spell list

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SPELLS FROM THE BOOKS

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Accio

latin for "i call for", or "i summon".

Accio is also known as the summoning charm, and is used to make objects fly straight to the spell caster.

This piece of magic was introduced at the start of harry's 4th year, where mrs weasley used it to retrieve a large number of ton-tongue toffees that fred and george were attempting to smuggle out of the burrow to take to the world cup [gof6]. It went on to become vital to the plot of the book as the story progressed. Hermione helped harry to learn the spell for the first task of the triwizard tournament, where he wanted to use it to summon his firebolt in order to take on his dragon. He mastered it after a great deal of practicing, and successfully used it during the task [gof20]. His mastery of the spell was tested in even more difficult circumstances in the graveyard at little hangleton, when he used it to summon the triwizard cup portkey to himself and thus escape from voldemort and the assembled death eaters [gof34].

Accio came to the fore again in the battle at the department of mysteries at the end of ootp. Various death eaters, including belltatrix lestrange and dolohov, attempted to use it to summon the prophecy that harry was holding. On one occasion harry blocked the spell, whilst on another sirius managed to interrupt the casting of the spell [ootp35].

In order to successfully cast accio, it is necessary to concentrate hard on the item you want to summon until it reaches you. Failure to do so correctly will result in the object either not moving at all, or dropping out of the air partway through its journey [gof20].

Certain enchantments can prevent accio working. When hermione attempted to cast it on hufflepuff's cup in the lestrange vault at gringotts it had no effect due to the protective spells used by the bank [dh26]. Powerful magic items may also be impervious to it, as harry's invisibility cloak did not move when a death eater tried to summon it after he'd apparated to hogsmeade [dh28].

Age line charm

this spell produces an age line - a barrier that detects the age of anybody trying to cross it and ejects those who are too young (with the definition of "too young" presumably specified by the caster of the spell). The line it produces is thin and golden in colour. Dumbledore put an age line around the goblet of fire in order to prevent anyone under the age of 17 putting their name into it. This particular age line also caused anybody underage who tried to cross it to sprout a long white beard, although this is likely to be a special addition of dumbledore's rather than a standard feature of the magic. Several people, including fred and george weasley, fell foul of the age line when trying to get their name into the goblet illegally, despite the fact that they'd used aging potion to try to fool it [gof16].

Aguamenti

from the latin "aqua", meaning "water", and "mens", meaning "mind". "agua" is also spanish for "water".

This spell was introduced in harry's 6th year, and causes a jet of water to come from the end of the caster's wand. The speed of the jet is controllable, and the magic can produce anything from a small trickle of water to a powerful jet of it. Harry used it to refill a small goblet in the horcrux cave, where he was desperate to give dumbledore some water after he'd drunk the emerald potion [hbp26]. A short while later he and hagrid used it to produce sufficient water to douse the flames on hagrid's hut after it had been set on fire during the death eaters' invasion of hogwarts [hbp28].

Alohomora

from the hawaiian "aloha", which means "hello/farewell", and the latin "mora", which means "obstacle".

This is a fairly basic spell used to open a locked door or window. Hermione was able to use it effectively during her first year, and even though she's very gifted, this still indicates that it is hardly advanced magic. It can unseal doors locked using colloportus, from which we can deduce that this spell is not very advanced either. Despite this, both harry's gang and the death eaters attempted to seal and unseal doors using these spells during the battle at the department of mysteries [ootp35]. Doors can be locked with more advanced magic that alohomora is useless against, however, as hermione discovered on their journey through the department of mysteries before the battle [ootp34].

Hermione also used alohomora to unlock the window in the tower where sirius was imprisoned following the escape of wormtail, having flown up to it with harry on buckbeak [poa21].

Anapneo

greek for "breathe".

Clears the airways of the person who the spell is cast upon, allowing them to breathe properly. Horace slughorn cast this on marcus belby when he accidentally swallowed a large mouthful of pheasant under questioning during slughorn's slug club meeting on the hogwarts express [hbp7].

Animagus transformation

this is an exceptionally difficult piece of magic that allows a witch or wizard to transform themselves into an animal at will. Animagi are very rare, and are required to register themselves with the ministry of magic. Only seven registered animagi have existed in the last century, perhaps due to the extreme difficulty of the magic, and perhaps also due to the unpleasant nature of the side-effects should an attempt to transform go wrong. As with the patronus, the animagus cannot choose what animal to transform into: the animal they become is a direct result of their inherent nature and cannot be changed. The only known registered animagus is minvera mcgonagall, who can transform into a cat. Hermione checked the register during her third year and did not report back on what other names she found, and so it is reasonable to assume that none of the others were known to her [poa18]. There are - or have been - a number of (illegal) unregistered animagi, however, including james potter (stag), sirius black (dog), peter pettigrew (rat) [all poa18] and rita skeeter (beetle) [gof37].

Anti-cheating spell

a spell that teachers at hogwarts use on quills for exams to prevent cheating [ps/ss16].

Anti-disapparation jinx

when cast on a person it prevents them from disapparating. Dumbledore used this jinx to bind the death eaters in the death chamber after the battle at the ministry of magic [ootp36].

Anti-intruder jinx

repels intruders. This spell was cast on all the hogwarts walls for the 1996-97 school year to protect the students following the return of voldemort [hbp8].

Antler hex

during the breakout of anarchy following fred and george walking out of the school in harry's fifth year, a number of unpleasant things happened to many of dolores umbridge's allies. In particular, pansy parkinson missed a day of lessons due to the fact that she'd sprouted antlers, no doubt the result of a hex [ootp30].

Aparecium

"appareo" is latin for "appear" or "i become visible".

Used to reveal invisible ink. Hermione tried this on the very secret diary in order to find out whether her theory about it carrying a detailed account of t.m.riddle's capture of the heir of slytherin (written in invisible ink) was correct or not. Unfortunately for her, the spell had no effect, although her thinking wasn't a million miles wide of the mark [cos13].

Apparate

"appareo" is latin for "appear" or "i become visible".

This spell allows the caster to appear instantly in a given place. It is used in conjunction with disapparate. The caster must disapparate from one location in order to apparate in another. It is the favoured mode of transport of adult wizards when they wish to travel quickly, but cannot be used by children as an apparition test has to be passed before it is legal to use it [gof6]. The apparition test cannot be taken before the age of 17, and as such, apparition lessons are available in hogwarts during the 6th year [hbp18].

The ministry levies heavy fines on anyone caught apparating without a licence, as it is very dangerous to attempt it if you are not properly trained. The most common problem it can cause is splinching, which means leaving part of your body behind. This is not fatal, but requires ministry wizards to correct it, and leads to a lot of paperwork [gof6].

Hermione passed her apparition test first time, but ron just failed because he left half an eyebrow behind. Harry wasn't 17 at the time, and so wasn't allowed to take the test, although he had been allowed to attend lessons [hbp22].

Atmospheric charm

it is likely that this spell replicates weather conditions, perhaps for use indoors. It may well be related to the charm that makes the ceiling of the great hall at hogwarts resemble the sky outside [ps/ss7]. When it was raining in yaxley's office in the ministry of magic, hermione thought that it might have been an atmospheric charm gone wrong, and was worried that if this was the case then it was going to be difficult to fix [dh12].

Avada kedavra

a corruption of "abracadabra" which was used as a healing spell to drive disease from the patient's body in the middle ages. Its likely source is either the arabic "abra kadabra" (may the things be destroyed), or the aramaic "abhadda kedhabhra" (disappear with these words).

