Summary
Among the many fantasy tropes that feature in the wizarding world ofHarry Potter— from cauldrons and magic wands to flying broomsticks and dragons — J. K. Rowling also ties in the concept of reading minds in the series. However, as Harry learns, magic involves more than just “waving your wand and saying a few funny words”.
Introduced in the fifth installment, Legilimency and Occlumency are regarded as two of the toughest branches of magic to master. Even though they can be “highly useful”, they are not taught as part of the school curriculum at Hogwarts, most probably because it takes immense skill to refine the craft. Moreover, like most spells inHarry Potter, Legilimency and Occlumency ideally require first learning the responsibility of their power.
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What Is Legilimency?
Legilimency is the ability to navigate through the “complex” and “many-layered” mind of a person to extract their thoughts, feelings and memories. The term literally translates to ‘mind-reading’, but Severus Snape considers this an oversimplified interpretation: “The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader.” While practitioners have to use the incantation ‘Legilimens’ to enter one’s mind, those who are skilled can do it non-verbally and without a wand. An effective way to do so is to be in the vicinity of the victim (“time and space matter in magic”). However, this does not apply to Harry’s case — ashe is an unintended Horcrux, he and Voldemort can delve into each other’s minds from a distance. Advanced Legilimency also involves distorting one’s thoughts, or even planting false visions or memories in their mind.
The earliest report of a noted Legilimens is Salazar Slytherin in the 10th century. He and the other founders of Hogwartsenchanted the Sorting Hatto have the skill, so it can analyze students’ minds to determine which house they belong to. In addition to objects, it is believed that some magical creatures can also perform Legilimency, such as Wampus cats.
Voldemort used Legilimency “with absurd ease” to detect lies and deceit in others. It is said that it is “the Dark Lord’s pleasure to invade the mind”. He is even able to show Harry realistic visions of Sirius being tortured so he could lure him into the Department of Mysteries. Similarly, Snape is also capable of performing Legilimency effectively. Even before he is revealed as a skilled Legilimens inHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry previously “had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds” on multiple occasions. Albus Dumbledore is known to be an expert in this field of magic too — for instance, he uses it onthe house-elf Kreacherto find out how Harry is led to the Ministry of Magic in his fifth year.
InFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Queenie Goldstein is revealed to be actually born with this talent; she does not need to cast the spell or use her wand as it simply comes naturally to her.
What Is Occlumency?
Occlumency is also an “obscure branch of magic” that has been in practice since medieval times. It is described as the “magical defense of the mind against external penetration”, most commonly Legilimency. This enables one to shield their thoughts, feelings or memories from influence or intrusion, or even to avoid being temporarily possessed. In its basic form, Occlumency involves making the mind “blank and empty”, so that a Legilimens does not have access to it. More advanced Occlumency (which requires immense willpower and discipline) focuses on suppressing certain emotions or memories that would contradict whatever the Occlumens wishes a Legilimens to believe — thus, allowing the former to conceal their lies.
In an effort to stop Voldemort from using his link with Harry for his own benefit, Dumbledore insists that Harry should getOcclumency lessons from Snape. However, this proves to be rather unsuccessful, asRowling explained during an interview: “Harry’s problem with it was always that his emotions were too near the surface and that he is in some ways too damaged […] He couldn’t suppress them, he couldn’t suppress these memories.” Another reason for his failure is that Voldemort is an accomplished Occlumens, like Snape warns Harry: “Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers.” After the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort realizes the dangers of penetrating Harry’s mind (and vice versa), so he uses Occlumency to close the connection between the two. It is only when he begins to lose control that Harry is able to see into his mind later on.
Apart from Voldemort, Snape is also a skilled Occlumens, as is demonstrated by the fact that he is able to hide his loyalty to Dumbledore from the Dark Lord himself. Dumbledore is an exceptional Occlumens as well, along with Gellert Grindelwald, who refuses to let Voldemort read his mind in Nurmengard. Bartemius Crouch Jr. also proves his skills in Occlumency when he manages tohide his true identityduring his time at Hogwarts. Horace Slughorn is also said to have some prowess in Occlumency, which is why Dumbledore does not retrieve his memory about Horcruxes by force. Draco Malfoy, surprisingly so, is a notable Occlumens too as he is “very capable of compartmentalizing his life and his emotions”. Having been taught byhis aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco uses Occlumency to keep his mission to kill Dumbledore a secret.
