Confundus Charm

"The guard was confused. He stared down at the thin, golden Probe and then at his companion, who said in a slightly dazed voice, 'Yeah, you've just checked them, Marius."

- The Gringotts guards, confunded by Harry Potter

The Confundus Charm (Confundo ) is a charm which causes confusion in a person or bewitches an object. It appears that there are varying degrees of confusion caused by the spell, from simply tricking a person or thing about a specific incident to confusing a person to the point at which they endanger themselves.

Casting
The spell seems to be rather difficult to cast, as Severus Snape, a very powerful wizard who could flawlessly perform Nonverbal spell casting, had such trouble with it that he had to "frown in concentration". To cast it, one must point their wand directly at the person or thing that must be confused and incant, "Confundo". If one is casting the charm on multiple targets, they must point their wand at each individual target in turn and incant once for every individual target.

Effects
Although the spell carries no light or sound, one can detect if another person has been Confunded (someone who has had this spell cast on them has been "Confunded") only immediately after the spell has been cast; the person will shudder when the spell hits them. It will cause any of varying degrees of confusion, from a simple trick to making a person believe that they have come up with a complex plan when said plan was given to them by the caster.

It can also be used on inanimate objects that have a level of sentience, as Barty Crouch Jr did with the Goblet of Fire, though this was noted to be a difficult task, as the Goblet itself was a powerful magical artefact.

Known practitioners

 * Barty Crouch Jr
 * Hermione Granger
 * Ronald Weasley
 * Severus Snape
 * Harry Potter
 * Albus Dumbledore
 * Delphini

Etymology
Confundus, as well as the incantation Confundo, are derived from the Latin verb confundo (confundo-confudi-confusum-confundere), meaning "to confuse, to perplex."

Behind the scenes
. It is possible that it was not considered a breach if no one noticed that magic was used.
 * In the films and video games, the incantation for this charm is Confundus, and not Confundo as it should be.
 * Professor Severus Snape theorised to Minister Cornelius Fudge, and tried unsuccessfully to convince Albus Dumbledore into agreeing, that Sirius Black might have cursed Harry Potter and Hermione Granger with this charm; however, this was false, as Black was actually telling the truth. This, however, could merely have been a cover-up to attempt to protect Harry due to his lasting love for his mother, and the reason he did the same for Hermione and Ron may have been would seem odd if only Harry was supposedly Confunded when all three of them attacked him.
 * Ronald Weasley used this spell to trick his Driving Examiner into letting him pass his driving test. This may constitute a breach of the International Statute of Secrecy, but it is unknown if Ron faced any repercussions about it

Appearances

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Notes and references
Encantamiento Confundus Sortilège de Confusion Incantesimo Confundus Конфундус Confundus