Lesson One - The Full Body-Bind Curse (Year II)

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Ambrosius greeted them with his usual calm voice. “I am glad to see that most of you are still here, and that you have chosen to take Defence Against the Dark Arts in your second year. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves during the holidays. However, as you have surely noticed, they are now over and I therefore expect nothing less than your full attention and hard work.” He marked a brief pause, his gaze going from face to face to make sure the message was clear.

Leaving his desk, he started wandering around the room, his hands behind his back, as he pursued: “As you may remember, last term we began learning about defensive spells, at least a few basic ones. Can anyone briefly remind me what charms we talked about, and their uses when dealing with the Dark Arts?" he asked, to make sure that the students hadn't forgotten everything, as it was sometimes the case after a long break.

"No one?" Ambrosius said once the silence has lasted long enough. "I have to admit I am slightly disappointed. Well, I suggest that you read the notes you took last year one more time, and hope you will remember this lesson better. I believe we can move on to the subject of today's lesson. If you do not have any questions, that is." He waited several seconds, but none of his students raised their hand. He pursued, noticing that they were all observing him with consistence. "The spells we have seen so far have a certain number of limits, which make them ineffective in some situations. Therefore, today we are going to learn two new defensive charms that may prove very useful for all of you in the future."

Approaching his desk, he took out his wand and swiftly flicked it. A piece of chalk flew out of his bag, levitated towards the blackboard, and then stopped at a few inches from the surface, hovering in mid-air, waiting for further instructions. Ambrosius faced his audience and announced: "The subject of today's lesson are the Full Body-Bind Curse and the Freezing Charm." While the students were pulling out their quills and parchments in order to take notes, one could hear the grating sound of the chalk writing on the board. "Since I did not have the possibility to give you any homework for this lesson, you may still be unacquainted with these spells. Unlike previous lessons, this one will therefore consist of two parts. First, we are going to talk about the theory concerning these charms and after that you will have the opportunity to practice them in groups as usually."

Ambrosius ceased his stroll between around the classroom and turned towards his audience. "We will start with Petrificus Totalus. Has anyone heard of this curse before or does anyone have an idea, however vague it may be, concerning its effects?" he asked, his gaze moving from student to student.

Once again, only utter silence followed his question. "You all seem particularly sleepy today" he remarked. "If you desire to earn some points and thus aid your House to reach victory in the Cup this year, I highly recommend that you wake up and participate."

"The Full-Body Bind Curse, also known as the Body Freezing Curse, is a spell that renders the victim completely immobile. The incantation is Petrificus Totalus and the wand movement required to perform it is, from left to right, a hook, then a horizontal line and finally a short vertical line downwards." he explained while showing the motion with his wand. Behind him, the blackboard was filling with information about the spell.

"More precisely, the body of one hit by this curse will become rigid, making them fall on the ground due to a lack of balance. However, they will not be unconscious, and the spell does not affect their breathing ability. Furthermore, the victim is completely aware of what is happening around them, being able to move their eyes, even if they cannot control any other part of their body. Therefore, the Full-Body Bind Curse is extremely useful in defence against dark forces, since if you succeed in hitting your foe with this spell, they will be unable to harm you in any way. Unlike the Leg-Locker Curse, which only blocks the victim's legs, it has the advantage of preventing a witch or wizard from using their wand, which is crucial when facing a dangerous opponent in battle. It goes without saying that the Body Freezing Charms is most effective on living foes, and it is mostly used when defending against witches or wizards. However, being more powerful than for example the Knock-Back Jinx, it is also more difficult to cast successfully, and requires a level of concentration that some of you might still not be able to achieve." Ambrosius explained.

He made a pause, listening to the scratch of quills on parchments as the students were writing down what he was saying. "Once someone is affected by the Body Freezing Curse, they cannot undo the effect of the spell by themselves whilst under it. However, there are several ways to "awaken" someone who has been subjected to this curse. Can anyone tell me more about these means?"

The students seemed to ignore the answer to his question, or perhaps they were simply too frightened to give it. Whatever the reason, it appeared that he would be the only one talking during the lesson.

