Skip to main content

magical theory - How did Harry learn Sectumsempra?


All through the Harry Potter series we see that spells require specific techniques that need to be practiced; Wingardium Leviosa has to be pronounced exactly right (Hermione: "It's 'levioSAH'") and accompanied with a specific movement of the wand ("swish and flick").


In The Half Blood Prince, Harry encounters the name of the spell "Sectumsempra" with the cryptic comment "for use on enemies" and no other clues as to how to cast it or what it might do. Then in the duel with Draco he uses it for the first time to devastating effect. How come?



Answer



Harry apparently knew the incantation, but possibly not accurate inflection. It's possible that while, yes, the spell was intended 'for enemies' - it was not necessarily meant to be wielded with the complete devastating effect that Harry casts it with.



In the first book, we learn that inflection / tone / letter is very important in Charms. Professor Flitwick says:



"And saying the magic words properly is very important too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."



When we see Snape cast Sectumsempra (book 7), he appears to have very targeted, almost surgical precision with it, though he strikes the wrong opponent:



...the spell, intended for the Death Eater's wand hand, missed and hit George instead -



Clearly - Snape was not meaning to obliterate neither the Death Eater or George, but meaning to hit a small target instead.


Harry, however, when he casts it (book 6), casts it wildly and without any precision at all, literally shredding Malfoy apart:




"Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword...Harry got to his feet and plunged towards Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest."



The inflection/intention of how the spell is cast, details that may not have been included in the margins of Harry's book, could account for the discrepancy in how they affect the target.


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...