The difference between the expelliarmus and accio spells

[Steve <bboy_mn@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50567

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "aquariajade <toberead at e...>"
<toberead at e...> wrote:
> Hello:
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> When Harry needs his Firebolt for the first task in GoF, he 
> says, "Accio Firebolt".
> 
> My understanding was that the accio spell was to draw a particular 
> thing *to you*, and the expelliarmus spell was to forcibly release 
> something from intended *person's hand*, but with NO INTENDED final 
> destination.
> 
> But, IIRC, every time a wizard needs to get someone's wand, s/he
> uses expelliarmus. Would it not be more useful to use accio wand(s)?
> ...edited... Thoughts?
> 
> Best,
> 
> Jade

bboy_mn:
Ok, I'll give it a try.

Expelliarmus - is a disarming charm. 

Accio - is a summoning charm.

Expelliarmus is not intended to take an object away from a person and
call it to yourself. ALthough, that is usually what you see when you
observe it being cast. It is a charm intended to take away an
opponent's offensive weapon capabilities. Sometimes that means
disarming them, other times, to truly eliminate any offensive
potential, it means knocking them down or out. So it has both
defensive and offensive potential.

Remember in the GoF, Harry used Expelliarmus to get the spider to drop
him. Harry's charm took away the spiders offensive capability, to do
that to a spider meant incapacitating it, and that combined with the
Stunning Curse that Cedric used was enough to knock the spider out. We
have already have two examples that show that an Expelliarmus curse
has the power to knock someone at least down, if not out (Snape &
Dueling club, and Snape in the Shrieking Shack). 

This seems obvious, but you can summon a feather, although you can't
disarm a feather. Point? The purpose of Accio is to retrieve objects.
It's possible, if you try to Accio a wizard's wand, he may not want to
let go. He may fight your attempt to summon it. On the other hand,
Expelliarmus unconditionally disarms your apponent. If his offensive
capability is in his wand, then he loses his wand whether he wants to
or not. If, once his wand is lost, he still poses an offensive thread,
the charm goes further and stuns the wizard. If that's what it takes
to render him a non-threat, then that's what it does. Once effectively
cast, the charm can't be resisted. 

All spells and charms are modified by the wizard's intent. When Lupin
entered the bedroom in the Shrieking Shack, the Expelliarmus charm was
modified by his desire to get the wands. Not just make Harry and
Hermione lose their wands, but for the wand to come to him. When Harry
cast the Expelliarmus against Wormtail just before he escaped, Harry's
intent wasn't to retrieve the wand but to prevent Wormtail from using
it. If he had been more experienced, he could have modified his
intent, and stunned Wormtail too.

Also, the wizard, perhaps by intent or perhaps by emotions or both,
controls the intensity of the curse. If Harry and Ron are practicing
disarming, they probably aren't going to put much force behind the
spell. But when Snape cast it against Lockhart, Snape, with full
intent, maximized the power of the charm in order to knock Lockhart
halfway across the room. 

Having said all that, I end with what I started with.

Expelliarmus - is a disarming charm. 

Accio - is a summoning charm.

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn