Occlumency

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in:Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery &Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells &Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

Occlumency was themagical practice of protecting one's mind from external manipulation or penetration, includingLegilimency.^[1] It was considered an ancient and obscure branch of magic, and had existed sincemedieval times.^[2] It could prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings, or influencing them. Awizard or witch who practised this art was known as anOcclumens.^[1]

Methods[]

The most basic form of Occlumency, judging from Severus Snape's earlylessons on the subject toHarry Potter, involved clearing one's mind — making it "blank and empty" — in order to prevent a Legilimens from perceiving one's emotions and thoughts. More advanced Occlumency involved suppressing only the thoughts, emotions, and memories that would contradict whatever it was an Occlumens wished aLegilimens to believe.^[1]

This produced a "faux" layer of mentality that could totally throw off the perspective of one who used Legilimency into thinking that the said layer being the legitimate one whilst its bona fide counterpart lay deeper within. Hence, it was not obvious that Occlumency was being used even if the person was lying. It required a great deal of willpower, similar toresisting theImperius Curse.^[1] It was also one method of resisting the influence ofVeritaserum.^[3]

Considered to be an obscure branch of magic despite its usefulness, Occlumency was not part of thenormal curriculum taught atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and appeared to be a rare and difficult skill.^[1]

History[]

Gellert Grindelwald was a very accomplished Occlumens, as he was able to conceal his true mind from even natural-born LegilimensQueenie Goldstein, which worked in tandem with his acting skills and at the time disguising asPercival Graves.^[4] Even in advanced age and long-time imprisonment, Grindelwald remained a powerful practitioner as Voldemort failed to penetrate his mind.^[5]

TheWizengamot believed thatSirius Black might have been an Occlumens, as they believed that even if they gave him a fair trial under the influence ofVeritaserum, he would still be able to resist it with Occlumency or other tricks.^[6]

Bartemius Crouch Junior was an accomplished Occlumens, as he managed to hide his true mind fromAlbus Dumbledore andSeverus Snape, both accomplished Legilimens, while disguised asAlastor Moody. Had Barty not been groggy when stunned later that year, he would have had the prowess in Occlumency to resist theVeritaserum.^[7][3]

In the1995–1996 school year, Albus Dumbledore had Severus SnapeteachHarry Potter Occlumency in an effort to prevent his mind from being penetrated and influenced byLord Voldemort. Snape was a highly skilled Occlumens, being able to successfully deceive extremely accomplishedLegilimens Voldemort, but his lessons with Harry were ultimately unsuccessful. Harry was not able to repel most attacks, though it is likely that the personal enmity between him and Snape as well as the stressful events in his life that year hindered his ability; while Snape was not teaching in an encouraging way, Harry's climbing interests in Voldemort's repeated attempts at theHall of Prophecy made him further neglect his practice of the skill.^[1][8][9] He eventually gave up attempting to learn.^[10] Harry later managed to block his connection to Voldemort on occasion, by focusing on feelings oflove and grief, rather than by using Occlumency.^[11]

Snape himself also employed Occlumency to hide his loyalty to theOrder of the Phoenix from Voldemort, and due to his well-known mastery, both sides had difficulty trusting him.^{[citation needed]}

Albus Dumbledore was also an exceptional Occlumens, having been one of the few to be capable of repelling Voldemort's Legilimency and he also expressed confidence in his ability to teach Harry the art but chose not to due to fearing Voldemort's reaction to how close they were.^[1]

After theBattle of the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort realised the dangers of his connection with Harry, and employed Occlumency to seal off the link, thus freeing Harry from feeling any pain from hislightning-bolt scar and also dreams of what Voldemort was doing.^[11] However, by1997 to1998, Voldemort started losing control,^[12] due to repeated failures of hisDeath Eaters infuriating him more and more, and the reported losses of hisHorcruxes became a tipping point where he was unable to close his mind, allowing the thoughts to be seen by Harry as he mentally organised his Horcrux hiding locations.^[13]

In1996,Bellatrix Lestrange trained her nephew,Draco Malfoy in Occlumency so that he could keep his mission to kill Albus Dumbledore a secret. Draco became skilled enough to repel Snape's attempts at Legilimency.^[14] Draco's success was due to him shutting out his compassion to become the bully he was, making it easy for him to close his mind.^[6] Despite this, Dumbledore did not confront Draco earlier regarding the assassination attempts due to fearing Voldemort would use Legilimency on Draco to discover it,^[15] suggesting that Voldemort's Legilimency was able to overpower Draco's Occlumency.

Horace Slughorn was noted for his skills in Occlumency, more accomplished thanMorfin Gaunt, and he would be able to resist the likes of Dumbledore, hence a reason Dumbledore refused to use force or coercion to wrest amemory out of Slughorn. His mastery would have also allowed him to resist the effects of Veritaserum, though he would nevertheless carry anantidote, which for all accounts, made it redundant.^[16]

In the early2020s,Hermione Granger decided to start studying Occlumency from abook, as she suspected that the head ofThe Unforgivable was a Legilimens, in order to protect her mind from them.^[17] It is unknown if she mastered the skill.

