This Weird Harry Potter Scene Makes You Question Everything You Knew Before
There's no secret that JKR was adding to the Wizarding World as she went — new ideas came up and she just implemented them without caring too much about tying them up with the previous information.
This practice of hers led to one too many everlasting discussions in the fan community: to this day, people argue about Thestrals, Time-Turners, and Dementors.
After the implementation of many new artifacts and magical creatures, massive holes appeared in Harry Potter 's lore, and Rowling tried to address them later.
But this issue does not only come with new additions: sometimes, the writing itself defies what we've learned about the Wizarding World entirely. We have a prime example of that right here.
At the end of The Half-Blood Prince, as Harry's chasing Snape and the Death Eaters, he clashed with his ex-Potions Professor.
Well, "clashes" is a massive overstatement: it's more of Harry's humiliation as he can't even scratch Snape because of their skill difference.
But are Snape's dueling skills that great to defy the very mechanics of magic?
In this scene, Snape constantly "parries", "blocks", and "deflects" Harry's spells, but the thing is they are not even cast yet!
Take a look for yourself:
'Cruc—'
But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry backwards off his feet before he could complete it…
How is Snape able to interact with a spell that is not completed?
Everything we know about the spells in Harry Potter is based on the fact that they require a specific hand movement and a specific vocal incantation; otherwise, the spell will not be cast.
There's also the case of nonverbal magic, but it still requires the wizard to complete the spell in their head before it's cast.
Snape, however, blocks and deflects Harry's attacks before the boy finishes the incantations. This should mean that there's nothing to parry or block in the first place, but Snape somehow manages to do that.
We can only suggest two theories to explain this scene: either JKR just messed up her wording and Snape was merely knocking Harry off or preventing him from casting or magic in the Wizarding World doesn't work like we've been told for six books by that point.
Oh, there's one more possibility: Snape is just too good to follow the rules set for everyone else (something he accuses Harry of all the time).
But honestly, we believe it's just the poor wording that messed up the entire magical system of this universe.