Under what magic system can you push someone out of the way with magic that you can’t also just cast sleep on them?
One where the defenses have to be matched to the attacks—i.e., the one that is clearly in effect at the time of the duel. ;-)
If wizard duels were strictly about relative power rather than strategy, nobody would ever duel someone at or above their own power level. Ergo, strategy and skill are involved, and as illustrated part of that skill is reaction time and choice of blocking spells. While Bahry is dodging the AK, he may not be shielding against something that gives him a little nudge or increases his speed, or changes his relative time perception, or something else that gives him an edge at dodging.
IOW, it’s unlikely he has any shields up against people helping him. That may actually be quite important in a magical world where intent actually matters. ;-)
While Bahry is dodging the AK, he may not be shielding against something that gives him a little nudge or increases his speed, or changes his relative time perception, or something else that gives him an edge at dodging.
But Quirrell specifies pushing. Pushing is something that should always be guarded against else it can muck up your spell casting gestures.
Eta: Shields against nudges/telekinesis is the only kind of shield useful for AK, so you can’t be held in place, so I would expect him to have them up then, if he ever has them up.
IOW, it’s unlikely he has any shields up against people helping him.
Shields that can tell whether something is helpful or harmful (telekinesis can be either)? Blegh. I don’t like those types of systems. I don’t remember other things that can tell intent apart from artifact level spells.
I’d expect shields to be like firewalls and allow allies to cast spells through or certain classes of spells (such as healing) to solve that problem.
Otherwise it is getting close to being intelligent! Harry will have to start worrying about stopping casting some shields in case they are sentient.
Otherwise it is getting close to being intelligent! Harry will have to start worrying about stopping casting some shields in case they are sentient.
My opinion is that this is exactly where the story is going. Harry will eventually conclude that magic must be intelligent to do what it’s doing. (The best outcome, from Harry’s perspective, would be a single AI consciousness that merely fakes the sapience of snakes, the Sorting Hat, etc, so no harm done. A better outcome, for us readers, would be Harry’s sudden realisation, almost too late, that his research into the fundamentals magic is causing an exponential explosion in the number of tortured sophonts.)
One where the defenses have to be matched to the attacks—i.e., the one that is clearly in effect at the time of the duel. ;-)
If wizard duels were strictly about relative power rather than strategy, nobody would ever duel someone at or above their own power level. Ergo, strategy and skill are involved, and as illustrated part of that skill is reaction time and choice of blocking spells. While Bahry is dodging the AK, he may not be shielding against something that gives him a little nudge or increases his speed, or changes his relative time perception, or something else that gives him an edge at dodging.
IOW, it’s unlikely he has any shields up against people helping him. That may actually be quite important in a magical world where intent actually matters. ;-)
But Quirrell specifies pushing. Pushing is something that should always be guarded against else it can muck up your spell casting gestures.
Eta: Shields against nudges/telekinesis is the only kind of shield useful for AK, so you can’t be held in place, so I would expect him to have them up then, if he ever has them up.
Shields that can tell whether something is helpful or harmful (telekinesis can be either)? Blegh. I don’t like those types of systems. I don’t remember other things that can tell intent apart from artifact level spells.
I’d expect shields to be like firewalls and allow allies to cast spells through or certain classes of spells (such as healing) to solve that problem.
Otherwise it is getting close to being intelligent! Harry will have to start worrying about stopping casting some shields in case they are sentient.
My opinion is that this is exactly where the story is going. Harry will eventually conclude that magic must be intelligent to do what it’s doing. (The best outcome, from Harry’s perspective, would be a single AI consciousness that merely fakes the sapience of snakes, the Sorting Hat, etc, so no harm done. A better outcome, for us readers, would be Harry’s sudden realisation, almost too late, that his research into the fundamentals magic is causing an exponential explosion in the number of tortured sophonts.)