Known texts[]

Guide to Advanced Occlumency byMaxwell Barnett

Protection Charm Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Counter Legilimency byFranciscus Fieldwake

Known Occlumens[]

Albus Dumbledore^[1]

Gellert Grindelwald^[4]

Horace Slughorn^[16]

Lord Voldemort^[11]

Patricia Rakepick^[18]

Kazuhiro Shiratori^[19]

Severus Snape^[1]

Bartemius Crouch Junior^[3]

Bellatrix Lestrange^[14]

Draco Malfoy^[14]

• Maxwell Barnett^[20]

Etymology[]

The word "occlumency" comes from the Latinoccludere, meaning "to shut up" and mens, for "mind".

In Czech, Occlumency is named "Nitroobrana". It comes from Czech "nitro" meaning heart and soul inside human and "obrana" which means defence.^{[citation needed]}

Behind the scenes[]

• On the subject of Occlumency,J. K. Rowling has discussed whyDraco Malfoy would be skilled at it whileHarry Potter was not:
  • "...I think Draco would be very gifted in Occlumency, unlike Harry. Harry’s problem with it was always that his emotions were too near the surface and that he is in some ways too damaged. But he's also very in touch with his feelings about what's happened to him. He's not repressed, he's quite honest about facing them, and he couldn't suppress them, he couldn't suppress these memories. But I thought of Draco as someone who is very capable of compartmentalising his life and his emotions, and always has done. So he's shut down his pity, enabling him to bully effectively. He's shut down compassion — how else would you become aDeath Eater? So he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself."^[21]
• Occlumency, being a "magical defence of the mind against external penetration" most likely will make the use of theImperius Curse against an Occlumens either ineffective or at the very least reduce its effectiveness, although this is unconfirmed. Snape did regard the power required to utilise Occlumency effectively as similar to that of resisting the Imperius Curse.
• Occlumency does not appear to be a generally offered subject of study atHogwarts and is probably only taught in private courses to students who show potential for it. Snape described it as an "obscure branch of magic", further suggesting that it is lesser known to the community as a whole. However, it is available for self-learning via books, as Hermione attempted.^[17]
• Quirinus Quirrell may have been using Occlumency against Snape and Dumbledore. Dumbledore suspected that Quirrell wanted to steal thePhilosopher's Stone for Voldemort and ordered Snape to keep an eye on Quirrell. If Albus or Severus had discovered the truth sooner, Quirrell would probably have been caught by them. It is, however, possible that Voldemort was the one protecting Quirrell's mind from their Legilimency.
• Narcissa Malfoy may have been an Occlumens, as she lied to Vodemort about Harry's demise without consequences.^[22] However, Voldemort may not have been usingLegilimency on her at the time, as he might not have believed she would lie to him with her family's lives at stake, a sign of Voldemort's greatest weakness: arrogance.
• Lucius Malfoy may have been attempting to use Occlumency against Dumbledore. When questioned about his role in the second opening of theChamber of Secrets, Lucius was described as having a blank look on his face while maintaining eye contact with Dumbledore. It's unknown if he was successful, though Dumbledore probably knew the truth regardless.
• According toW.O.M.B.A.T., it is possible that Occlumency can guard againstpossession.
• Harry Potter briefly used Occlumency against Voldemort, although he has never been able to master it. Also of note, while Harry's use of Occlumency in the books was negligible, he was nigh-effortlessly able to throw-off theImperius Curse (both byBartemius Crouch Junior-as-Alastor Moody, and byTom Riddle), by willpower alone.
• Remus Lupin was able to conceal the fact thatSirius Black was an unregisteredAnimagus from Dumbledore and Snape, both highly skilled Legilimens, throughout his entire tenure at Hogwarts in spite of the latter's intense dislike for him and stated suspicion that he was aiding Black. Dumbledore only found out because Lupin told him voluntarily, and because Black revealed himself in front ofRon Weasley. It is unknown if he was using Occlumency to conceal this knowledge or if Snape and Dumbledore just never used Legilimency against him.
• As Dumbledore was not suspicious when Barty Crouch Jnr used Occlumency when disguised as Alastor Moody, it's possible that the real Moody was skilled in this field as well, given Moody's skill as an Auror and paranoia.

Appearances[]

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(First identified as Occlumency)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay(Possible appearance)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald(Possible appearance)
• J. K. Rowling's official site(Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened(Mentioned only)

Notes and references[]

Legilimency ·Occlumency
Legilimency Spell
Legilimens
Albus Dumbledore ·Queenie Goldstein ·Jacob's sibling ·Jacob ·Lord Voldemort ·Constance Pickering ·Harry Potter(Indirectly) ·Pumpkin Johnny ·Salazar Slytherin ·Severus Snape ·Sorting Hat ·The Hogwarts Diary ·Unidentified vampire ·Wampus cats(Tim)
Occlumens
Maxwell Barnett ·Bartemius Crouch Junior ·Albus Dumbledore ·Franciscus Fieldwake ·Gellert Grindelwald ·Bellatrix Lestrange ·Lord Voldemort ·Draco Malfoy ·Patricia Rakepick ·Kazuhiro Shiratori ·Horace Slughorn ·Severus Snape
Books on Legilimency and Occlumency
Guide to Advanced Occlumency ·Living With Legilimens: Choose Your Minds Wisely ·Protection Charm Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Counter Legilimency
See also
The American Society of Legilimens ·Crown of Mneme ·Dai Ryusaki's mind-enhancing potion ·Legilimency potion ·Mind-reading ·Vibe ·Vision