Disarming Charm

The Disarming Charm is a defensive spell that aims to disarm an opponent, causing the individual's weapon, usually a wand, to fly out of his or her hand. It has been known to knock an opponent backwards in some cases. The charm's incantation is Expelliarmus.

Appearance and Effect
The Disarming Charm can vary in colour and in its precise effects. Sometimes, it manifests as a "jet of red light", and knocks the victim backwards as well as disarms him or her. This is what happened to Viktor Krum in 1995. On other occasions, the charm does not have a colour, and instead simply makes a wand fly from the victim's hand. When Severus Snape cast the spell on Gilderoy Lockhart, it was shown as a scarlet ring surrounding the wand, with a streak of scarlet light heading towards Lockhart.

Harry Potter's Signature Spell


Many people considered the Disarming Charm to be the signature spell of Harry Potter. He became highly proficient with it in 1994 when practicing for the Triwizard Tournament. At the end of the tournament, after he and Cedric Diggory were transported to the graveyard in Little Hangleton and Cedric was murdered, Harry faced the newly-restored Lord Voldemort in a duel. Voldemort used the Killing Curse and Harry used the Disarming Charm. Because Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand were "brothers", having a core from the same source, they clashed in Priori Incantatem, which allowed Harry to escape.

Many Death Eaters witnessed this, and took to believing that it was Harry's signature move. In the Battle over Little Whinging, they identified him as the real Harry out of the "seven Potters" because he used the Disarming Charm against Stan Shunpike. Remus Lupin later chided Harry for using Expelliarmus in battle conditions, but Harry continued to value it. In his final duel with Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry again used a Disarming Charm while Voldemort used the Killing Curse. Because the Elder Wand recognised Harry as its true master, the spell backfired, killing Voldemort once and for all.

Behind the scenes

 * In the Doctor Who episode 'The Shakespeare Code', the spell is mentioned in connection to the Harry Potter books, with the Doctor stating "good old JK" after Shakespeare says Expelliarmus and the Carrionites are vanquished from Earth.
 * In some video games Expelliarmus is a shield (used to Backfire the opponent's atacks), until Order of the Pheonix, were the Disarming Charm was used to finish (disarm) opponents (it doesn't appear in Philosopher's Stone and in Goblet of Fire it's only seen in a cutscene and as part of Priori Incantatem)

Notes and references
Expelliarmus Expelliarmus

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