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In DH, while

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are infiltrating the Ministry,

Umbridge casts a Patronus to keep the Dememtors at bay.

But if she was capable of such a charm, surely she could have kept some centaurs at bay.

“Nooooo!” he heard Umbridge shriek.

“Noooooo . . . I am Senior Undersecretary . . . you cannot . . . unhand me, you animals . . . nooooo!”

He saw a flash of red light and knew that she had attempted to Stun one of them — then she screamed very loudly. Lifting his head a few inches, Harry saw that Umbridge had been seized from behind by Bane and lifted high into the air, wriggling and yelling with fright.

So how did she do it?

SQB
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    Why would a Patronus work against centaurs? It's a happiness spell, made to work against creatures of misery and evil like Dementors, which centaurs are not, despite being proud and dangerous. – Rand al'Thor Apr 25 '16 at 01:07
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    It wouldn't, I'm just talking about her skill level. – bleh Apr 25 '16 at 01:43
  • You don't have to be very skilled in magic to cast the Patronus Charm, you just need a happy memory and a bit of practise with a complicated wand movement. Harry, an unremarkable third-year, was able to master this fairly quickly, so shouldn't be too difficult for an adult. –  Apr 25 '16 at 09:42
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    @PeterPeter Um ... that's just wrong. It was considered extremely remarkable that Harry could accomplish such advanced magic in his third year, and many grown wizards and Ministry employees are incapable of doing it. – Rand al'Thor Apr 25 '16 at 11:00
  • @Randal'Thor I do need to do a bit more research on the Patronus Charm in the JK Rowling universe. But is it casting the charm mostly based on magical strength/skill, or the happy memory? It seems quite inconsistent that so many people can't do a spell based on remembering a happy moment while flourishing a wand in a certain pattern, when a largely-average 15 year old could. Is it possible that many grown wizards and Ministry employees never need to learn to cast the Patronus Charm? –  Apr 25 '16 at 13:06
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    This is probably splitting hairs, but I don't feel the linked duplicate question really answers this question. This question seems to be asking more about Umbridge's ability level and aptitude as a witch in regard to casting a Patronus and not her ability to cast one because of the mental requirements for it. It seems to me that the mental requirements (happy thoughts, good person) may be different from skill/ability but I'm not sure. – syntonicC Apr 25 '16 at 15:11
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    @PeterPeter Harry was average in his theoretical knowledge but his practical abilities in defensive and offensive magic were second to none in his year. He even teaches Fred and George how to cast a few spells. – CandiedMango May 01 '16 at 19:44
  • As mentioned in the answer to https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/163352/does-dolores-umbridge-have-at-least-one-positive-trait, Umbridge was a hard worker and an "acommplished witch". It seems like this question may have been better worded as something like "If Umbridge is magically skilled, why couldn't she fight off the centaurs?" – wyvern Aug 03 '17 at 22:54

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