting and he ended up kind of freezing on the spot. It shows how good Snape is at duelling really. It was a good strategy.
Serpensortia is not a useless spell. That snake was clearly dangerous. It would have attacked Justin Finch-Fletchley if Harry had talked to it. Although, I am sure the snake was supposed to attack Harry, not Justin.
Either way, if the snake bit Harry, that would put him out of action for quite some time, enabling Slytherin to actually win at Quidditch. Remember, Draco is the Slytherin Seeker and Snape favors them.
posted over a year ago
I'm sure as a spell it can be useful, but in a duel? You'd want something that would have an immediate effect. I mean while you're busy casting a spell that creates a snake that crawl towards your opponent, they can cast any number of spells to incapacitate you and then cast a spell on the snake.
True, but your opponent would have three options with which to react: fight, flight, or freeze. If they decide to fight, they'll fight the snake first. Flight, and they run away. Freeze, and they stand there in shock.