Shield Charm

Shield Charm
Incantation	Protego (pro-TAY-goh)
Type	Charm
Hand movement
Light	Invisible on its own, reflected light of spell
Effect	Reflected spells and blocked physical forces

"You wouldn't believe how many people, even people who work at the Ministry, can't do a decent Shield Charm."

— George Weasley regarding the charm

The Shield Charm (Protego) was a charm that protected the caster with an invisible shield that reflected spells and blocked physical entities.

It was a part of the Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum and was taught to sixth years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There were also multiple variations of the Shield Charm.

Casting and effects

A magical shield produced by this charm

When cast, a (usually) invisible shield was conjured in front of the caster's wand, creating a protective barrier between themselves and their attacker. This shield could block and reflect a multitude of spells, such as most jinxes, hexes, and minor curses, as well as block physical forces. Exceptionally powerful Shield Charms were even able to knock people off their feet. However, this shield was not completely impenetrable, as it could not block Unforgivable Curses.

The difficulty of casting a Shield Charm was relatively moderate. Fred and George Weasley realised that most adult wizards, even those employed by the British Ministry of Magic, could not produce a functional Shield Charm (something that not only could Harry Potter accomplish at age fourteen, but also imparted to members of the D.A.). They used this to their advantage when marketing their line of protective clothing (hats, cloaks, gloves), upon which permanent Shield Charms were cast.

History

15th century

The most famous use of the charm was during a 1484 jousting tournament

The Shield Charm's origins were unknown, but was in use by the 15th century.

The most famous use of the charm took place in 1484, in the town of Poppleton, where the tyrannical Earl of Paunchley held a jousting match. He insisted that all the nobles for miles around must come to cheer him on at the tournament and "no excuse would be acceptable" for missing the event. But young Edmund Gaddlegate fell out of a tree that day and broke his leg, and his mother put him to bed. The Earl wouldn't hear of anyone staying home, so he dragged Edmund and his mother to the castle, and said the mother had to watch while her child was tied to a horse and forced to compete in the jousting.

The other knights left the tournament "in disgust" at the idea of jousting with a small injured boy, so the Earl vowed that he himself would attack Edmund. But a witch in the crowd named Hannah Cockleford had other ideas. Fed up with the evil Earl, she cast an extremely strong Shield Charm between Edmund and the Earl, who was "squashed flat in his armour" when the Shield Charm knocked him backwards and his horse landed on him. The Earl of Paunchley did not die, but when he came-to he was under the impression that he was a donkey named Hairy Cyril.

20th century

"He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses."

— Harry Potter explaining the Shield Charm

Patricia Rakepick taught this charm to Jacob's sibling on the Training Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in order to teach them how to defend themselves whilst they tried to break the curses on the Cursed Vaults.

Harry Potter first learned this spell in his preparations for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, during which his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger shot spells at him so that he could practise shielding himself. Although he later demonstrated an impressive mastery of this technique surpassing that of many Ministry employees, Harry initially had difficulty casting this spell as "Hermione was able to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs jinx."

Harry also taught this charm to Dumbledore's Army during the 1995–1996 school year, so the members would be able to protect themselves when the time came. This was also the subject of a question of the Theory of Charms O.W.L. in 1996.

Second Wizarding War

"Harry cast more Shield Charms, and Voldemort's would-be victims, Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, darted past him into the Great Hall where they joined the fight already flourishing inside it."

— Harry Potter saves Hannah Abbott and Seamus Finnigan with Shield Charms

The Shield Charm being used during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries

This spell was used frequently during the Second Wizarding War, the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, and the Battle of Hogwarts, as well as on many other occasions.

Harry used the charm multiple times most notably during the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May 1998, to protect Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott from Voldemort, and did the same with Molly Weasley after she killed Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry's Shield Charms were so powerful they were able to block curses from Lord Voldemort himself.

21st century

During the Calamity which occurred in the 2010s, volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force frequently used this protective charm when duelling enemies in Fortresses or fighting aggressive magical creatures in their missions to overpower Confoundables and release Foundables.

Known variations

Horace Slughorn casting Protego Maxima

Other varieties of the Shield Charm included as followed:

• Protego Duo
• Protego horribilis
• Protego Maxima
• Protego totalum
• Protego Diabolica

Known uses

"His Shield Charm was so strong Snape was knocked off-balance and hit a desk."

