So Occlumency requires a certain type of mentality to work. Only then will you be able to prevent a Legilimens from discovering any feeling or thought, because there are no feelings or thoughts to discover. In terms of difficulty, it is probably on the same level as the Patronus Charm, but both demand very different disciplines, one which Harry excelled at, and one he just couldn’t nail.īecause while the Patronus Charm requires you to embrace emotion, Occlumency requires you to empty yourself of it – to clear your mind.

OcclumencyĪ spell that Harry certainly did not master during his time at Hogwarts was Occlumency, the obscure and ancient art of closing your mind against Legilimens, those who intrude upon other people’s minds. Even so, Harry Potter was able to master the spell in his own time at Hogwarts – making him one of the youngest wizards to do so – and he even taught it to members of Dumbledore’s Army, way beyond their years. This is because very few wizards possess the skill to concentrate on both the spell and their emotions. To cast either is an achievement, although the latter is so difficult as to be considered unusual.

It’s the difference between learning the alphabet, and having to read War and Peace – the students of Hogwarts experience it in their sixth year, when they’re expected to perform only non-verbal spells from then on. But it’s a feat that requires enormous ‘concentration and mind power’, with the spell-caster having to summon the spell in their mind, rather than out loud. The advantage, according to Professor Snape, is that ‘those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting’. Non-verbal spells are those typically performed with a wand, but without saying the incantation out loud. But for difficulty level extreme, you need to go silent, or even hands-free. Non-verbal spells and wandless magicĪs already established, magic is a difficult thing. This, as you can imagine, leads to some wizards having their minds in two places at once, which usually ends in Splinching – having body parts in two places at once, as Ron gruesomely demonstrated in Deathly Hallows. When teaching Harry’s class in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Apparition Instructor Wilkie Twycross described the spell as consisting of three Ds: ‘Destination, Determination and Deliberation’. Apparition is so tricky because it requires a high level of mental skill – a level that most wizards, especially kids, are not capable of.

Harry potter spells