Harry Potter: 5 Best Defense Against The Dark Arts Spells (& 5 Useless Ones)

The cursed position of Defense Against the Dark Arts notwithstanding, Hogwarts does quite well in this department (so what if the teacher is recycled every single school year?) The students are taught some of the most impressive spells known in the series, far more so than in other subjects like Transfiguration or Charms, for example.

In fact, when Harry Potter starts his own secret club in the fifth year — Dumbledore’s Army — the magic he trains them with is entirely based on his experiences defending against the Dark Arts, so to speak. The list provided measures some of the more impressive spells in the category against those that don’t really make a sufficient impact.

10 Best: Salvio Hexia

Hermione carries the group on her shoulders, a fact that is made painfully clear on the final leg of their journey. After escaping from the Death Eaters at Xenophilius Lovegood’s home, the trio disapparate into the safety of a forest.

To safeguard themselves against any lurking enemies, Hermione casts an incredibly powerful charm that allegedly prevents any hexes from activating in their vicinity — in Latin, Salvio refers to “protection”. This spell requires repetitive uses depending on the area being covered.

9 Useless: Confundo

Confundo, also known as the Confundus charm, scrambles the thought processes of those it is used against, providing the caster with enough time to escape or come up with a plan of action.

This spell is not necessarily safe, however, as it can easily backfire much like Obliviate if not employed with precaution. More importantly, one must consider the ethical consequences of this charm: Excluding the finer degree of control provided by the Imperius Curse, how different is Confundo, really?

8 Best: Protego

An extremely useful spell, the Shield Charm can be employed in a variety of situations (and comes in a wide range of applications.) The standard version is helpful in terms of blocking a large number of attack spells, or even actual objects, on occasion reflecting the projectiles away from the body.

The advanced ones, like Protego Maxima, Protego Horribilis, and Protego Totalum create large-scale shields, but a dark mode also exists in the form of Protego Diabolica, an enchantment used by Grindelwald to separate his devotees from the betrayers.

7 Useless: Finite Incantatem

The magic that Finite is based on is quite interesting: and it has been a convenient method to negate the action of small level hexes. In any case, the General Counter-Spell, as it is also known, is terribly ineffective against complex magic, for instance, literally any curse Voldemort might have placed on his Horcruxes.

Also, Finite Incantatem cannot alter the result of any spell, which is why Snape is forced to use a complex mantra to help seal Draco’s wounds after Harry recklessly flings Sectumsempra at him.

6 Best: Impedimenta

This might technically be a hex, indicating a negative aura, but can be a lifesaver if one finds oneself in battle against a highly agile adversary.

The Impediment Jinx slows the opponent down, much like a slow-motion reel, although its duration does not exceed more than a couple of seconds. Still, given how wizarding duels often occur at lightspeed (assuming that’s the velocity of a spell), the advantage proffered by Impedimenta can completely shift the tides of victory.

5 Useless: Reducto

If cast incorrectly, Reducto can turn rather deadly — imagine a spell, which can cause things to explode into dust, accidentally striking an ally (or even having it reflected towards the user.)

This obviously doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used at all, considering that Dumbledore’s Army default towards the Reductor Curse while scouring the Ministry’s Department of Mysteries for any clues towards Sirius’ whereabouts. To be honest, though, the fact that nobody got hit by it, hero or villain, was nothing more than plain old luck.

4 Best: Expecto Patronum

A Patronus is notoriously challenging to externalize, but this has more to do with the caster’s mental state than their magical ability. As long as one is purely happy, or manages to draw forth any memories of comfort, they will be able to propel Dementors in the opposite direction as if they were made of paper.

The Patronus animal is also one of the safest ways to deliver messages to other people (although it is unknown if there is Dark Magic powerful enough to destroy them.)

3 Useless: Riddikulus

By definition, the Boggart-Banishing Charm is meant to elicit the most absurd response, as the Boggart is compelled to transform itself from the caster’s worst phobia to their most hilarious vision. Granted that it is quite amusing to watch Neville dress Professor Snape in his grandma’s mothbitten outfit, but how often do people come across these entities, really?

Riddikulus works on a different level, that of helping a young witch or wizard master their innermost fears, but it would be of no assistance in a real duel.

2 Best: Expelliarmus

The amazing thing about Expelliarmus is that it elegantly crystallizes the moral essence of Harry Potter: the act of disarming someone might take away their weapon, but doesn’t hurt them in any way.

Several other spells can be used for the same purpose: Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, or any one of the Unforgivables, but this one is a truly peaceful way of ending the battle. This is what Dumbledore continuously tries to explain to Harry, and this is why the latter’s final spell against Lord Voldemort is Expelliarmus.

1 Useless: Rictusempra

Rictusempra was edited out of the cinematic adaptations, one of the several book spells that were unfairly axed (mainly because watching Draco writhe around under an invisible tickle-force would have been incredibly satisfying.) As part of DADA, the probability of this charm having any kind of purpose is dismally low.

First of all, one would assume that Rictusempra only technically works on people prone to ticklishness, and second, it’s not impossible to hold still for a few seconds and respond with a conclusive Avada Kedavra in the middle of laughing one’s guts out.

About The Author

Ajay Aravind
(429 Articles Published)

In real life, Ajay disguises himself as an academic, mainly writing textbooks for children — who all hate him for making their lives more miserable. He also writes about TV and film, strewing his opinions across the internet to see if people care (they don’t). You can find him @stain_dprinc_ss on Twitter.

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