The killing curse. This is an advanced spell, and one that according to barty crouch jnr "needs a powerful bit of magic behind it" [gof14]; the incantation alone is not enough for the spell to work. When cast effectively, avada kedavra kills instantaneously, producing a blinding flash of green light and a characteristic rushing noise that sounds like something huge and invisible rushing through the air, but leaving no mark on the victim's body [gof14].

It is one of three unforgivable curses, a group of spells considered so evil that casting one against another human is punishable by a life sentence in azkaban. When cast successfully on a person, it leaves no mark on its victim and does no damage to the surrounding area [hbp17], and cannot be blocked by magical means: there is no counter curse. It is possible, however, to place objects in the path of the spell to block it, and anything non-organic that the spell directly hits will be destroyed [ootp36].

Animals can be killed with the curse like humans can, and barty crouch jnr (in the guise of professor moody) demonstrated the effects of the spell by casting it on a spider [gof14]. Fawkes was also killed by the curse when he swallowed a bolt of it during the battle at the department of mysteries to protect dumbledore. Being a phoenix, however, he was immediately reborn as a baby [ootp36].

Known human victims of avada kedavra are:
tom riddle snr, mr riddle, mrs riddle, james potter, lily potter, bertha jorkins, frank bryce, cedric diggory, albus dumbledore, charity burbage, gellert grindelwald, gregorovitch and lord voldemort. The majority of these were killed by voldemort in person, including, ironically enough, voldemort himself, who was hit by his own rebounding curse [dh36].

Many others may have been killed with it, such as barty crouch snr, amelia bones, igor karkaroff, remus lupin, nymphadora tonks and bellatrix lestrange, but there is no confirmation of what spell was used in these cases.

Two people are known to have survived it. These are harry potter (who was protected by his mother sacrificing her life for him) [ps1], and tom riddle (who was hit by his own curse as it rebounded from harry, and was prevented from dying by his horcruxes) [hbp23]. Tom later managed to polish himself off in exactly the same manner, however, by hitting himself with the curse once again when his horcruxes had all been destroyed [dh36].

Avis

latin for "bird".

Conjures a flock of birds. Mr ollivander tested viktor krum's wand for the triwizard tournament using this spell. The birds flew out of the window, and ollivander pronounced that the wand was "good", although he didn't care much for the styling [gof18].

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Babbling curse

effect not stated, but it can reasonably be assumed that it causes the victim to babble nonsense. Lockhart once cured a simple transylvanian villager of this curse on his travels. Or not. Either way, harry had to re-enact the episode in one of lockhart's dada classes [cos10].

Backfiring jinx

effect unknown, but the casting of such a jinx in elephant and castle (a district of london) was serious enough to require the magical law enforcement squad to be called out [hbp5].

Banishing charm

this spell is the opposite of accio, which is the summoning charm. It causes an object to fly away from the caster. Harry's class studied this spell in fourth-year charms classes, and were meant to be banishing cushions across the room. Neville's aim was so bad that he kept banishing other things, however, and repeatedly managed to banish professor flitwick so that he whizzed across the room in a somewhat resigned manner [gof26].

Bat-bogey hex

this spell enlarges the bogies of the victim, makes them fly like bats and then attack them about the face. It is a particular speciality of ginny weasley. It is clear from the effect of the spell that it is used partially as comic relief, although on both occasions it has been cast in the book it is also used as a plot device. Ginny first casts it on draco malfoy when she, ron, neville and luna are being held in professor umbridge's office by the inquisitorial squad [ootp33], which helps allow them to escape and accompany harry to the battle at the ministry of magic. Its second appearance is on the hogwarts express the following year, when ginny casts it on zaccharias smith for refusing to stop asking about what happened in the battle at the ministry [hbp7]. Horace slughorn saw her cast it as he passed her carriage and subsequently asked her to join the slug club.

