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If you have ever stood post, you have probably passed the time with hypothetical scenarios. Specifically, asking stuff like who “Would win, Darth Vader or Batman with prep time?”
In that spirit, we have a great hypothetical battle for you to argue with your friends over. Who Would Win? SEAL Team 6 (The Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known as DEVGRU) vs Dumbledore's Army from the Harry Potter franchise?
MCDP-1 Warfighting defines Combat Power as the total destructive force we bring to bear on our enemy at a given time. Doctrine also outlines the four categories that generate Combat Power: Speed, Focus, Surprise, and Boldness.
For the sake of discussion, we are limiting the comparison to these four categories.
Speed
Dumbledore's Army has the advantage here because of brooms. Harry Potter’s famed Firebolt is said to reach up to 150mph in ten seconds. Most of Dumbledore's Army will not have pro-Quidditch level brooms, but they will still be much quicker than anyone on foot. Entry level brooms will not outpace a helicopter, but they are much quieter, and much smaller targets. Also, Fred and George Weasley knew how to apparate by this point, making them far greater threats.
The area where SEAL Team 6 holds the advantage is engagement. Quickly casting a spell like stupefy, and raising a muzzle for a double tap, should take roughly the same amount of time, depending on certain factors such as distance. However when milliseconds matter, the lack of hesitation from the DEVGRU operators will give them the edge in close quarters engagements.
Advantage: Dumbledore's Army
Focus
Dumbledore's Army is at an extreme disadvantage here. They are not trained to centralize their efforts to eliminate the most prominent threats. Also, the adolescents have not dealt with the same rigors SEAL Team applicants must prove themselves capable of handling. Furthermore, the frogmen are trained to work as a unit, covering and supporting each other's movements. They have the greater ability to identify, and eliminate threats.
Advantage: SEAL Team 6
Surprise
Dumbledore's Army will bring abilities the operators will have never seen before. This definitely gives them an advantage in the surprise category. A Protego charm has shown the ability to stop kinetic objects. Not to mention, spells like the Depulso and Bombarda charms are practically like having semi-automatic rocket launchers.
However, SEAL Team 6 definitely owns the night. They have thermal scopes, night vision and do not need to rely on a position revealing lumos charm to light their way at night. During the day, they have long range weapon systems and are much more proficient at stealth and camouflage.
Advantage: SEAL Team 6
Boldness
Dumbledore's Army has a few tricks up their robes, but once the novelty wears off, it is hard to contend with the dynamic nature of the SEAL Team 6 operators who make a living by dominating the battlefield. Dumbledore's Army has more of a “stand your ground” mentality as where the elite of the elite SEALs are none for taking the fight to the enemy.
Advantage: SEAL Team 6
Winner: SEAL Team 6 (but that’s classified)
Winner: seals
To be fair, Dumbledore's Army spent much of their time dealing with teenage angst, while SEAL Team 6 probably spent the last decade splitting skulls. Neville Longbottom and Harry teamed up to kill Voldermort and a few lackeys, but DEVGRU has slayed an untold number of bodies, with Osama Bin Laden as their crown jewel. Outside of the Battle for Hogwarts, the scariest thing Dumbledore's Army faced was the dementors. Which sounds eerily similar to how many SEALs describe their ex wives. The Patronus Charm, though effective against dementors, might cure STDs the SEALs may have? But it is not nearly as effective against humans as a 40mm hitting center mass. The nation’s elite might not emerge from this battle unscathed but they would definitely win, and we would get all the gory details in the subsequent book (optioned for a movie) that would be available the following spring.
