More About Snape and Occlumency

[inkling108]

No: HPFGUIDX 121880


Nicky Joe wrote: 
> I was watching the first movie last night and recalled the time 
when 
> Harry removed the glass from the snake cage.  At the time, he knew 
no 
> formal magic, had no wand, and made no sound at all.  That makes 
me 
> wonder if a wand and/or incantation is even necessary.  (Of 
course, 
> glass removal is probably a pretty simple spell)...  Has this been 
> discussed before?  I've only been on here a week...
> 

In one of her interviews (forget which one, sorry) JKR something to 
the effect that a wizard can do some minor magic without a wand, in 
fact without even realizing it, if s(he) is feeling strong emotion, 
but serious magic requires a wand.

I've been assuming all along that not all incantations are spoken, 
because there are too many places in the books where powerful magic 
is done without speaking, as in the examples already cited and also 
at such key moments as when Lupin and Sirius transform Scabbers back 
into Peter in the Shrieking Shack.  Still I have been assuming that 
in these cases there is either a mental incantation, or an image, or 
some other way of focussing attention toward a specific end.

Possible real world analogy:  In Eastern spiritual traditions, 
mantras, which are words of power, are powerful whether they are 
spoken or only thought.  It is the mental concentration that counts.

Inkling