Bedazzling hex

this is a spell used to make a certain type of invisibility cloak. The name of the hex suggests that it works by dazzling the onlooker so that they cannot see the item that has been enchanted. According to xenophilius lovegood, invisibility cloaks are usually made in one of three ways: ordinary cloaks can be enchanted with a disillusionment charm or a bedazzling hex, or a cloak can be specially made using demiguise hair. All three work for a certain period of time, but their invisibility properties start to fade as they age. Harry's invisibility cloak, which is one of the deathly hallows, was not made in this way and never loses its power, although how this has been achieved is never made clear [dh21].

Blasting charm

a charm used to good effect by alberta toothill in the 1430 all-england duelling competition, where she used it to defeat the favourite, samson wiblin [fw].

Blasting curse

see "confringo".

Braking charm

the firebolt broomstick comes complete with an unbreakable braking charm, very useful as it can reach speeds of over 150mph. It is not clear which company manufactures the firebolt: if it is comet, then this charm is likely to be an improved version of the horton-keitch braking charm, also included in the spells list. If it is another company, this is likely to be an entirely different piece of magic [poa4].

Bubble-head charm

the bubble-head charm is used to create a bubble of air around the caster's head. It can be used to allow the caster to breathe underwater, as demonstrated by both cedric diggory and fleur delacour in the second task of the triwizard tournament [gof26]. Both used the charm effectively and were able to breathe whilst under the lake, although fleur failed to retrieve her hostage after being attacked by grindylows. Following fred and george's departure from hogwarts the following year, the outbreak of anarchy under umbridge's rule increased to new levels. So many dungbombs and stink pellets began to be dropped in the corridors that many students took to casting bubble-head charms on themselves to avoid the smell [ootp30].

C

Caterwauling charm

this spell produces a screaming sound so loud that when harry, ron and hermione set it off in hogsmeade, it echoed round all of the surrounding mountains. The death eaters had set up the charm to detect if anybody was breaking the curfew they had imposed, and it was primed to go off if anybody so much as stepped out into the street during curfew hours. It went off the moment that harry, ron and hermione arrived by apparition, announcing their arrival with some gusto. The charm was silenced by one of the death eaters waving his wand [dh28].

Cave inimucum

from the latin "caveo", meaning "on guard against", and "inimucus", meaning "hostile".

This was one of the protective enchantments used by harry, ron and hermione when they were on the run from the death eaters. They used it to help avoid detection, along with a number of other spells. The effect of this particular spell is not specified, but hermione waved her wand at the sky whilst casting it, and the incantation suggests that it prevents hostile magic from entering the protected area [dh14].

Cheering charm

produces a feeling of great contentment in the target person. Harry's class covered this magic in charms classes during the third year. Hermione missed the lesson, but the rest of the class were feeling very cheery indeed on their way to lunch after practising it [poa15]. Hermione obviously caught up on the subject though, as she wrote hugely about it in her charms owl [ootp31].

Colloportus

from the latin "colligere", meaning "bind together" and "portus", meaning "gate".

This spell is used to magically seal doors, making a squelching sound as it does so, but it is not particularly effective. It can easily be countered with alohomora, a simple spell already known by hermione near the beginning of her first year at hogwarts, which will open any door sealed with colloportus. Hermione attempted to use colloportus to lock doors against the death eaters when the da were being pursued during the battle at the department of mysteries. Predictably, the death eaters simply cast alohomora to open them again [ootp35].

Colour-change charm

this spell causes the target to change colour. It certainly works on animals, as harry was meant to cast it on a rat during his charms owl in order to turn it orange. Unfortunately he got the incantation mixed up with the growth charm and it ended up the size of a badger before he could stop it [ootp31]. It is assumed that it works on inanimate objects too.

Colour flash charm

possibly a variant of the colour-change charm, this is used to make the item it is cast on flash different colours. It was used by hermione on a "potter for president" banner the gryffindors had made for harry's first quidditch match in his first year to make it more eye-catching [ps/ss11].

