In HP & the Order of the Phoenix, Harry chased Bellatrix Lestrange after she murdered Sirius Black. He used cruciatus curse on her but it was not really effective.
As Bellatrix said:
"You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain... to enjoy it... righteous anger won't hurt me for long... I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson —"
Later when Amycus Carrow spat on Minerva McGonagall, Harry used the curse splendidly.
As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, "Crucio!"
The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. "I see what Bellatrix meant," said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, "you need to really mean it."
Harry Potter Wikia attributes this to lack of sadistic feeling in Harry.
But still it makes no sense. Harry should have had more desire to cause pain after murder of his godfather but he was only able to knock Bellatrix off her feet. Wikia however also suggests that Bellatrix was probably less affected by the curse due to her lack of conscience and being a sadistic person herself but somehow I don't feel it's quite right.
Only rational explanation that I have been able to give myself is that the war-time environment changed Harry Potter from a young boy he was in HPTOOTP to a grizzled veteran by the time of Battle of Hogwarts & somehow his sense of emotions was also affected by it.
Could it be that Harry liked McGonagall better than Sirius and thus was able to channel his anger better than he did in Ministry skirmish? Is there any better explanation?
Answer
I think you basically answered your own question. It's not about who he cared for more, it's about his emotional state. When Harry attacks Bellatrix, he's fifteen, angry, scared and shocked. He's an emotional wreck.
"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" bellowed Harry. "SHE KILLED HIM I’LL KILL HER!"
Later
"Aaaaaah... did you love him, little baby Potter?"
Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before; he flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed, "Crucio!"
The reason his spell doesn't work is exactly as Bellatrix says - you have to mean it. Harry can't truly mean it in this state, he's too confused, too upset, and at that age, too good to enjoy someone else's pain the way the Bellatrix could. He tries because of righteous anger, not because he would truly enjoy Bellatrix's pain.
Compare this with when he attacks Carrow.
Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand, and said, "You shouldn't have done that."
As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, "Crucio!"
This is far calmer, almost premeditated. He's cool enough to deliver a line, and cool enough to control his own actions. He chose to hurt Carrows, not just out of righteous anger, not out of impulse, but because he wanted to see him suffer.
It's the difference between temporary insanity and premeditated crime. It's not more passion that makes it worse, it's less.
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