During Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry found it extremely hard to master the Patronus charm. Why is this one of the hardest spells in the Wizarding World?
Here’s what you need to know…
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Why is the Patronus charm so hard to cast?
The Patronus is one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizardkind, as well as a messenger between wizards. In its creation, it requires recollection of a single talisman memory to bring together a pure, protective magical concentration of happiness and hope.
Patronuses are generally considered a mark of superior magical ability by witches and wizards, as they are not produced by the majority.
In fact, the Patronus’ exact form cannot be determined until the spell has been cast successfully!
A witch or wizard may control an incorporeal Patronus, which looks like a silvery cloud or wisp of vapour.
Occasionally, witches or wizards will intentionally produce an incorporeal Patronus if they wish to disguise its general form (Remus Lupin is afraid that his corporeal Patronus might reveal too much as he is an Animagus). Incorporeal Patrons cannot provide the defensive power of corporeal Patrons, which have the form and substance of animals.
Although they offer limited protection, they cannot provide the power of a true Patron.
Patronus Charms appear in many accounts of early magic and are among the oldest charms. While the Patronus has long been associated with those fighting noble causes (those who could produce corporeal Patronuses were often elected to high office within the Wizengamot and Ministry of Magic), it is not unknown among Dark wizards.
#1 If everyone can do it, it would not be considered a ‘Difficult Spell’
Reddit user @greenascanbe compares the ability to cast this spell in a mundane way. That if it was ‘that easy’ many others would be able to do it.
However, only certain people with the determination and will are able to conjure it.
Similar to how only certain Muggles are mathematically capable of applying calculus, whilst others are only able to perform basic arithmetic.
#2 Maturity plays a Factor
Reddit user @siriuslycharmed states that the spell comes with experience and or maturity. Younger Wizards and Witches typically cannot cast a Patronus due to the significant effort it takes to conjure the ‘Happy Memory’ and then channel it towards the Dementors.
This is especially if the spell caster is under a ‘fight or flight’ moment of impact.
#3 Sense of Character Impacts the Outcome
Reddit user @Egyptianboi says that whilst maturity and experience are key factors to cast the Patronus, the ‘Sense of Character’ of the Witch or Wizard plays a part in how strong the Patronus actually is.
We know from the Deathly Hallows (the book and movie), that two noteworthy Patronus’s were cast. One by Dolores Umbridge, the other by Aberforth Dumbledore.
- Dolores Umbridge: While Umbridge is an objectively hateful woman, she is also a skilled witch. As Rowling noted on Pottermore, she is one of few Dark Magic enthusiasts who’s capable of producing a Patronus.
“While there is a widespread and justified belief that a wizard who is not pure of heart cannot produce a successful Patronus… a rare few witches and wizards of questionable morals have succeeded in producing the Charm,” Rowling wrote. “Dolores Umbridge, for example, is able to conjure a cat Patronus to protect herself from Dementors.”
- Aberforth Dumbledore: During the Battle of Hogwarts, at the entrance of the school, Dementors and Lethifolds swarmed and charged toward Harry. As can only be described as a blanket of white light, Aberforth was at the entrance conjuring a corporeal Patronus, which is described as an ‘incredibly advanced and powerful magic’ as well as ‘proof of superior magical ability’ as per Harry Potter Fandom.
#4 Lack of Need Led to a Lack of Experience
Reddit users @Obversa and @boomberrybella both agree that something as rare as the occurrence of a Dementor attack would not really be an ‘active’ threat as the Ministry of Magic was the only demographic of people that really needed to know the Patronus.
Therefore, if it was not needed as a mandate to learn, it was not a mandate to be taught, and therefore a skill not obtained by many students.
The fact that conjuring this spell is ‘hard’ can possibly be boiled down to the fact that this is a completely new element for many to learn due to it not being widely needed or available to be taught.
Do you need to be happy to cast a Patronus?
In order to cast a Patronus charm, the witch or wizard must be able to harness the power of some very happy memory from their past. In the presence of a Dementor that sucks all of the happiness from the air around you, this can be quite difficult!
Through training, the witch or wizard can rely on their ability to pluck their happy memory from the library within their head and let it fill and empower them to cast the Patronus charm and eliminate the threat of Dementors.
To make sense of this, I believe the reason for using a happy memory to cast the Patronus is that one would not be experiencing the happiness required to summon the charm in any given circumstance if one cast the charm.
A typical situation for students is to be in class learning the material in the first place, so they do not experience anything other than their regular feelings towards the class, which is often boredom.
Fighting Dementors in a practical setting would probably cause all those faced with their dark demeanour to feel dread and a lack of happiness, so it is necessary to have a happy memory to counteract this.
Therefore, we can assume, theoretically, it would seem possible to do it in a situation where you were feeling enough happiness to fill you up and channel your happiness as a shield of sorts to deflect the sadness and grief a Dementor chooses to use.
Can you choose your Patronus?
There is no indication in the books that a conscious decision is made. We see a significant number of students find their Patronus throughout the series, none of whom are noted as making a decision.
We see from Severus Snape that his Patronus is a Doe. Identical to that of Lily Potter. This was not a decision he made, but an outcome regardless due to his love and adoration for her.
We are humans, regardless of Witch, Wizard or Muggle are a sum total of our actions and our hearts. What is within will always be what affects the Patronus we produce.
Dark Witches and Wizards are unable to produce a Patronus despite their best efforts due to their hearts being filled with darkness and hatred. In contrast, pure (to some degree) Witches and Wizards are able to cast Patronuses and are represented by an animal that is both a testament to their character and a depiction of their soul.
When considering Patronuses, there are also cases of duplicates – such as, both James and Harry Potter are noted as having a stag as their Patronus, for instance, and Snape and Lily share a doe Patronus.
You can find out more about why Snape hated Harry so much here.
The closest indication we get of significance in the Patronus itself, other than some unconscious desire, is Animagi or Animagus – a witch or wizard who could transform themselves into an animal and back again at will.
It was a learned skill, unlike the hereditary skill of a Metamorphmagus. Information on Animagi was taught to Hogwarts students during their third-year Transfiguration class. An Animagus Registry existed to keep track of those that had learned to transform in this way.
The three noteworthy cases where we see both form and Patronus, that are identical are James Potter, Remus Lupin and Professor Minerva McGonagall.
- James’s Animagus form was that of a stag, which earned him his nickname, Prongs. Strikingly, Harry’s Patronus was a stag and his mother Lily’s was a doe, a female deer, showing that the family’s characters were in harmony and formed part of the same animal group.
- In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus Lupin shared that it took his fellow Marauders – James, Sirius and Peter – until their fifth year at Hogwarts to finally become Animagi and keep him company in his werewolf form.
- Minerva McGonagall’s Patronus takes the same shape as her Animagus form: A tabby cat. McGonagall can transform into a silver tabby cat with square spectacles markings around her eyes.
According to the eighteenth-century Charms researcher Professor Catullus Spangle, the Patronus “represents that which is hidden, unknown but necessary within the personality”.
In order to face something as evil as a Dementor, a person “must draw upon resources he or she may never have needed, and the Patronus is the awakened secret self that lies dormant until needed.”
You can find out more about why some spells can be casted without the wizards saying anything here.
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