Spells used in fights

[ebeth0000000000]

No: HPFGUIDX 71295

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "adamjmarcantel" 
<adamjmarcantel at y...> wrote:
> I don't know if this has been considered, but does anyone else 
feel 
> that a whole class of defense against the dark arts is useless?  I 
> mean, apparently, to successfully fight off a gang of death 
eaters, 
> all you REALLY need to know is "stupefy", "expelliarmus", a 
> summoning spell, and how to lock/unlock doors.  They learn all of 
> this in their first year so why bother wasting time with more 
spells 
> than you will need?  I hope everyone got the *subtle* sarcasm, but 
> seriously, if I were a death eater, I certainly would learn spells 
> that Harry and Co. haven't yet learned to defend against or 
block.  
> Nobody seems to catch on to this...they all use spells against 
Harry 
> that he has just learned to use/block himself.  It reminds me of 
the 
> movies where the gangs of bad guys attack the hero one by one 
> instead of being smart and rushing him/her.  Has anyone else 
thought 
> the same or I am just an idiot?
> Adam, who has tough skin and can take being an idiot...and who 
will 
> send you the bill for his therapy if you do call him one :)

You're not an idiot, Adam, I get your subtle (haha) point.  My 
opinion on this is that there are probably a limited number of 
spells all wizards can use to hurt each other/defend against each 
other and we have indeed, seen many of them as early as book one.  
But, I think there are two or three exciting implications so that 
JKR does have somewhere to go with her action scenes.  

1)  We know that intent is very important in these spells, which 
would explain why practice in DADA would be very important.  As 
Bellatrix tells Harry about the Cruciatus (sp?) curse, you have to 
mean it.  Also, Crouch!Moody tells the kids that if they pointed 
their wands at him and said Avada Kedavra it would maybe give him a 
nosebleed.  If the kids want to do damage, they need practice.  In 
other words, it's not what you know, but how you use it in battle.

2)  We know now that there are other types of spells far beyond what 
we've seen at Hogwarts, and even many of the death eaters do not 
seem to know how to do them.  Witness the battle between LV and DD.  
A gong-like noise when their spells collide?  The thing with the 
water?  Those will be cool movie effects. . .and I look forward to 
reading about what those spells are--the kids have much further to 
go in their training.

3)  I think Harry will learn to manipulate and practice magic 
without his wand, which seems to be unusual in the WW.  Just MHO.  A 
little theory I have on the side. . .  Should give the DE's 
something to chew on!

Thanks for your thought-provoking post.
EBeth