Concealment charm

the effect of concealment charms has not been specified, but it is safe to assume that they are used to conceal something so that it cannot be seen. Hermione told harry that the secrecy sensors that argus filch was using to make sure no dark objects got into the school could detect concealment charms, but the love potions supplied by weasley's wizard wheezes were getting through due to the fact that they weren't dangerous enough. Fred and george were disguising them as perfume and cough potion anyway just to make sure [hbp15].

Confringo

the latin word "confringo" means "to destroy".

This spell causes the target object to explode. Harry used it on the sidecar hagrid was using to transport him from privet drive to the tonks' house. Hagrid's attempt to repair the sidecar had led to it falling off, and after he had been plucked from it as it plummeted, harry blew it up to put off the chasing death eaters [dh4].

Hermione also used it when harry was attacked by nagini in godric's hollow. On this occasion it bounced around the room smashing everything in sight - including, unfortunately, harry's wand [dh17]. Hermione later referred to confringo as the blasting curse, and as such it may be the same spell as the blasting charm. See also "blasting charm".

Confundus charm

"confundo" is latin for "i confuse".

This spell is used to confuse an object or person, to disorient them or make them believe what the spell caster wants them to. The charm is first mentioned by professor snape following his confrontation with sirius black in the shrieking shack at the end of harry's third year. After harry, ron and hermione attacked him and knocked him unconscious, he believeed they did it because black had confunded them into believing he was innocent [poa21]. Sirius was genuinely innocent, of course, and the trio had not been confunded at all.

It is highly likely, although unconfirmed, that barty crouch jnr used a confundus charm on the goblet of fire in order to enter harry into the triwizard tournament under the name of a fourth school, thus ensuring that he was chosen. This is certainly how (in the guise of alastor moody) he explained that the deed could have been done [gof17], and he later confessed to having put the name in himself [gof35]. Confirmed use of the charm occurred two years later, during gryffindor quidditch trials. On this occasion the talented but arrogant cormac mclaggen was looking like he might beat ron to the position of keeper on the team until hermione confunded him into missing his last save, causing him to fly off in totally the wrong direction. Hermione confessed to harry after mclaggen was spotted taking two attempts to get through the doors to the great hall some time later [hbp11].

Harry also used the confundus charm to confuse the gringotts guards so that he, ron and hermione could get into the bank without their disguises being detected [dh26]. Severus snape used the same charm on mundungus fletcher when he planted the idea of the order of the phoenix using harry decoys on his flight from privet drive [dh33].

Conjunctivitis curse

conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva (mucous membrane that lines the surface of the eyelid and the exposed surface of the eyeball), and is taken from the latin "conjunctus," meaning "joined together."

this curse is aimed at the eyes of the victim and causes the eyelids to crust together so that the victim cannot see. In addition to loss of sight, it seems to cause pain to the victim as well. Evidence of this comes from krum's use of the spell in the first task of the triwizard tournament, when he cast it on his dragon as he tried to retrieve his golden egg: having been hit with the curse, the dragon began to trample around in agony [gof20].

Sirius was going to suggest this spell for harry to use in the tournament himself, but he was interrupted by ron coming into the gryffindor common room before he could say it [gof19]. This may have been just as well in the end, as sirius later admitted that barty crouch jnr/moody's solution of using his broomstick was a better idea [gof23].

Olympe maxime also used this spell against the giants, when they turned nasty following gogomath replacing karkus as the chief. The spell was effective in making them release hagrid, but also turned the giants against them once and for all, because if there's one thing a giant hates, it's magic being used against them [ootp20].

Conjuring spells

these are a category of spells taught in newt-level transfiguration classes, as professor mcgonagall informed her class at the start of their owl year [ootp13]. They are not strictly transfiguration-based, however, in that they are used to conjure items into existence from nowhere. These spells are used repeatedly by skilled wizards in the books. Examples of this occur where dumbledore conjures mead for himself and the dursleys when he goes to pick harry up before harry's 6th year [hbp3], where flitwick conjures christmas decorations from his wand to decorate the great hall [ps/ss3], and where mr ollivander creates smoke rings and a fountain of wine during the weighing of the wands [gof18].

