non-verbal spells/

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 151551


> Magpie:
> Those things don't seem like non-verbal spells to me.  They seem
> like they're something built into the magical boat or brick.

Potioncat:
But unless we think the old man who rented the cottage to Uncle 
Vernon was a wizard, the boat was very Muggle.

Of course, if you were talking about the Hogwarts boats, that could 
be different.
> 
> Magpie:
> But as I understand it there is no such thing as a verbal vs. non-
> verbal spell.  A spell is a spell, and you can perform it either
> way.  Snape may have started out saying Levicorpus.  Presumably
> James never used Sectumsempra.

Potioncat:
It does seem some spells can be either doesn't it? Snape is teaching 
the DADA students to perform a spell nonverbally that they know how 
to cast verbally. Harry and Ron didn't seem too good at it. 

Yet less than 100 pages later, Harry sees "Levicorpus(nvbl)" in the 
HBP's book. p239 (US) He's thinking that he still has trouble casting 
spells nonverbally, but believes the HBP is a much better teacher 
than Snape so: "Pointing his wand at nothing in particular, he gave 
it an upward flick and said 'Levicorpus' inside his head."

Ron flies into the air, and Harry hunts for the counter spell which 
he also performs silently. I think this spell and counter spell were 
created to be nonverbal.

Go back to OoP, to Snape's worst memory. James and Sirius say every 
spell, except James does not "say" the spell that jerks Snape into 
the air or the one that drops him down. Nor does Snape say the one 
that causes a cut on James's face.

So, in summary: some spells can be either, some are one or the other. 
Which might explain why the DEs were casting verbal spells in the MoM.