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In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the movie, we see see Harry teaching the other students the spell Levicorpus in the DA meetings. Levicorpus wasn't introduced until Harry found the spell in the Advanced Potions Making book in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Is this a continuity error or am I missing something?

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I think you're confusing Levicorpus with Sectumsempra. – OghmaOsiris Dec 26 '12 at 17:30

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First of all, your assumption is wrong.

Harry never taught DA the "Levicororpus" spell in OoTP book (confirmed by searching ebook text) - that event only happened in the movie/game based on the book, which are not canon.

Second, the spell was actually introduced much earlier than HBP, although not named:

  • in OoTP when Harry saw Snape's memory in the Pensieve of James Potter using the spell on Snape during their time in Hogwarts.

    ... James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.

  • As a matter of fact, the spell was first introduced (but not named) in HP4, GoF; as we see in HBP recollection:

    Hermione: "We've seen a whole bunch of people use it, in case you've forgotten. Dangling people in the air. Making them float along, asleep, helpless." Harry stared at her. With a sinking feeling, he too remembered the behaviour of the Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup.

So yes, apparently "they" "did think this through", as you put it.

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but he shouted impedimenta instead of levicorpus – chigri Dec 26 '12 at 12:25
But the spell was only able to be cast when commanded non verbally,yet the caster in OoTP said it outloud – chigri Dec 26 '12 at 12:29
@chigri - he did BOTH spells. For different reasons. “Impedimenta!” he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand. – DVK Dec 26 '12 at 12:31
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@chigri - So did Hermione in DH (outloud). – DVK Dec 26 '12 at 12:31
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@chigri - As far as I know, there is no spell in HP that must be cast non-verbally. When Snape wrote non-verbal by Levicorpus, I suspect that he thought it was just a way to gain an edge over his opponent in a duel. ‘Yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course.' As not all wizards can do non-verbal spells, I wouldn't think there's a spell that requires it to be done non-verbally. :) – Slytherincess Dec 26 '12 at 16:37

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