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The Shield Charm is a term applied to several varieties of charms that create a magical barrier to deflect physical entities and spells. Conjurations may sometimes rebound directly off it back towards the caster, or, in other cases, may ricochet off in other directions or dissipate as soon as they hit the shield.

The Shield Charm is a moderately difficult spell. Fred and George Weasley realised that most adult wizards, even those employed by the Ministry of Magic, could not produce a functional Shield Charm (something that Harry Potter was able to not only accomplish but also impart to members of the D.A.). They used this to their advantage when marketing their line of protective clothing (hats, cloaks, etc), upon which permanent Shield Charms were cast.

The incantation for the simplest Shield Charm spell is Protego. Incantations for other varieties of the Shield Charm include Protego Duo, Protego Horribilis, Protego Totalum and Protego Maxima.

Known uses

Harry Potter

Stupefy block

Lucius Malfoy using the Shield Charm to deflect Harry's Stunning Spell.

Umbridge protego

Dolores Umbridge using Protego against the centaurs.

File:Sirius Protego.jpg

Sirius Black using a Shield Charm during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries

Minerva-796x4481

Minerva McGonagall using a Shield Charm against a giant.

  • Harry Potter first learned this spell in his preparations for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, during which his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger shot spells at him so that he could practice shielding himself.[1]
  • Harry once used the charm to defend himself against Professor Snape's Legilimency during Occlumency training, and found himself unexpectedly seeing some of Snape's memories. This was most likely the reason why Snape was using a Pensieve to store his memories, and thus to preserve his privacy.[2]
  • Harry used the spell multiple times during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in order to protect himself and his fellow D.A. members from Death Eaters, and to prevent them from summoning the Prophecy from him that night.[3]
  • During his first sixth year Defence lesson, Harry and the other members of his class had to cast this spell non-verbally. When Snape tried to jinx him, Harry instinctively used a Shield Charm (verbally cast) that was powerful enough to throw Snape off his feet.
  • Harry cast the charm between Hermione and Ron after the latter returned, since Hermione was furious with Ron to the point of wanting to curse him.[4]
  • Harry used the charm multiple times during the Battle of Hogwarts to protect various fighters on his side, such as Molly Weasley after she killed Bellatrix Lestrange.[4]

Other

Known users

Protego

Kingsley Shacklebolt uses Protego in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Known Variations

Etymology

Latin protego, "I cover" or "I protect".

Behind the scenes

File:EPICNESS.gif

Severus Snape using the shield charm against Harry Potter.

  • In the films, Shield Charms are used in nearly every duel shown, almost always used non-verbally and usually accompanied by a parry-like wand movement.
  • In the early video games, Expelliarmus functions as a shield charm, due to a lack of enemies to Disarm. In these games, Protego is absent.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Protego is shown several times to be able to block the Killing Curse. According to the books this is incorrect as the Killing Curse is "unblockable" which is the main reason for its particular infamy, but within the context of the films the fact is never mentioned. However this case could be different due to Voldemort using the Elder Wand against it's true master.
  • In Harry Potter for Kinect Harry and Voldemort can use this spell against each other as they engage in a normal duel.

Appearances

Notes and references

Defence Against the Dark Arts (D.A.D.A.)
Subjectsdada
D.A.D.A. at Hogwarts
Classroom 3C · Classroom 3C backrooms · Temporary Classroom · Hogwarts Turris Magnus · Teacher's Office · Storeroom · Staircase · Storage room · Lesson Cup · Race Cup · Duelling Club · Dumbledore's Army
Professors
Isidora Morganach · Dinah Hecat · Arsenius Jigger · Albus Dumbledore · Galatea Merrythought · 1984–1985 professor · 1985–1986 professor · 1986–1987 professor · 1987–1988 professor · Patricia Rakepick · 1989–1990 professor · First 1990–1991 professor · Olivia Green · Quirinus Quirrell · Gilderoy Lockhart · Remus Lupin · Bartemius Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) · Dolores Umbridge · Severus Snape · Amycus Carrow (as Dark Arts teacher) · Unidentified professor · Brindlemore
Textbooks
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection · Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts · Break with a Banshee · Gadding with Ghouls · Holidays with Hags · Travels with Trolls · Voyages with Vampires · Wanderings with Werewolves · Year with the Yeti · The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts · Defensive Magical Theory · Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners · Confronting the Faceless · Defence Against the Dark Arts
Spells studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Aqua Eructo · Boggart-Banishing Spell (Riddikulus) · Bombarda Maxima · Cave inimicum · Concealment Charms · Counter-curses · Counter-jinxes · Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) · Curse of the Bogies (Mucus ad Nauseam) · Cursed barrier spell · Densaugeo · Deprimo Spell (Deprimo) · Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) · Ear-Shrivelling Curse · Everte Statum · Freezing Spell (Glacius) · Full Body-Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus) · Fumos Duo · Green Sparks · Hex-Breaker· Hex-deflection · Hex Zapper · Homorphus Charm · Human-presence-revealing Spell (Homenum Revelio) · Impediment Jinx (Impedimenta) · Imperius Curse (Imperio) · Imperturbable Charm · Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) · Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) · Lacarnum Inflamari · Langlock · Levitation Spell (Levioso) · Limbo Mist anticharm · Nonverbal spells · Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) · Pimple Jinx (Furnunculus) · Protective enchantments · Red Sparks (Vermillious) · Reductor Curse (Reducto) · Salvio hexia · Sea Urchin Jinx · Seize and pull charm (Carpe Retractum) · Shield Charm (Protego) · Smokescreen Spell (Fumos) · Snake-Vanishing Spell (Vipera Evanesca) · Softening Charm (Spongify) · Stretching Jinx · Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) · Tongue-Tying Curse (Mimblewimble) · Trip Jinx · Twitchy-Ears Hex · Verdimillious Charm (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Duo Spell (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Tria · Vermillious Duo · Vermillious Tria · Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos)
Creatures studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Banshee · Boggart · Chameleon Ghoul · Charmed skeleton · Cornish Pixie · Dementor · Dugbog · Erkling · Flesh-Eating Slug · Ghost · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Gytrash · Hag · Hinkypunk · Iguana · Imp · Inferius · Kappa · Manticore · Nocturnal beasts · Nogtail · Poltergeist · Red Cap · Snake · Troll · Vampire · Vampire bat · Werewolf · Yeti · Zombie
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