Legilimency
From Harry Potter Wiki
- "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing... It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly."
- —Severus Snape on Legilimency[src]
Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. Laymen sometimes refer to Legilimency as "mind-reading", but practitioners disdain this term as naive. The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency, which may be used to shield one's mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens.
Contents |
[edit] Methods
- Severus Snape: "It appears there is a connection between the Dark Lord's mind and your own. Whether or not he is aware of this connecion is for the moment unclear. Pray he remains ignorant."
- Harry Potter: "You mean if he knows about it then, he'll be able to read my mind."
- Severus Snape: "Read it, control it, unhinge it. In the past it was often the Dark Lord's pleasure to invade the minds of his victims, creating visions designed to torture them into madness. Only after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony, only when he had them literally begging for death would he finally...kill them."
- — Severus Snape on Voldemort's abilities as a Legilimens[src]
The most advanced Legilimens can perform Legilimency nonverbally and wandlessly, but less talented practitioners must use the incantation Legilimens to enter their victim's mind. If a target is not skilled in Occlumency, a Legilimens will be able to detect if the person is lying, as well as delve into their thoughts, emotions, and memories. Highly skilled Legilimens can also influence a mind that they invade; for example, Lord Voldemort, considered perhaps the most skilled Legilimens of his time, was able to send Harry Potter incredibly realistic visions of the Department of Mysteries and his godfather, and later to temporarily possess him (the latter of which was extremely painful to Harry, to the point where he begged Dumbledore to kill him, just to relieve him of the pain). It is easier to perform Legilimency when the target and practitioners' eyes meet.[1]
Like Occlumency, Legilimency is not taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Considering that it invades people's privacy, Legilimency may be a legally restricted magical practice, just as the use of Veritaserum is strictly regulated by the Ministry of Magic.
[edit] Known Legilimens
[edit] Etymology
The word Legilimency is probably derived from the Latin legens, "a reader", and mens, "mind".
[edit] See Also
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it was revealed that Bellatrix had trained Draco Malfoy in Occlumency; presumably she had to be able to penetrate his mind with Legilimency in order to teach him how to repel such an attack.
