What spell did Dumbledore use?

Question

In the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore uses a spell against Voldemort.

The following dialogue ensues:

Voldemort: "You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore? Above such brutality, are you?" Dumbledore: "We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom. Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit."

I know that someone asked the question to JKR, but she refused to answer as it could spoil book 7. Any idea on what it might be?

Answer 1

Since Rowling has refused to answer this question in interviews, the only thing that can be determined is that Dumbledore's spell is non-lethal. Of course, that description runs the gamut of anything from Tickling Charms to even the Cruciatus (which causes pain but not death). Even then, the list changes depending on circumstance: Levitation charms generally aren't lethal, but a drop on the head or a hundred-foot fall could easily spell someone's doom).

From what we can determine, the spell was not the Disarming Charm or Stunning Curse (as those spells have reddish tinges to them), nor was it the purplish-flame that Dolohov cast, since that spell also has a distinct appearance. Neither Levicorpus nor Alohomora have spell trails (and frankly, Alohomora makes little to no sense in this situation). What I am getting at is that we can only remove spells from the "possible spell that Dumbledore cast" list and since we do not have an exhaustive list of every spell in the Harry Potter universe, we can't definitively determine what the spell was.

Any further speculation on what Dumbledore's spell was is just that: speculation.

Answer 2

Copy-pasting ASlytherin:

It's not in the book and, apparently, J.K. Rowling refused to answer which spell Dumbledore used against Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. I would guess it might be a spell that caused Voldemort to feel remorse which, because of his fractured soul, would have been so painful it might have caused Voldemort's death (if there weren't the Horcruxes). But like a love potion cannot create true love, could magic create true remorse? Probably not. But remorse is the thing I see as possibly breaking Voldemort. Just a comment because I think it's not provable, and just a thought on my part. –