Think Lovely Thoughts: The Patronus Charm
written by Mira Wellington
The Patronus Charm; you can learn how it works, how to cast it and what yours means!
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
9
Reads
13,407
Uses of the Patronus
Chapter 4
There are two known uses for the Patronus Charm.
The first and main use of the Patronus is to drive off certain Dark creatures, such as Dementors and Lethifolds and is the only known charm that will work against them. As Dementors feed on happy memories causing humans to drown in their own sorrow and sadness, the Patronus acts as a shield of sorts, of which the Dementor would try to feed off instead — the Patronus is comprised exclusively of positive feelings and cannot comprehend negative emotion, so the Dementor's influence cannot affect it.
The other use was devised by Albus Dumbledore, who invented a way of using the Patronus (corporeal and non) as a means of communication. They can deliver messages, speaking with the voice of the caster. This source of communication is believed to be exclusive to the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Using the Patronus for communication offers great advantages in security, as Patronuses identify the caster and are Dark Arts-proof.
Multiple Patronuses can be cast for communication. An example was when Severus Snape used his Patronus to lead Harry Potter to a pool in the Forest of Dean in 1997, where he had laid Godric Gryffindor's Sword for Harry to retrieve. It is unknown if Snape had conjured the Patronus with instructions or if he was hiding and controlling it for this task. Harry's Patronus was able to follow both oral and physical commands. They also only remain active whilst the caster is focusing on them. If they are not protecting anyone, Patronuses seem to take on the traits of the creature they resemble and generally follow their caster around. This makes it unsure whether or not they are sentient.
The first and main use of the Patronus is to drive off certain Dark creatures, such as Dementors and Lethifolds and is the only known charm that will work against them. As Dementors feed on happy memories causing humans to drown in their own sorrow and sadness, the Patronus acts as a shield of sorts, of which the Dementor would try to feed off instead — the Patronus is comprised exclusively of positive feelings and cannot comprehend negative emotion, so the Dementor's influence cannot affect it.
The other use was devised by Albus Dumbledore, who invented a way of using the Patronus (corporeal and non) as a means of communication. They can deliver messages, speaking with the voice of the caster. This source of communication is believed to be exclusive to the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Using the Patronus for communication offers great advantages in security, as Patronuses identify the caster and are Dark Arts-proof.
Multiple Patronuses can be cast for communication. An example was when Severus Snape used his Patronus to lead Harry Potter to a pool in the Forest of Dean in 1997, where he had laid Godric Gryffindor's Sword for Harry to retrieve. It is unknown if Snape had conjured the Patronus with instructions or if he was hiding and controlling it for this task. Harry's Patronus was able to follow both oral and physical commands. They also only remain active whilst the caster is focusing on them. If they are not protecting anyone, Patronuses seem to take on the traits of the creature they resemble and generally follow their caster around. This makes it unsure whether or not they are sentient.