Jkr has confirmed that conjured items are not permanent but disappear after a length of time, and that legislation also exists concerning what may and may not be created [south west news service]. This makes it clear why certain problems, such as the weasleys' lack of money, cannot be solved by simply conjuring some up. The length of time the items exist for must be controllable by the wizard, however, as the smoke rings that mr ollivander created soon disappeared, but it would have been no good if flitwick's baubles had done the same. Professor mcgonagall also conjured some food for harry and ron on one occasion [cos5], and if would have been no good it this disappeared from their stomachs.

Crispy skin hex

this is another spell used on allies of umbridge during the breakout of anarchy following fred and george walking out of the school in harry's fifth year. In this case, warrington (a member of the inquisitorial squad) had to go to the hospital wing when he developed a skin complaint (no doubt caused by a well-aimed hex) that made his skin look like it was covered in cornflakes [ootp30].

Crucio

latin for "i torture".

The cruciatus curse. It inflicts severe physical pain on whomever it is cast upon, usually causing them to scream in agony. This spell was introduced to the hogwarts students in harry's fourth year by crouch/moody, who cast it on an enlarged spider to demonstrate its effect during their first dada lesson of the year [gof14].

Perhaps the most famous use of the cruciatus curse occurred when a group of death eaters including bellatrix lestrange and barty crouch jnr cast it on frank and alice longbottom in an attempt to make them reveal information about the fallen dark lord [gof30]. Such was the degree of torture inflicted on them that they were driven to permanent insanity, showing what effect this spell can have in large doses.

Bellatrix also cast this curse on neville during the battle at the department of mysteries when she found out who he was [ootp35], threatening to do to neville what she did to his parents unless harry handed over the prophecy. Harry later cast it on her in revenge for this act and for her killing of sirius, but ineffectively. Bellatrix was caused only a small amount of pain and informed harry that one really has to mean it, and to enjoy inflicting pain, for the magic to function correctly [ootp36].

It appears to be a curse that death eaters use routinely, as amycus carrow also repeatedly attempted to cast it on ginny during the battle at hogwarts, although she managed to dodge it each time [hbp28]. Voldemort also uses it as a means of punishing his followers when they have failed him: both pettigew [gof29] and avery [gof33] have suffered his displeasure in this manner. During severus snape's reign as headmaster of hogwarts, the cruciatus curse became a routine part of the punishment process: students were meant to cast it on anyone who had earned a detention. Many refused to do it, of course, and suffered the consequences. It was also the only time that crabbe and goyle had ever come top in anything [dh29].

Harry himself used this curse on one further occasion - on amycus carrow, after he had threatened to let voldemort kill some students to cover up his sister alecto's mistake, and then spat in professor mcgonagall's face when she tried to stop him [dh30].

The cruciatus curse is one of the three unforgivable curses, and use of it against another human being is punishable by a life sentence in azkaban, although harry at least did not face this punishment, presumably due to the circumstances of his indisgressions.

Curse alleviation charm

when katie bell was injured by the cursed necklace from malfoy, professor snape did everything that he could to prevent a rapid spread of the curse. The magic he performed is unknown, and so it is included here simply as a curse alleviation charm [hbp13].

Curse of the bogies

professor quirrell told his class about this curse, although its exact effect is unknown. Something to do with bogies, no doubt [ps/ss9].

Cushioning charm

this spell creates an invisible cushioned area, which is usually intended for sitting on. It is primarily used in broomstick manufacture to make the brooms more comfortable. Elliot smethwyck invented this charm in 1820, a development that led broomstick riding to become more comfortable than ever before [qa].