"The first way to undo the effects of the Full-Body Bind Curse is the Reviving Spell, whose incantation is Rennervate. Contrary to what its name indicates, it is not used to bring the deceased back to life, since that is impossible, even in the wizarding world, however hard that may be to accept." he added with a shade of pain in his voice. "Its primary effect is to bring one back to consciousness after one has been afflicted by a Stunning Spell or a Full-Body Bind Curse. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Stunning Spell is also a very useful weapon when defending against the Dark Arts, but as it requires a greater magical knowledge than you currently possess, you will only learn it in further years. Another way to undo the result of Petrificus Totalus is to perform Finite or Finite Incatatem, which stop all currently remaining spell effects that it targets. The only difference is that the second aims at an area rather than a specific object or individual. Later, when you will be practicing the Body-Bind Curse, you will use the Reviving Charm as a counter-curse, since it is the easiest to perform of the three." He paused for a moment, waiting to see if they had any questions.

"As you may have noticed, Petrificus comes from the Latin petra, which means stone. You can also find the same root in the word petrify: turn into stone. Even though the Full Body-Bind Curse may share some similarities with petrification, the two are fundamentally different. Does anyone know the distinction between them?" he asked, and then waited to see if one of his students had an idea.

"Thank you, miss Mayer." Ambrosius declared gratefully. That is indeed one of the main differences between the Full Body-Bind Curse and petrification. You have just earned five points for Ravenclaw. I am pleased to see that at least members of my Houses are displaying some willingness to participate."

"As you said, on one hand, petrification is very advanced Dark Magic and it cannot be countered by a simple spell, contrary to the Body Freezing Charm. On the other hand, when you have been petrified, you are completely unaware of what is happening around you, you slumber into some sort of deep coma until you are finally brought back to consciousness, whereas the Petrificus Totalus curse only results in the immobility of the victim's body. Another difference is that the effects of the Full Body-Bind spell are only temporary and will wear off after some time, even if no counter-curse is performed, whereas the ones resulting from petrification can last indefinitely, that is until the victim is administered a cure. The only known one is obtained from a magical plant called Mandrake or Mandragora, which, when matured, can be cut up to serve as a prime ingredient for the Mandrake Restorative Draught. a potion with the ability to awaken someone who has been petrified. I will not go into details now, as you will learn more about this fascinating plant in Herbology. Finally, there is also a major difference between the Full Body-Bind Curse and petrification in the way that they initially occur. Whereas the first is a rather elementary spell within the grasp of most wizards out witches, the second is Dark Magic of the most advanced kind. Although there are legends about dark wizards who were so powerful that they could literally turn others into stone, the only proven cause of petrification remains the gaze of the Basilisk, reflected in or seen through another object. As terrifying as this may sound, one of those snakes, also known as King of Serpents as they can reach gigantic sizes and live many hundreds of years, once dwelt in this very Castle."

He stopped for a moment, as several gasps could be heard throughout the classroom, from those who did not know the story. "To get to the beginning of this tale, we have to go back over a thousand years, to the time of the creation of the school. As you know, Hogwarts was founded in the Middle Ages by four of the most brilliant witches and wizards of the time : Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, who gave their names to the different Houses you have been sorted into."
He started walking around the room, the students' gazes following him. "They all had their own opinion on who should be accepted to study at Hogwarts, and while three of them were able to co-exist quite harmoniously, one did not. Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective in the choice of students. He believed that only Pure-Bloods should be permitted to attend Hogwarts, as he considered that Muggle-Born children did not deserve to learn magic. Unable to convince the others of his elitist way of thinking, he left the school. However, before departing, he built a hidden chamber in the Castle, the Chamber of Secrets, and sealed it so that only his true heir would be able to reopen it. He or she alone will then have the ability to unleash and control the monster within the Chamber, and by doing so purge the school of all those who are, according to Slytherin's views, unworthy to study magic." He paused one more time, as a cold and tense atmosphere was descending upon the room.

"Of course, many searches were conducted to find the Chamber over time. None, however, were successful, and the Chamber of Secrets was dismissed as a mere legend by many. However, in 1942, a series of attacks on Muggle-Borns occurred, leading to the murder of one of them. Nevertheless, the supposed culprit was found, expelled and sent to Azkaban, the prison for wizards, even though the Chamber had still not been found. The case was considered closed, and for a long time there was no more talk of the mysterious chamber. Still, fifty years later, the attacks started again, along with messages that the Chamber of Secrets had been reopened. Luckily, this time, all the victims were merely petrified." He stopped, as many of the students were connecting this last piece of information with what he had told them earlier. "Yes, as you have certainly guessed, Slytherin's monster was a Basilisk, a beast whose gaze would instantly kill anyone who directly crossed it. However, this time, the victims only saw a reflection of the snake's eyes, hence being only petrified. After an escalating number of attacks, the school was on the verge of being closed. However, just as everyone thought that all hope was gone, two wizards, in their second year at the time, found their way into the Chamber, defeated the Basilisk, and sent Slytherin's heir into oblivion, thus freeing the school from the threat of the Chamber of Secrets." Ambrosius glanced at the clock. Telling the story had taken him more time than he had planned.

