The Most Important Spell In Harry Potter Isn't What You Think

Heads up, Potterheads: you're about to get your wizarding worlds rocked! You think you know the most important spell in the Harry Potter franchise (HPCU, anyone?)? Think again. And while you're thinking again, maybe read the books first, if you haven't already, because they're kind of central to this entire argument.

Harry Potter book spoilers ahead!

Let's take a look at the various spells fans encounter in the series, courtesy of the Harry Potter Lexicon. We can all agree the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) is not the right answer, yes? While only a Sith deals in absolutes — ugh, wrong franchise! — we're talking about one of the Unforgivable Curses; the killing curse can't possibly be the most important. While we're at it, let's toss the other two Unforgivables out as well — that's the Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) and the Imperius Curse (Imperio); nothing good can come from those.

The Summoning Charm (Accio) is great if you want a butterbeer and don't want to get off the couch, but it's hardly saving the world. Now, Harry has two go-to spells when dealing with Dark Wizards — the defensive Disarming Spell (Expelliarmus) and the offensive Stunning Spell (Stupefy) — but even these gems can't be considered the most important spells. And no, it's not the Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) either.

The true answer may surprise you.

What's the most important spell in the Harry Potter world, then? It's the one without which there would be no Chosen One, no Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) at all: the Shield Charm (Protego). Stay with us (but seriously, spoilers: if you haven't read the books and plan to some day, don't stay with us).

One of the many Harry Potter fans on Reddit, user Swordbender, pointed out that the entire story was essentially book-ended by the same spell. To demonstrate, they pasted a section from the Deathly Hallows book, describing the Battle of Hogwarts, in which Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) kills Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). This earned Mrs. Weasley the special attention of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), in turn drawing Harry out from the cover of the Invisibility Cloak to cast Protego.

"The series began with Lily dying to protect Harry and ended with Harry protecting Molly Weasley from Voldemort," they said. "The obvious point is that Harry died as Lily died; but to save everyone. I just thought that this was also a cool inclusion in the narrative, where Harry reveals himself by casting the spell and thwarting Voldemort, which begins the end."

"His mother died protecting him, so he was willing to die protecting the closest thing he now has to a mother. I loved this part...absolutely gut-wrenching," user trobs93 added.

This exchange was a revelation to other users.

"I had never noticed the significance in Harry protecting Molly, either. Makes me tear up over it all over again!" mrscommandershepard replied.

"It does have a certain poetic beauty to it, doesn't it?" – user SagaciousSlytherin said.

We double-Dumbledore-dare you to say different!