#expelliarmus

@wolfstarmicrofic November 24, word count 796

Previous part First part

To say they were shocked was an understatement. Harry made a gurgling noise when Sirius finished telling them his story and what had happened earlier that morning. They all turned to look at the tiny boy, held tightly in Lily’s arms. He seemed overjoyed by all the attention and squealed in excitement. 

“And Albus said he needs the name of the spy before he’ll tell you what his next plans are?” Effie asked, her hand clutching Monty’s so tight that it must have hurt, but Monty didn’t say a word and held her back probably as tightly. 

“This locket, why do you think Voldemort went to so much trouble to hide it?” James asked, looking from Sirius to Remus. Sirius shrugged. 

“Why does that lunatic do half the things he does?”

“Power,” Lily answered. “He wants power, and he’s good at getting it.” The room fell silent again. 

“Do you have any idea who the spy could be?” Monty asked. Sirius and Remus nodded, a thick lump rising in Sirius’s throat as he attempted to get the words out. 

“We do, that’s one of the reasons we’re here,” he looked at James, and James let out a long, harsh sigh. 

“Let’s come up with a plan, and I’ll send an owl.”

“Who do you think it is?” Effie asked, leaning forward, her face void of any joy. It made Sirius incredibly sad as he knew he was about to break her heart. 

“Peter,” Remus answered for him, and every face turned grave. 

“Peter? But it can’t be Peter, he’s a good, sweet boy,” Effie argued, almost pleading with them. 

“We’ve known him since the day he was born. He’s been friends with James since he could walk.”

“Look, we’re only saying we think it’s him. We haven’t proven anything,” Remus said, holding up his hands and trying to placate the Potters. “Sirius and Regulus have narrowed down the list, and he’s one of the few left.”

“Who else?” Lily asked, watching them carefully. 

“All of you,” Sirius said, meeting her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes widened. 

“Is that all?” 

“Apart from Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall, oh and Aberforth,” Sirius told her truthfully. 

“James,” she said, turning to her husband. “Get Pettigrew here now, I want this sorted today,” she gathered Harry in her arms and went upstairs, the tiny infant asleep in her arms. 

“Things aren’t looking good, are they, dear?” Effie said sadly to Monty, excusing herself and following Lily upstairs. Monty followed her soon after, and then it was just the three of them. 

“What’s the plan then?” James asked, his face pinched as they discussed how to trap one of their oldest friends to check his mind for betrayal. 

“Do you still have your old cloak?” Sirius asked, and an hour later, he was hidden behind the sofa under James’s invisibility cloak as they waited for Peter to arrive. 

It had been decided that Remus would hide upstairs with Lily and Harry in Harry’s bedroom. They cast a silencing charm around the room just in case Harry cried, so Peter wouldn’t be alerted to their presence. 

5 o’clock came and went, and there was no sign of Peter. James had started pacing anxiously across the living room. 

“Fuck sake, James, sit down. He’ll know something's up if you’re all sweaty,” Sirius hissed at him from behind the sofa. 

“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” James said quickly, going to sit in an empty armchair. No sooner had he sat down than someone knocked at the door. The inhabitants of the house froze. Effie was first to move, striding across the room and out into the hallway. He heard the door open, and Effie greeted Peter fondly. 

“Peter, darling, how are you?” She asked, as she would have normally. She was a good actor. 

“Fine, thank you, Effie,” Peter's voice replied, and Sirius found himself snarling under the cloak. He stopped himself. He needed to concentrate now. 

After answering a question only he would know, Effie let him in and pointed out the seat directly in front of Sirius to him. 

“Make yourself comfy, darling, and I’ll get some tea.”

“Hey, Pete,” James greeted him, his words sounding only slightly off, but Peter didn’t notice as he took the seat Effie had suggested. 

“Hi, thanks for the invite, I was at a loss about what to do for dinner, but I’ll never turn down Effie’s cooking,” he said happily. “Oh, thank you, Effie,” he thanked her as she handed over a cup and saucer with a few biscuits balanced on the edge. 

Everyone was finally seated with refreshments, James ready with his wand to cast Expelliarmus if Sirius prompted him so that Peter couldn’t escape. They began to chatter, and Sirius slipped effortlessly into Peter’s mind. 

[Chapter 28, Book 5]

Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the O.W.L. paper in his bag. As he emerged from the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up. Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Wormtail was looking from  Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face.

