Skip to main content

harry potter - Is there any physical or mental cost to casting spells?


Often in fantasies involving magic casting spells requires a certain physical or mental toll on the caster. I don't recall any mention of spells being physically or mentally taxing in the Harry Potter universe.


Does this mean they can cast an unlimited number of spells in a given day without any negative effect to themselves?



Answer



There is definitely a canon example of spell casting exhausting the caster.


In Goblet of Fire Harry is exhausted after practicing the summoning charm a zillion times (Accio) in anticipation of the First Task.





There are other examples where some spell-specific resource limits particular spells:




  • the obvious is the creation of the Horcrux which, after a homicide, requires then the splitting off of part of the soul.




  • The casting of the Patronus Charm is contingent upon a witch or wizard being able to conjure up happy memories; several times throughout canon, Harry is unable to muster the positive energy required to produce a full corporeal Patronus. When Harry was learning the Patronus Charm in Prisoner of Azkaban, he was both mentally and physically exhausted by the experience.




  • Legilimens is another spell that is completely mentally exhausting, for both the caster and the recipient of the spell. It involves such mind concentration that of course it would be draining. As well, depending on what the Legilimens sees inside his/her target's head, it could be emotionally overwhelming to boot.





  • Learning Apparition is physically taxing and there's the risk of Splinching. When Ron Splinched in Deathly Hallows, he was quite debilitated.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...