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harry potter - What are the other ways of tackling dementors?


In Half Blood Prince, we read



"Harry fully expected to receive low marks on his, because he had disagreed with Snape on the best way to tackle dementors" - Chapter 21, The Unknowable Room.




Also in The Prisoner of Azkaban,



“There are — certain defenses one can use,” said Lupin. - Chapter 10, The Marauder's Map.



The only way that is specified in the books (7+3) for tackling dementors is to cast a Patronus.


Is there any mention (by Mrs. Rowling perhaps), of another way?


Or is there any piece of magic spelled out somewhere in the canon that we can infer, is effective at tackling dementors?



Answer



There are certain defences that are known (canonically) to work against dementors. We can dismiss the most obvious;





  • The Patronus charm is certainly the method with which Harry is most familiar. This isn't especially surprising since his teacher was arguably the "go-to guy" when it came to teaching the patronus charm and massively in favour of them over other methods.




  • Ghosts can block them (as evidenced in HP and the Deathly Hallows)





And he set off. The Dementors’ chill did not overcome him; he passed through it with his companions, and they acted like Patronuses to him, and together they marched through the old trees that grew closely together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled and twisted underfoot





  • They can't see someone Animagus form (as evidenced by Sirius' escape from Azkaban) as their mental state is too alien. Obviously the number of Wizard animagi who could use this technique is vanishingly small.



So what method could Snape favour? Well, we know of at least one other way of dealing with a dementors. By controlling your emotions and thoughts you effectively become invisible to them:



Dementors can’t see, you know …’ He swallowed. ‘They feel their way towards people by sensing their emotions - HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban



and




‘It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn’t destroy it … it wasn’t a happy feeling … it was an obsession … but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban



It strikes me that that Snape, a known specialist in Occlumency would prefer a method based on concealment over the undeniably showy (but dramatically more confrontational) Patronus favoured by Lupin.


This also fits in nicely with the traits that JKR assigned to each of the houses. Snape (a Slytherin) would definitely seek to use a method based on resourcefulness and cunning whereas Lupin (a Gryffindor) would plump for a technique that focused on courage and daring.


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