Disarming Charm

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The Disarming Charm is a spell used to disarm its victim. It causes the wand to fly out of said victim's hand. Also, in some cases, it has the effect of unbalancing its victim, sweeping him or her off his or her feet. Its incantation is Expelliarmus, and the spell, when cast, has the form of a flash of scarlet light (CS11). The Disarming Charm is also known as Disarming Spell on some editions of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The importance of the Disarming Charm grows throughout the development of the series, and could arguably be considered the most crucial spell of the series. Expelliarmus is the incantation used by Harry against Voldemort during two confrontations between the wizards, on both occasions combined with the Dark Lord's Killing Curse: on the first one, it creates the Priori Incantatem effect (GF34); on the second, it causes Voldemort to be finally defeated (DH36). Remus Lupin actually tells Harry that the Death Eaters started seeing the Disarming Charm as the boy's "signature move" after the confrontation in the Little Hangleton graveyard (DH4).

Expelliarmus is also the spell used by Draco Malfoy in order to Disarm Albus Dumbledore, thus making the Slytherin the rightful master of the Elder Wand, a turn of events fundamental to the plot of the story (HBP27).

Mentions of the Disarming Charm in the series include:

• James Potter uses Expelliarmus to disarm Severus Snape after their Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL (OP28).
• Severus Snape uses Expelliarmus against Gilderoy Lockhart during the Dueling Club's only meeting, making the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher smash into a wall. Lockhart then attempts to pair up the students in order for them to practice the spell. When the dueling begins, though, almost everyone forgets about Disarming, casting other hexes and curses instead (CS11).
• Harry Potter casts the Disarming Charm on Draco Malfoy in order to take Riddle's Diary out of the latter's hands (CS13).
• Harry uses Expelliarmus to Disarm Lockhart just before the professor could manage to put a Memory Charm on both Harry and Ron Weasley, after revealing the boys he had never done any of the things he had written in his books (CS16).
• On the way back home on the Hogwarts Express, the Trio, Fred, George and Ginny Weasley practice the Disarming Charm. By that time, Harry had been getting very good at the spell (CS18).
• During Sirius Black's confrontation with the Trio inside the Shrieking Shack:
  • Sirius casts the Disarming Charm on both Harry and Hermione Granger after Ron reveals he is an Animagus (PA17).
  • When arriving at the scene, Lupin Disarms Harry and Hermione, the latter who, at this time, was also holding Ron's wand, besides her own (PA17).
  • Harry, Ron and Hermione use Expelliarmus against Severus Snape at the exact same time in an attempt to give Sirius and Lupin a chance to explain themselves. The combination of the three spells causes a huge blast, sweeping the professor off his feet and into a wall (PA19).
• Harry casts the Disarming Charm on Peter Pettigrew after the latter had managed to get hold of Lupin's wand. The spell works, but Wormtail is able to escape by transforming himself into a rat, his Animagus form (PA20).
• In a letter, Sirius tells Harry to practice Disarming for the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Later on, Hermione tells Ron that they need not to worry about it, since Harry has known how to do the spell properly for a long time (GF29)
• During the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry uses the spell against a giant spider, making the creature let go off him, dropping the boy onto the ground (GF31).
• Harry uses the Disarming Charm against Voldemort while the two wizards are dueling in the Little Hangleton graveyard, being the only charm he had ever learned in the Dueling Club at Hogwarts. The boy casts the spell at the exact same time Voldemort casts the Killing Curse. Because of the peculiar relation between their wands, this leads to a rare reverse spell effect, Priori Incantatem, that saves Harry's life (GF34).
• During Dumbledore's Army meetings (OP18):
  • The Disarming Charm is the first spell taught by Harry to the Dubledore's Army members. Zacharias Smith confronts the boy, stating the charm would not be useful against Voldemort, to which Harry replies it actually saved his life some months before. Many of the DA members do not manage to cast the spell perfectly, often due to a poor aim. Harry walks around the room correcting them, and, eventually, most of the students seem to improve throughout the meeting (OP18). Neville actually manages to Disarm Hermione during one of the following encounters (OP19).
  • Neville Longbottom manages to Disarm Harry while the latter was distracted. Harry compliments him, without mentioning the fact that in a real confrontation his opponent would not be looking in the opposite direction.
  • Fred and George take turns to use the Expelliarmus against Zacharias Smith behind his back, preventing the Hufflepuff of attempting to Disarm Anthony Goldstein.
  • Ginny manages to cast the spell pretty well on Michael Corner. The latter, however, was not doing well, either because of his own lack of skill or unwillingness to curse his own girlfriend.
  • Ernie Macmillan does not manage to hit his opponent unprepared due to unnecessarily flourishing his wand.
  • Colin and Dennis Creevey, though enthusiastically practicing the spell, show lack of aiming, causing several books to leap off their shelves.
  • Luna Lovegood, while pairing with Justin Finch-Fletchley, shows herself inconsistent, sometimes Disarming her opponent and in others merely causing his hair to stand on end.
  • As Harry approaches Cho Chang, who was paired with Marietta Edgecombe, the girl mispronounces the spell a couple of times, saying Expelliarmious and Expellimellius. As Cho utters the second mispronounced incantation, Marietta's sleeve catches fire.
  • Ron, who was paired with Hermione, claims he managed to Disarm the girl at least three times, while the latter states he only did it once.
• The Disarming Charm is one of the spells Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna use in order to escape the members of the Inquisitorial Squad who had been keeping them inside Dolores Umbridge's office (OP33).
• During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries Neville Disarms both Harry and a Death Eater before the latter managed to cast a Killing Curse (OP35).
• Draco Malfoy uses the Disarming Charm against Albus Dumbledore as the first reaches the top of the Astronomy Tower. The consequences of this act is not only the fact that the headmaster is left wandless, but also that, in taking the Elder Wand out of its owner, Draco is now its rightful master (HBP27).
• During the Battle of the Seven Potters Harry uses Expelliarmus against an Imperiused Stan Shunpike when realising the latter not to be a Death Eater. This causes the Dark Wizards to discover the true Harry, for, according to Lupin, the Death Eaters considered the Disarming Charm his "signature move" (DH4).
• Hermione Disarms Mundungus Fletcher after the latter is captured by Kreacher, preventing him from using his wand (DH11).
• In a confrontation with a gang of Snatchers, Ron Disarms one of them in order to get his wand back before Disapparating (DH19).
• Harry attempts to cast Expelliarmus against Hermione while testing the power of his temporarily Repaired wand. The spell, however, proves to be too much for his wand, that splits itself in two once more (DH17).
• During the confrontation in Malfoy Manor, Ron manages to Disarm Bellatrix Lestrange using Peter Pettigrew's wand. The witch's hand is, in turn, caught by Harry, and kept by in posession of the Trio after they manage to escape (DH23).
• Harry casts the Disarming Charm against Gregory Goyle during a confrontation between the Trio and Draco and his cronies inside the Room of Hidden Things (DH31).
• Once more, Harry uses Expelliarmus against Voldemort at the exact same time the Dark Lord casts the Killing Curse. By the time, Harry was the rightful master of the Elder Wand, having taken Draco Malfoy's wand. As Voldemort was using the Elder Wand in order to kill Harry, his spell ended up backfiring, causing not only the Dark Lord to lose the wand, but also to be finally defeated (DH36).