Full Body-Bind Curse

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"The "Body Freezing" spell proves quite popular among new students of magic and those given to frequent participation in Wizard duels."

— Description^[1]

The Full Body-Bind Curse, also known as the Body Freezing Spell ^[1], (Petrificus Totalus) 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. Three known counter-curses include Rennervate, 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. A major difference is that under the Body-Bind Curse the victim remains conscious and aware of his/her surroundings, as opposed to petrification which appears to render the victim unconscious. Also, individuals who are petrified appear to be immune to injury as they've been turned to stone; it is possible to render an injury to someone who is under the body-bind.

Known uses

Caster	Victim	Notes
Sirius Black	Severus Snape	Used by Sirius Black, in his childhood, while bullying Severus Snape.
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 Sorcerer's Stone.^[2]
Harry Potter	Jugson	Battle of the Department of Mysteries ^[3]
Harry Potter	Antonin Dolohov
Neville Longbottom	Death Eater
Draco Malfoy	Harry Potter	On the Hogwarts Express in 1996.^[4]
Harry Potter	Inferi	While in the Horcrux cave with Albus Dumbledore in 1997^[4].
Albus Dumbledore	Harry Potter	Used to prevent Harry from interfering with Dumbledore's death at Battle of the Astronomy Tower.^[4]
Harry Potter	Yaxley	Used when escaping from the top of the Astronomy Tower during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.^[4]
Hermione Granger	Antonin Dolohov	During a skirmish at the Luchino Caffe in 1997.^[5]
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.^[5]
Parvati Patil	Antonin Dolohov	Used by Parvati Patil to protect Dean Thomas.

Etymology

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

Known practitioners

Albus Dumbledore
Colin Creevey
Draco Malfoy

Hermione using the spell in a Muggle cafe.
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Lord Voldemort
Neville Longbottom
Parvati Patil
Sirius Black
Katie Bell (Tought Harry the curse herself)

Appearances

Notes and references

[Cast-a-Spell-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Cast-a-Spell kit found in the Library section of the Harry Potter Official Site.

[PS-2] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

[OTP-3] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[HBP-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[DH-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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