Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’re going to be discussing Severus Snape, Gellert Grindelwald, Spell Creation,
the Qilin, and the latest Fantastic Beasts film: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Okay- the title has probably confused you to no end.
But, to be fair, it probably should- because the topic today’s video is centered around
is all over the place.
The focus of today’s video is a scene from the Secrets of the Dumbledore that contradicts
Harry Potter canon as we know it.
Well, at least that’s what it looks like.
This video idea was actually sent to me by one of my Instagram followers, so a big shout
out to wills.hep on IG for bringing it to my attention.
Go follow me on IG at HPTHEORY if you aren’t following already.
This video IS going to contain spoilers for the Secrets of Dumbledore so if you haven’t
seen it yet then come back later!
Grindelwald’s acolytes have captured the fabled ‘Qilin’ a mythical creature involved
in the wizarding election process.
Essentially, the Qilin is able to recognize those that are truly pure of heart.
This makes it a perfect asset in helping to select a new wizarding world leader.
However, this doesn’t work quite so well when the process is tampered with.
Or, more specifically, when the QILIN is tampered with.
After capturing the Qilin, it’s not long before Grindelwald cuts its throat.
You see, Grindelwald had plans to reanimate the Qilins corpse as a sort of ‘inferi’.
He wanted a Qilin that was GUARANTEED to pick him.
But, provided that the reanimated Qilin would need to be devoid of scars (as to not draw
attention), Grindelwald needed to heal any physical marks left on the Qilins body.
It’s at this point in time that he uses a spell we have seen before: Vulnera Sanentur.
Seemingly, this spell was part of Grindelwald’s necromancy ritual where the Qilin was revived.
But, where have we seen Vulnera Sanentur before?
Why, spouted out of the mouth of Severus Snape, of course.
And before the Secrets of Dumbledore, we Harry Potter fans knew the spell as the counter-curse
for Snape’s signature spell (and his own creation): Sectumsempra.
We first see Sectumsempra in the films when Harry uses it on Malfoy in the half blood
prince.
The name Sectumsempra comes from the combination of two latin words, “sectus” which means
“having been cut” and “semper” which means “always”.
Sectumsempra is a vicious dark curse that acts like an invisible sword, causing lacerations,
haemorrhaging and cuts upon it’s target.
Often after being struck the target will lay there motionless as they lose blood.
It is somewhat of a speciality of snapes, and is featured in his textbook for advanced
potion-making.
After Harry discovers Sectumsempra, he first uses it on Malfoy:
"Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible
sword.
He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his
wand falling from his limp right hand.
Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Malfoy, whose face
was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest."
Due to this spells intrinsic ability to cause EXTREME damage to a target, a counter-curse
seems like a safe bet.
‘Vulnera’ comes from the Latin ‘Vulnus’ which means ‘wound’, and Sanentur comes
from the latin ‘Sanare’ which means ‘to heal’.
‘Vulnera Sanentur’ is the only known defence/treatment for sectumsempra, and it’s used to ease
the blood flow, heal the wound, and remove the effects of the curse.
For Vulnera Sanentur to be used most efficiently, it has been expressed that the incantation
has to be repeated three times.
The first time the incantation is uttered, it eases the flow of blood, the second time
it’s uttered, it begins to heal the wounds, and the third time it’s uttered, the wounds
will be fully healed.
In order to prevent scarring, it’s also necessary to use ‘dittany’ which is a
magical plant used in potion making.
It’s a powerful and restorative healing herb that makes fresh skin grow over a wound.
The use of Vulnera Santentur is described in the following excerpt:
"...he knelt over Malfoy, drew his wand and traced it over the deep wounds Harry's curse
had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song.
The flow of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped the residue from Malfoy's face and repeated
his spell.
Now the wounds seemed to be knitting."
Up until this point EVERYONE thought Snape was responsible for inventing Vulnera Sanentur,
and the glaring problem with Grindelwald using it is that Grindelwald used it in 1932- 28
years BEFORE Snape was born.
Now, its generally accepted that Snape invented the spell, and this is supported primarily
by the fact that it’s the solitary counter-curse for an offensive curse that WE KNOW he created.
During the Battle of the Seven Potters, Snape attempted to use the curse to sever the hand
of a fellow Death Eater, but due to a slip, he accidentally cut off George Weasley's left
ear instead.
The following exchange between Remus and Hermione explains this:
Remus Lupin: "He lost an ear."
Hermione Granger: "Lost an..."
Remus Lupin: "Snape's work."
Judging by the fact that they almost immediately recognized this as ‘Snape’s Work’, I
feel as though it supports the fact that Snape created the spell.
We also know that Snape LOVED inventing spells.
In fact, he’s credited with inventing Sectumsempra, Vulnera Santentur, Levicorpus, Liberacorpus,
the Muffliato Charm, Langlock and the Toenail-Growing Hex.
Here’s what I think: a young Snape, driven to excel in magic, began researching anything
and everything he could find related to powerful magic.
Much like Tom Riddle during his inquisitive search for powerful magic like horcruxes.
Sirius Black once remarked on Snape’s tenacity when it came to research on curses:
“He (Snape) knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year."
Amidst his research, Snape came across a text referencing magic used by powerful dark wizard
Gellert Grindewlald.
Snape KNEW that he was a powerful and influential figure, so it makes sense that he would try
to learn from him.
Why not learn from the best?
It’s here that he found Vulnera Santentur, and while Snape saw no use for Vulnera Santentur
in it’s current form (aiding in reanimating dead corpses)- he decided that he could modify
the spell for his own usage.
At this point it became a counter-curse for Sectumsempra.
It’s also worth mentioning that the way Grindelwald and Snape use the spell is quite
different.
Furthermore, Snape’s version of the spell requires the use of ‘dittany’ to prevent
scarring.
My other theory is this: DUMBLEDORE taught Snape the spell.
Dumbledore wasn’t an idiot, and he probably knew very well that as a student Snape was
A.gifted and B. creating all sorts of horrific offensive spells.
Snape, in his youth, was entirely focused on doing as much damage as possible- learning
offensive curse after offensive curse.
He was bullied relentlessly in school and he had a chip on his shoulder- a point to
prove- and this prompted him to learn spells which could help him enact his revenge.
Dumbledore recognized Snape’s potential, but also his propensity to do damage, which
prompted him to try and GUIDE Snape in the right direction.
He didn’t want Snape to do something that he would regret without any sort of escape
route.
Dumbledore, who happened to know Gellert Grindewald extremely well, was aware of both Grindelwald’s
and Snape’s spells, which is why he was able to recognize that with a bit of tweaking,
Vulnera Santentur could be the perfect counter-curse for Snape.
Either that..or the Secrets of Dumbledore just totally tore apart a bit of canon.
What do you guys think?
Leave a comment down below!
Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live