“All right, Snivellus?” said James loudly.

Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, “Expelliarmus!” Snape’s wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter. 

[Chapter 11, Book 2]

“As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position,” Lockhart told the silent crowd. “On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth. 

“One — two — three —” 

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: “Expelliarmus!” There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl  on the floor. 

Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. “Do you think he’s all right?” she squealed through her fingers.

“Who cares?” said Harry and Ron together.

 Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. 

The two excerpts above make it unmistakably clear:

In the original text, Snape does absolutely nothing to provoke James, yet J.Potter uses Expelliarmus to disarm someone who had not attacked him at all. This moment marks the beginning of a sequence of violent acts that the book describes in explicit detail right afterward.

I am not quoting them here to keep the piece focused, but if anyone wants to argue, I am fully prepared to cite every single line — and when that happens, no one should complain if their delusions collapse. No just no die, why do you try?

Years later, Snape used the very same spell that once opened a tragedy against him… to teach students how to defend themselves safely.

During the dueling demonstration with Lockhart, he cast Expelliarmus exactly as a defensive spell: Lockhart was blasted off his feet but not seriously harmed, still able to get up and continue bragging. Snape disliked the man, yet he did not harm someone he did not like.

This stands in complete contrast to how J.Potter once used the same spell merely for the sake of humiliating another person.

[Chapter 16, Book 2]

“Awfully sorry, boys, but I’ll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can’t have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I’d never sell another book —” 

Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, “Expelliarmus!” 

Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window.

“Shouldn’t have let Professor Snape teach us that one,” said Harry furiously, kicking Lockhart’s trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him. 

[Chapter 18, Book 5]

“Right,” said Harry, when she had sat down again, “shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus,  you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it’s pretty basic but I’ve found it really useful —”

“Oh please,” said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. “I don’t think Expelliarmus  is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?” 

“I’ve used it against him,” said Harry quietly. “It saved my life last June.” 

Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet. 

[Chapter 5, Book 7]

Lupin looked aghast. ‘Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren’t prepared to kill!’

‘We were hundreds of feet up! Stan’s not himself, and if I Stunned him and he’d fallen he’d have died the same as if I’d used Avada Kedavra! Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort two years ago,’ Harry added defiantly. 

Lupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore’s Army how to Disarm. 

AND

‘So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?’ said Harry angrily. 

‘Of course not,’ said Lupin, ‘but the Death Eaters – frankly, most people! – would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!’ 

Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him. 

‘I won’t blast people out of my way just because they’re there,’ said Harry. ‘That’s Voldemort’s job.’ 

It was J.Potter’s own son, who had faced Voldemort multiple times, who admitted that Expelliarmus was the spell that truly saved his life in real battles. And Harry continued to use it as his primary defensive spell in other dangerous situations.

And notably, Snape taught Harry to use the Disarming Charm as a non-lethal form of defence, a way to end a confrontation without humiliating or harming anyone. That stands in complete contrast to the way James once used the same spell.

[Chapter 36, Book 7]

‘Avada Kedavra!’

‘Expelliarmus!’

The bang was like a cannon-blast and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of  Nagini, spinning through the air towards the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backwards, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upwards. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snake-like face vacant and unknowing.

That spell played its part in the final battle, helping Harry end the Dark Empire’s leader once and for all. Although Snape had died beforehand, the invisible legacy he left behind was still inherited by Harry and the boy used it in the very spirit his teacher had once taught him.

What the hell are you doing there?

But there could also be an underlying layer that could call back to the series’ theme of the power of love; it could be a misconception that only combat defeat can change the Elder Wand’s loyalty, and love could also be a reason the Elder Wand’s master could relinquish its loyalty. (I am convinced this is how Dumbledore was able to defeat Grindelwald even though Grindelwald had the “more powerful wand”; Grindelwald would rather lose than kill the man he still loved.)

Yet that layer could be kept to subtext and never clearly elaborated on. If so, it frankly still wouldn’t affect the detail of Draco’s wand now working perfectly for Harry, because Draco’s loyalties were with Harry at that point and he wanted Harry to win, so his wand, and thus the Elder Wand, was actually shared between them until the end of the war. (JKR seemed to want it to look like Harry had to force Draco’s wand to change allegiance because she didn’t want them to be anything but enemies, but I’m not fooled.)

heartbreaking doctor who moments ♢ vincent hearing his worth

Expelliarmus ✨