Spell Lights

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 146691

Goofbal wrote:
> >
> > I was re-reading OOP when I had a thought. In using stupefy and 
Reducto and other such hexes, curses, etc, you see a certain color. A
 red beam or a avada kedavra green and such. Why is it that when using
 these type of spells you see the light but in Charms (eg wingardium
leviosa) and Transfiguration you dont see a light, it just happens. 
> 
Amber responded:
> IMO the lights only show up when there is extreme emotion behind
them.  For example, you wouldn't necessarily be angry or frightened
during a charms lesson, but you would be if you were in danger.  Once
again, this is just my opinion...I could be wrong.  
>
Carol notes:
I think the intensity of the emotion may affect the amount of light,
but I also think that the light itself is a distinctive part of
curses, including the milder forms, hexes and jinxes, and possibly of
defensive spells (DADA) used to counter them, such as Protego and
Impedimenta. These spells are essentially weapons, a force ejected
from the wand that causes a specific action against an opponent,
whether its bouncing his own spell back on him or causing him to spit
slugs. Charms, in contrast, merely cause an object to do something it
wouldn't normally do (hover, glow, come when it's called, hide from
those who don't know the secret); Transfiguration alters the
properties of an object or living thing so that it becomes something
else, at least to all appearances. So the light from the wand is
simply a feature of a certain type of spell used either for fighting
or self-defense. (Interestingly, although the Reductor curse is used
for solid objects, it's still referred to as a curse and may well be a
defense or weapon against enemies. Could that vbe what Peter Pettigrew
used to blow up the street and kill all those Muggles?)

Also, although we associate certain colors with certain curses
(including those that are considered DADA rather than Dark, or
defensive rather than offensive)--for example, red with "stupefy" and
green with Avada Kedavra, the color range appears to be quite limited.
I recall one curse with a purple light (the one Dolohov used against
Hermione), and I think I recall some other curse described as having a
jet of violet light (violet and purple being, apparently, not quite
the same color). "Reducto" and "stupefy" are both red; Avada Kedavra
and Ron's "Eat slugs!" are both green. Also the Death Eaters at the
QWC in GoF are sending off jets of green light but not killing
anybody, and quite possibly, not all the jets of green light that
break the statues in the MoM confrontation between Voldie and DD are
Avada Kedavras.

Sorry to go off on a side note here. My (speculative) answer to your
question is in the first paragraph. The second paragraph is additional
thoughts relating to the topic of light and curses. Why we never see
an orange or yellow or blue jet of light coming from a wand, I don't
know. We seem to have a battle of red and green among curses, just as
we do on the Quidditch field--or in the eyes of the hero and the chief
villain, where red is equated with evil and green with good, reversing
the associations we seem to see elsewhere.

Carol, noting that Snape's incantation to heal Draco doesn't fit the
countercurse pattern at all and is perhaps sui generis