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Full Body-Bind Curse

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Full Body-Bind Curse
Incantation:

Petrificus Totalus (pe-TRI-fi-cus to-TAH-lus)

Type:

Curse

Effect:

Renders a victim immobile

The Full Body-Bind Curse, or usually simply called "Full Body-Bind", is a spell that renders a victim completely immobile. This curse is chiefly used to control and limit another individual's power of bodily freedom, and is often employed in defensive combat. The victim's arms and legs snap together, and he or she will generally fall down from lack of balance. The curse does not, however, interfere with breathing or sight. The countercurse is Finite or Finite Incantatem.

The Full Body-Bind Curse is fundamentally different from petrification, which is highly Dark magic and which cannot be reversed by a simple counter-curse, though the symptoms are superficially similar.

Contents

[edit] Known Uses

Caster Victims Notes
Hermione Granger Neville Longbottom When Neville tried to prevent Hermione, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley from sneaking out of their dormitories in 1992, which they did in order to prevent the theft of the Philosopher's Stone.[1]
Harry Potter Jugson Battle of the Department of Mysteries[2]
Harry Potter Antonin Dolohov Battle of the Department of Mysteries[2]
Neville Longbottom Death Eater Battle of the Department of Mysteries[2]
Draco Malfoy Harry Potter On the Hogwarts Express in 1996.[3]
Harry Potter Inferi While in the Horcrux Cave with Albus Dumbledore in 1997[3].
Albus Dumbledore Harry Potter Used to prevent Harry from interfering with Dumbledore's death at Battle of the Astronomy Tower.[3]
Harry Potter Death Eaters Used when escaping from the top of the Astronomy Tower during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.[3]
Hermione Granger Antonin Dolohov During a skirmish at Tottenham Court Road in 1997.[4]
Lord Voldemort Neville Longbottom Placed in a Full Body-Bind, with the Sorting Hat put on his head and then lit on fire during the Battle of Hogwarts.[4]
Parvati Patil Antonin Dolohov In defence of Dean Thomas during the Battle of Hogwarts.[4]

[edit] Etymology

The root of this curse's incantation seems to be the Latin words petra, "rock", and totus, "whole".

Also, pertrificus seems to come from the word "petrify", meaning to turn into stone, or describes a manner in which someone takes on the characteristics of a stone. Totalus likely comes from "Total", meaning complete or wholey. Following this, the spell likely means "wholey like a stone".

[edit] Known practitioners

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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