— Harry Potter's impressive mastery of the charm

Caster(s)	Date	Notes
Hannah Cockleford	1484	Hannah Cockleford used the Shield Charm to protect a Muggle boy named Edmund Gaddlegate when he was forced to joust with the Earl of Paunchley.
Unidentified 19th-century Hogwarts student	1 September 1890	Used the Shield Charm to protect themselves when they were attacked by Guardians in Vault 12.
Leander Prewett	2 September 1890	Used it before Defence Against the Dark Arts class in a duel.
Sebastian Sallow
Mudiwa Onai	1891	Mudiwa Onai used the charm to protect herself from an attack by a goblin during Ranrok's followers' attack on Hogwarts.
Gellert Grindelwald	8 December 1926	Gellert Grindelwald, disguised as Percival Graves, used this charm in the New York City Subway to fend off Newt Scamander.
		Gellert Grindelwald, disguised as Percival Graves, used this charm to fend off former Auror Tina Goldstein, whilst duelling her on the street.
		After a confrontation with President Seraphina Picquery of MACUSA, Grindelwald used massive in size Shield Charms to counter various spells fired at him by the MACUSA Aurors present.
Gunnar Grimmson	September 1927	Gunnar Grimmson used the charm to cast a spherical shield around him and protect himself from the angry assaults of the Obscurial Credence Barebone.
Albus Dumbledore	1932	Dumbledore performed this spell multiple times while fighting Credence in Berlin, deflecting a spell and his obscurus attacks with ease. He also used this spell while fighting Gellert Grindelwald in the Eyrie in Bhutan.
Gellert Grindelwald		Grindelwald deflected a spell from Dumbledore in their duel with the charm. He also placed a shield around himself when his opponents in Bhutan began firing spells at him.
Jacob's sibling	1987–1988 school year	Was taught this charm by Patricia Rakepick on the Training Grounds, in order to help them face the Cursed Vaults. Rakepick used the Blasting Curse against them, which they successfully blocked with the charm.
Jacob's sibling		Used it to shield themselves from a spell cast at them by Ben Copper disguised as one of R's messengers in the Clock Tower Courtyard, but were knocked over regardless.
Chiara Lobosca	1988–1989 school year	Used this charm to defend herself and other students from several jinxed Ever-Bashing Boomerang that had been released in the Great Hall.
Patricia Rakepick		Rakepick used this charm to create a powerful protective shield around herself, to shield herself from the spells of Jacob's sibling and their friends when they tried to retaliate against her.
Holly Blackbird and Jacob's sibling	1989–1990 school year	Used it protect themselves from rainfaill while flying high in the sky on their broomsticks.
Chiara Lobosca and Victor Ketsueki	1990–1991 school year	Used it protect themselves while eradicating the doxy infestation at Hogwarts.
Peregrine		Used it to shield himself from Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde's Conjunctivitis Curse in Knockturn Alley.
Vega	1992–1993 school year	Used it wandlessly to block Jacob's sibling's Knockback Jinx while teaching them how to cast this spell wandlessly.
Harry Potter	June 1995	Harry Potter first learned this spell in his preparations for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament.
	Early 1996	Taught this spell to Dumbledore's Army members in the Room of Requirement.
	March 1996	Harry once used the charm to defend himself against Professor Snape's Legilimency during Occlumency training, and found himself unexpectedly seeing some of Snape's unhappy childhood memories. This was most likely the reason why Snape was using a Pensieve to store his memories, and thus to preserve his privacy.
	18 June 1996	Harry used the spell during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in the Hall of Prophecy in order to protect the prophecy.
		Harry used the spell during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in the Death Chamber in order to protect the prophecy.
	2 September 1996	During his first sixth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Harry and the other members of his class had to cast this spell non-verbally. When Snape tried to jinx him, Harry instinctively used a Shield Charm (verbally cast) that was powerful enough to throw Snape off his feet, against a table.
	Early 1998	Harry cast this charm between Hermione and Ron after the latter returned, since Hermione was furious with Ron to the point of wanting to curse him.
		Harry used the charm multiple times during the Battle of Hogwarts in order to protect friends and allies from Lord Voldemort.
Hermione Granger	24 November 1994	In an alternate timeline, Hermione Granger used the charm to stop Scorpius Malfoy's other self intervening in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament.
	2 September 1996	Hermione managed to cast this nonverbally against Neville's Jelly-Legs Curse in their first sixth year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.
	Late 1997	She cast the Shield Charm when Harry and Ron got into a violent and aggressive argument during their search for the Horcruxes, before they could draw their wands on each other. When Ron subsequently left, Hermione was hampered in trying to follow him and persuade him not to leave by her own shield.
	1 May 1998	Used a Shield Charm during the Gringotts break-in, to disrupt the Thief's Downfall.
Draco Malfoy	Early May 1997	Draco used it nonverbal to deflect Harry Potter's nonverbal Levicorpus during their brief duel in Boys bathroom.
Scorpius Malfoy	24 February 1995	In an alternate timeline, Scorpius Malfoy used the charm to stop his other self intervening in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Gilderoy Lockhart	17 December 1992	Lockhart presumably attempted to demonstrate this charm, or something similar, to Harry during the first meeting of his Duelling Club, but all he truly wanted was to twirl his wand fancifully, which failed spectacularly, dropping his wand in the process.
Death Eaters	1996	During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the fighting Death Eaters cast many Shield Charms to protect themselves from Dumbledore's Army's Stunning spells.
Bellatrix Lestrange		During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Bellatrix used the Shield Charm when Harry tried to stun her in the Atrium.
Sirius Black		Used it to defend himself whilst duelling Death Eaters in the Death Chamber.
Lord Voldemort	2 May 1998	Voldemort used the Shield Charm when forcing himself into Hogwarts Castle during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Severus Snape	30 June 1997	Severus Snape cast this charm to deflect Harry Potter's spells during their brief duel after he killed Albus Dumbledore.
	1 May 1998	Severus later used a Shield Charm during his duel with Minerva McGonagall, knocking her off her feet.
Remus Lupin	1 August 1997	Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and various other guests at Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding cast shield charms after Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus arrived to warn those at The Burrow that Lord Voldemort had taken over the Ministry of Magic.
Nymphadora Tonks
Hogwarts staff	1998	A magical shield was cast around Hogwarts just before the final battle in the hopes of delaying Lord Voldemort and his army, in order to give Harry Potter time to find the Horcrux hidden there.

Known practitioners

Unidentified 19th-century Hogwarts student

Sebastian Sallow

Leander Prewett

Gunnar Grimmson

Newton Scamander

Porpentina Goldstein

Theseus Scamander

Hannah Cockleford

Patricia Rakepick

Jacob's sibling

Chiara Lobosca

Holly Blackbird

Victor Ketsueki

Peregrine

Vega

Crescent Flump

Harry Potter

Neville Longbottom

Hermione Granger

Bellatrix Lestrange

Dolores Umbridge

Sirius Black

Lucius Malfoy

George Weasley

Fred Weasley

Ernie Macmillan

Draco Malfoy

Severus Snape

Remus Lupin

Nymphadora Tonks

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Ginny Weasley

Tom Riddle

Hestia Jones

Scorpius Malfoy

Etymology

Latin protego, "I cover" or "I protect".

Behind the scenes

This spell as seen in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells

Umbridge using the Shield Charm to block an arrow in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Minerva McGonagall using the Shield Charm against a giant in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

• In the films, Shield Charms are used in nearly every duel shown, almost always used non-verbally and usually accompanied by a parry-like wand movement.
• Also in the films, Shield Charms are shown to be able to deflect material objects such as arrows which were shot using a bow. Also it has shown to be able to withstand dragon fire from a Hungarian Horntail as seen in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
• The book depicts the Shield Charm as only being capable of repelling "minor to moderate curses and hexes", although Harry Potter uses it to block the worst effects of Antonin Dolohov's curse in the Department of Mysteries. However, the film implies the Shield Charm to be significantly more powerful in that Harry is able to use it to completely deflect powerful curses cast by Voldemort himself.
• In the early video games, Expelliarmus incorrectly functions as a shield charm which also repels and deflects enemy spells, due to a lack of enemies to disarm. In these games, Protego is absent.
• In the books, Protego is also able to keep two quarrelling wizards from going at each other when a shield is cast between them.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Protego is shown to be able to block the Killing Curse. Harry blocks multiple Killing Curses from Voldemort during their final duel. According to the books, this is incorrect as the Killing Curse is "unblockable" which is the main reason for its particular infamy, but within the context of the films, the fact is never mentioned. As the Killing Curse would instantly end any duel if it were unblockable, this might just be done for dramatic effect and for longer duels. Although it's very probable that this was respectively because of both Harry's mastery of the Elder Wand and Harry's blood being in Voldemort's veins, and because Bellatrix merely prevented Molly's curses from hitting her with either a Stunning Spell or the Disarming Charm, that they were able to block the Killing Curse. Bellatrix also uses the Shield Charm to block several curses cast at her by Molly Weasley in their duel.
• In Harry Potter for Kinect, Harry and Voldemort can use this spell against each other in the final battle during Voldemort's Last Stand as they engage in a normal duel.
• As Shield Charms can be used as a bewitchment on objects, animals or wizards' clothing to indirectly protect them against many physical and Dark forces, it could be that this way of casting Shield Charms, along with their extended theory, is taught in Charms class.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Possible, attempted)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First identified as Protego)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Appears in an alternate reality)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Appears in an alternate reality)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore (Mentioned in a wood carving at Spells/Duels)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter: Spells
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned in History of Magic classes)
• Harry Potter: Magic Caster Wand