Harry Potter Universe: Wizard defence

Cafe Society
1

Now, a disclaimer: I haven’t read the HP books, and all I know is from the movies.

It seems to me that in the HP universe, when wizards fight, they simply point a stick at their wizard opponent and says “magic missle!” and the enemy wizard takes 1d4+1 damage, or 5d4+5 if you happen to be HP, or Dumbledore.

It seems rather odd to me that HP, (even though he’s supposedly “a great natural wizard”) a STUDENT, can simply magic missle Snape into submission, and in a situation where Snape should have taken proper precautions or something (Well, stoneskin?) and not simply have taken the hit like that.

I mean, in real combat, what would the wizards do? Assuming they had no defenses against MM, wouldn’t mage combat evolve along modern lines? After all, it seems like they could simply replace their stick with a gun, and be more or less equally effective. Wouldn’t that mean that they would fire from behind cover, or at least from a farther distance? And if so, wouldn’t they at least wear less restrictive clothing, to enable them to run around from cover to cover?

Therefore, the question: What defences, if any, do the wizards in the HP universe have?

2

I don’t think that Rowling’s magic is that simple.

For example: Avada Kedavra, the killing curse.

Quote: (from Goblet of Fire)

“*Avada Kedavra’s * a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it – you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I’d get so much as a nosebleed.” – "***Mad Eye Moody * ** " to his Defense Against the Dark Arts Class

This curse killed Harry’s parents. There is no block to it. But it demonstrates my point: you need to have the power behind it. It’s not as simple as any RPG I’ve seen (though the video games might ape them, I don’t know.)

There are blocking spells, I believe a few are demonstrated in the Order of the Phoenix in the last part of the book. Without giving away spoilers of any degree, it seems that you can dodge spells if you’re quick enough and you can block them with counter curses. I suppose (as Harry has said) luck and help have a lot to do with how effective you are in any “duel” or battle.

And if you’re really lucky, your wand will be the “brother” of your opponent’s wand. :wink:

3

Read the books. :slight_smile: There are defenses…counter curses and shields and such. In addition some curses can be fought off with a strong enough will. Think of when Yoda fought Duku in the lastest Star Wars movie…they cast ‘spells’ and counterspells, but as their skill level is pretty equal they resort to lightsabers to decide things. Same kind of thing with real wizards.

-XT