- Remus: "Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"
- Harry: "I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there. That's Voldemort's job."
- — Remus Lupin and Harry Potter in 1997[src]
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
- Harry: "Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort 2 years ago."
- Remus: "Yes, Harry, and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under the imminent threat of death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"
- — Remus Lupin discussing the Death Eaters' knowledge of Harry Potter's signature spell[src]
Many people considered the Disarming Charm to be the signature spell of Harry Potter. Despite being taught it by the teacher he despised the most (Severus Snape, until recently), Harry found it quite useful and used it plenty of times. He became highly proficient with it in 1994 when practising 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.[1]
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 the Imperiused Stan Shunpike, as a Stunning Spell would have knocked Stan off his broom and almost certainly killed him. 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.[2]
Known Uses
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 ol' JK" after Shakespeare uses the word Expelliarmus to conclude a 'magical' formula to banish the episode's villans, the Carrionites, from Earth.
Inconsistentcy
Expelliarmus has probably the most inconsistent effects of any spell of the series. In the CoS and PoA video games, Expelliarmus conjures a shield, identical in its effects to the books' Protego(used to Backfire the opponent's attacks), and does not physically "disarm" the opponent at all, though it is still called the "Disarming Charm". In Order of the Phoenix, Expelliarmus
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). In the Half-Blood Prince videogame, it appears as a projectile cloud of blue and violet energy which blasts the victim off their feet, but does not send their wand flying.
In the film series, Expelliarmus is used many times. Snape uses it first, at the Dueling Club, blasting Gilderoy Lockhart through the air without actually disarming him. In Prisoner Of Azkaban, it regains its official effects, used many times to simply knock the wand from the target's hand without physically assaulting them, except for when used by Harry against Snape, though this could be attributed to Harry using Hermione's wand at the time, a feat which can have unpredictable effects for any wizard.
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince