Protego

Spell Name: Shield Charm

Incantation: Protego

Pronunciation: /proʊˈteɪɡoʊ/ proh-TAY-goh

Spell Branch: Charms

Magical Discipline(s):

Appearance:

Description: The base spell of the Protego charm family, one of the Seven Shield Spells of Pure Wand Magic.

The Shield Charm causes minor to strong jinxes, curses, and hexes to rebound upon the attacker, or at least prevents them from having their full effect. It can also cause a shield to erupt from the caster's wand.

Regulations: Legal

Skill Level: Intermediate

Etymology: Latin protego, "to protect"

References:

• First seen in Goblet of Fire, in which Harry Potter is taught this spell by Hermione Granger in preparation for the third task in the Triwizard Tournament.
• Also used throughout the series. Examples are in Order of the Phoenix when Harry blocks Snape's Legilimency after a lengthy Occlumency lessons and when Harry is duelling the Death Eaters.
• Harry later uses this spell in Half-Blood Prince to block Snape's jinx when he was showing Ron how to cast a spell without saying a word.
• Harry later uses it in Deathly Hallows to separate Ron and Hermione when they are fighting.

Notes: Considered by many the culmination of personal defensive magic, the Protego branch of spells are an evolution of the Declino family in that they not only defend a wizard from magical attack, but often actually reflect the attack back on its source. The Protego spells have also proven able to repel even the most powerful curses, with the single exception of the all-powerful Avada Kedavra, though against powerful Dark magic the Protego branch may only create a barrier, rather than reflecting the spell back.