You gotta admit! Among the best scenes in Harry Potter, many are to watch the wand duels between characters.
Those scenes make Potterheads even more excited, and now since it has been a long time after the release of all the eight Harry Potter movies, we can look back to judge which duel fights were better.
You also have to realize it is not just the action choreography, direction, performance and CGI that makes a wand fight really great, it is also the scale of conflict, the drama between the opponents and more as well.
That’s why there are few wand duels that do not ask for much emotional investment in the characters because either the stakes aren’t high enough or they are not well executed.
Harry Potter Vs Draco Malfoy : Half-Blood Prince
If you want to explore the tonal shifts in the Harry Potter movies over the years, the best way is to track all the duels between Harry and Draco.
Whether you pick them up from Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire or Order of Phoenix, it defines what this universe is going through, overall emotion and dramatic conclusion towards which the narrative is moving.
And that was beautifully encapsulated in Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy’s wand duel, perhaps the first near-fatal fight in the Harry Potter universe so far, in The Half-Blood Prince.
This violent confrontation between them, at this scale was after their inconsequential fight in Chamber of Secrets.
The way this scene was shot with all shaky-camera style with grim and dark essence, building the tension sometime before then the fight begins, channeling all the conflicts and dramatic tension both characters have with each other to just one scene.
You can also say that this was the very first and actually the last fight where both Harry and Malfoy weren’t under the confinements of rules and regulations or any protections from authority, and went full up aginst each other.
Seemingly they tried their best to harm each other, this was indeed the one of the very few scenes between them that seriously defines the conflict between them, because otherwise, in first few movies, there is some level of levity and amateurness to their fights.
The use of the wand for both characters was at the peak, very few scenes demonstrate what catastropical action could wand fights bring, and how much fatal it can be.
Severus Snape Vs Minerva McGonagall
This one is brief but perhaps one of the coolest wand fights or simply most satifying confrontation scenes in the Harry Potter folklore.
Severus Snape killed Dumbledore and has become the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and Harry sneak back to the school only to confront the traitor and murderer (to him at that time), Snape.
McGonagall who has been at the sidelines for too long now, confronts and rebels against Snape to protect Harry and take control of Hogwarts.
She was able to make Snape run with consistent sling shoots from her wand. It was very quick and not much of a duel, but it is indeed one of the most satisfying confrontations in the whole eight movies.
Harry Potter Vs Draco Malfoy – Chamber of Secrets
Remember we talked about that inconsequential fight between Harry and Draco, actually the first wand fight between them, well this is it!
Even though this wand fight was under the protection of the adminstration, only to train kids to disarm the opponent and protect themselves from the threat, this is still one of the best wand duels to see.
Especially Harry and Draco being much younger and pitted against each other, and this scene was also the one where Harry is revealed to be parsel tongue.
This scene happens in the Chamber of Secrets where Gildroy Lockhart put Harry Potter and Snape put Malfoy to fight each other but in the training sense.
Harry and Draco seem to be trying their spells to disarm but went too far for obvious reasons. It could be great if this scene would have been a bit longer to see where this fight could end.
Harry Potter Vs Lord Voldemort – Cemetry
The very first actual face-off or confrontation between Harry and Voldemort in the saga for which fans waited three movies.
And this scene was everything Potterheads could hope for! As per our opinion, this was one of the best scenes in Harry Potter movies in entirety.
This is also a great wand fight scene between Harry and Lord Voldermort, and that’s mostly because of all the dramatic tension, conflict and history between these two characters.
Both of them have lost almost everything because of each other, if you look at it in one way. Lord Voldermort lost his life, his mission and powers whereas Harry lost his parents and a good childhood, and they blame each other for their tragedies.
And that’s what relfect in their wand duels even though Harry wasn’t as well trained or confident as you see in further movies.
Stll he got his moment where he stood up against Lord Voldemort rather than hiding or running.
Also, more importantly, this scene also is one of the most memorable Harry Potter scenes because Ralph Fiennes makes his entry to these movies with the debut of his character Voldemort in the story.
This scene also was a big turning point for Harry Potter, both the storyline and tonality in the films as well.
Bellatrix Lestrange vs Molly Weasley
Another short wand duel but such a badass moment for Molly, Ron’s mother in the movie who hasn’t got much chance to show her wand combat skills.
This was the peak of the action into the climax of the Harry Potter Saga in The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Molly stood up against the most despicable and terrifying villain in Harry Potter movies, Belatrix Lestrange to protect Ginny, her daughter.
She certainly shines in the moment when start attacking Bellatrix one after another, making her shots on beating, not giving Bellatrix any chance to defend.
Only Bellatrix realizes at the moment with shock that she could’t do anything, and losing was priceless and satifying to see on her face, and then she finally destroys her into nothing, like literally.
Not to forget, this scene gives the movies one of the badass and memorable quotes from the movies from Molly “Not my daughter, you b*tch.”
Order Of Phoenix Vs Death Eaters : department Of Mysteries
For us, this is the second-best wand fights or better to say wand battle in the whole franchise.
The whole sequence happens in the climax of the Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix movie, the fifth film in the series.
The makers took this controversial creative decision of squeezing the longest Harry Potter book into the shortest Harry Potter movie.
Even though there are too many complaints from the movie, some parts of the film work fantastically.
To begin with, Potterheads loved Harry training this new Order of Phoenix and that action-packed climax at the end, occurs in the Department of Mysteries.
The visual of numerous death eaters ambushed and closing in to the order of phoenix, and then finally to see the fruition of all the Harry’s training for the wand fight churned into this one sequence.
But the second part of this sequence is even more cool when the original Order of phoenix led by Sirious Black enters the scene.
And then just before the shocking death of beloved character Sirius Black for which this battle is known for, there was a special moment between Harry and Sirous were Serious called Harry as “Nice one, James” which was so wholesome.
Lord Voldemort Vs Dumbledore In The Ministry of Magic’s Atrium
This undoubtedly is the grandest wand fight in the Harry Potter universe where two legend and among the most powerful wizards in the world combat each other.
The clash between them justify their capacity and abilities as wizards. This was the scene at the climax of Order of Phoenix which confirms the return of the dark wizard in the eyes of the world and ministry of Magic.
Usually you see spells thrown at each other in the Wand duels but these individuals are too powerful to say the words.
There are bursts of energies and exploding liquifying colors. Also, the fire snake versus the water sphere was out of the world to witness.
Their fight clearly distinguishes anything so far we have seen, very different from teens fighting to each for sure.
Both the wizards tap into their peak capabilities, showcasing their wand combat skills and superatural abitlies as well, knowing that there is no clear winner here.
Featured Image Source: TM