Occlumency and Shield Charm

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 89402

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Tanya Swaine <swaine.t at x> wrote:
> At 10:02 22/01/2004 +0000, you wrote:
> 
> >Sigune wrote:
> >I have been wondering lately about what happened in the one before
> >last of Harry's Occlumency lessons. There, Harry casts a Shield 
> >Charm and the result is he gets to see some of Snape's memories.
> > ...edited...
> >
> >Yours severely,
> >
> >Sigune

> 
> 
> Tanya now
> 
> Shield charms were used in the Dumbledore/LV duel. ...
> But the spells deflected didn't get rebounded that I can recall.
> 
> I think something else was going on besides the shield charm when 
> Harry used it.  ...  Maybe rebounding spells is not a once time 
> occurrence for Harry.
> 
> Tanya

bboy_mn:

Not much to add here, just wanted to remind you that the physical
Shield (a metal shield that clanged when struck by a curse) that
Voldemort conjured up in the Ministry of Magic is not the same as the
'Protego' Shield Charm. The Protego Charms surrounds the caster with
an invisible barrier that deflects minor curses (Gof). 

I suspect there are more types of 'shield' charms as well. I do
specifically remember reading a reference to a variation that causes
the cast spell to rebound on the user, although, at the moment, I am
having trouble finding a reference to that.

It could be that the Charm rebounded on to Snape simply because Snape
and Harry were so close to each other. Regardless of why, I think the
'what' is that Harry's use of the shield charm caused Snape to be hit
by his own spell.

In the past, I have mentioned that there are both 'event' and
'sustained' charm/spells/curses. Harry failed in his use of the Crucio
Pain Curse because he treated it like an 'event' curse. Meaning you
cast it once and it goes off on it's own and does it's job; like a
gun, BANG, you're cursed. However, the Pain Curse is a 'sustained'
curse, you must cast it and hold it, you must sustain the intended
effect for the curse to continue; more like a laser beam weapon.

Examples:
Stunning curse - Bang! you are stunned.
Pain Curse - continues until the caster pulls back his wand with the
intent of ending the curse.

The 'Legilimens' curse is a sustained curse, Snape has to cast it and
then sustain the intent which in turn sustains the active curse until
Harry blocks the effect or Snape releases it. 

This is important because the curse has to be in progress in order for
the Shield to deflect it. If it were an 'event' curse, while the
effect might linger, the curse itself would have come and gone, and
there would have been nothing to deflect.

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn