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harry potter - Can you block Avada Kevadra with a Patronus charm?


In my question here, I asked if Patronuses were corporeal or not. The answer was that they are decidedly so, and can interact with the physical world.


Now my question is if they are indeed corporeal and can be touched and moved, can they block the curse from Avada Kedavra?



"You produced a fully fledged Patronus?"


"Yes," said Harry, "because -"


"A corporeal Patronus?"


"A - what?" said Harry.



"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than just vapor or smoke?"


(Order of the Phoenix)




Answer



It might be possible to block Avada Kedavra with a Patronus. Canon doesn't suggest this anywhere, but there are other situations in which Avada Kedavra has been blocked or diverted. For example:



  • In Goblet of Fire, Voldemort's Avada Kedavra is blocked, or at least held at bay, by the Priori Incantatem spell, which can disallow wands with dual cores (cores from the same source, as Harry and Voldemort's wands had) from landing their target(s) when a spell is cast.

  • Pure love seems to be capable of diverting Avada Kedavra, as Lily Potter demonstrated when she gave up her life for Harry. Voldemort was subsequently unable to kill Harry with Avada Kedavra after Lily died, because he was protected by the magic of pure love.

  • Dumbledore is able to use corporeal objects, such as statues and whatnot, to divert Avada Kedavra during his duel with Voldemort at the Ministry for Magic in Order of the Phoenix.

  • The Dark Lord mentions the Lethifold in the comments below, and it's a great point to consider. Fantastic Beasts indicates the Patronus is more than mere wisps of mist, as it actually uses its horns to repel a Lethifold, which seems to be a corporeal being -- a Lethifold has volume, it can eat humans and perhaps beasts as well, and it can physically digest its prey. From Fantastic Beasts, recounting a Lethifold attack on Flavius Belby: I performed the Patronus Charm. Almost at once I felt fresh air upon my face. I looked up to see that deathly shadow being thrown into the air upon the horns of my Patronus. It flew across the room and slithered swiftly out of sight.



As the Patronus is a corporeal creature, and this is canonically correct, I don't think we can rule out the possibility that a Patronus might be useful against Avada Kedavra.


There's no canon example of this happening, but Potterverse does have strong elements of possibility.


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