"As much as I would love to tell you every detail about this fascinating tale, I am afraid we have to move on with our defence spells. Besides, I believe that the story of the Chamber of Secrets is on your History of Magic curriculum, and you will therefore have the opportunity to discover every possible aspect of it." He paused for a moment, waiting to see if his students had any question about what he had just told them.

As there seemed to be no further questions, Ambrosius pursued his lesson: "Well, now that we have talked about the Full Body-Bind Curse's purpose, and that we have inspected the main differences between that spell and petrification, we can move on to inspecting its limitations. As you know, no spell is flawless. Petrifcus Totalus, however useful and powerful, does not constitute an exception to that rule. So can anyone identify its possible weaknesses?" he inquired, gazing across the classroom.

"You will not find the answer in there" he added, catching a few students glance at their textbooks. "Try to think by yourselves. Just imagine yourselves in a duel, facing a fearless opponent who is just about to cast the curse."

"Correct, miss Walters. Two points to Ravenclaw." he stated, fixing the visibly embarrassed girl. "You should not refrain from participating. Your words are true, yet only if you speak them can they be heard." He then addressed the whole class. "And please remember that inaccurate suggestions are often the necessary first step towards finding the solution."

"As you said, not unlike the Knock-Back Jinx and many other simple and moderate difficulty spells, Petrificus Totalus can be deflected by a Shield Charm, which represents one of its shortcomings. However, this weakness is not specific to the Full-Body Bind Curse." he added. "Any other suggestions?"

Since no hands were raised, Ambrosius pursued. "The efficiency of the Full-Body Bind Curse depends on the size of your opponent. For instance, it is nearly impossible to use it successfully on giants. Furthermore, having quick reflexes and reacting rapidly is very important in duelling. Thus, the length of a spell's incantation can play a major role. The longer it is, the more time your opponent has to attempt to counter or evade your charm, and it also reveals them which curse you are about to use before you even finish casting it. "

"However, there is a way to overcome that specific weakness, even if you still do not have sufficient magical knowledge to exploit it yet. Can anyone guess what I am referring to?"

"That is exact, and deserves five points for Ravenclaw. For those of you who are still unfamiliar with it, a nonverbal spell is one performed without saying the incantation out loud. This branch of magic is indeed very difficult to master as it requires an impressive amount of practice, and tremendous concentration and mental discipline. Therefore, you will only be learning it from your sixth year at Hogwarts." Ambrosius pointed out. He glanced at the clock, and pursued: "Well, if you do not have any questions about the Full-Body Bind Curse, I would like to quickly go over the Immobilus spell before letting you practice what have learned today."

"The Freezing Charm, whose incantation is Immobilus, is relatively similar to the Full-Body Bind Curse, as it stops things from moving. However, the main difference is that it is not used on human opponents, but rather on objects, plants and even some magical creatures. For example, if you recall our second lesson last year, we saw that one way to defeat Devil's Snare is to use a Lumos Solem spell. Casting a Freezing Charm would be another solution to get away from the plant's tendrils."

"Well, that is all you need to know, and if you would now please join me at the front of the classroom, so that we can move on to the practical part, that I am sure you have all been expecting with impatience." After a series of creaking sounds as the students were pulling their chairs, they all approached Ambrosius's desk. As during his two previous lessons, the professor swished his wand twice, causing the desks and chairs to line up at the back of the room, while a set of cushions appeared on the vast empty space in the middle.

"You know what you have to do. You will work in groups of two, casting the Full-Body Bind Curse alternately. Please first make sure that your pronunciation of the incantation is correct, and that your wand movement is precise before trying to perform it." he advised, showing them the blackboard, where all the information about the spell was indicated. "Do not worry if you are unsuccessful at first, this is a quite difficult spell. One more thing: if you do "petrify" your partner, use Rennervate to undo the curse's effects. If you have difficulties with it, call me and I will come to help you." He gazed at his students, then finished: "If you have nothing to ask about the task, you are free to start."

Ambrosius watched his students split into groups and start practicing. This time, everyone seemed to have a partner, so he began strolling around, observing how they would perform and ready to offer his assistance if required.

He first walked to Aylee Walters and Auden Mayer, just as the two Ravenclaws were about to begin. Being as discrete as ever, he stood by and contemplated them while they executed the task.