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Daydream charm

this gives the spell caster a highly-realistic 30 minute daydream, according to its inventors fred and george weasley. It can have side-effects of minor drooling and a vacant expression, but this aside it is virtually undetectable. Daydream charms can be found for sale in weasleys' wizard wheezes [hbp6].

Defodio

the latin word for "i excavate" (although conversely, it also means "i bury").

This is a gouging spell. It was used by harry, ron and hermione whilst riding a dragon through the underground tunnels of gringotts bank during their getaway after taking hufflepuff's cup from the lestrange vault. The effect was to carve chunks out of the ceiling of the tunnels, enlarging them enough for the dragon to pass through.

Deletrius

"delete", meaning, "to erase", comes from the latin "deleo", also meaning "to erase".

This charm is used to erase spell images conjured by priori incantem. Amos diggory used it after the dark mark had been cast by barty crouch jnr, with harry's wand, after the quidditch world cup. He first used priori incantatem to create the ghost of the morsmordre spell, and then used deletrius to make it vanish in a wisp of smoke [gof9].

Densaugeo

from the latin "dens", meaning "tooth", and "augeo," meaning "to increase, enlarge".

This hex enlarges the teeth of the victim. Draco malfoy cast it at harry when they were fighting outside the potions classroom in their fourth year. The spell deflected off harry's own curse and hit hermione, causing her teeth to grow past her collar, although professor snape cruelly retorted that he could see no difference from normal [gof18]. Hermione got her teeth fixed by madam pomrey, and took the opportunity to let them reduce slightly further than their starting point, so that her front teeth are now no longer oversized [gof23].

Deprimo

the latin word for "i press down", or "i dig down".

Hermione used this spell during the escape from xenophilius lovegood's house. The effect it had on this occasion was the blast a hole in the floor of first-floor room they were in [dh21]. The name of the spell suggests that rather than simply blasting holes in things or making them explode, the spell specifically digs downwards, making holes in the floor or the ground where the spellcaster directs it.

Descendo

"descendo" is latin for "i come down".

This spell causes an item to descend. Ron used it to make the attic hatch and ladder come down so that harry could go to see the ghoul that had been disguised as ron with spattergroit [dh6].

Diffindo

latin for "i split".

Diffindo is a spell that rips an object in half or causes things to separate. Harry has used it to good effect on two occasions to date. The first of these came when he wanted to talk to cedric diggory alone so that he could tell him that the first task of the triwizard tournament involved dragons. Harry cast diffindo on cedric's bag, causing it to split and spill its contents onto the floor. Cedric stayed behind to clear up the mess whilst his friends went on, and harry successfully spoke to him about the task [gof20]. In his 6th year, harry wanted to keep his modified copy of "advanced potion making" but make it look like it was actually his new one from flourish and blotts. He therefore used diffindo to cut the cover from both books and swapped the insides [hbp11]. Diffindo is likely to be the same spell as the severing charm, which ron once used to cut the lace from his dress robes [gof23], and is also used by crup owners to remove the animal's forked tail [fb].

Disapparate

from the latin "disparitio" meaning "disappearance", or "dispareo" meaning "i vanish."

this spell allows the caster to disappear instantly from any given place with a soft popping sound, or alternatively a loud cracking noise, which appears to occur at both ends of the journey taken. The spell is used in conjunction with apparate, in that the caster must disapparate from one location before he or she can apparate in another.

The sound made seems to be different from one spell caster to the next: when mundungus fletcher disapparated from privet drive when he was meant to be guarding harry, he made a cracking sound as he disappeared [ootp1], but when ministry officials were flocking to the scene of the dark mark at the world cup, they made popping sounds as they appeared [gof9]. When harry visits the ministry for his hearing, the apparating ministry personnel they pass make a mixture of pops and cracks [ootp7].

Disillusionment charm

literal meaning of "disillusion" is to remove an illusion. Generally used to indicate unhappiness with a situation.

This spell is used to hide something, and is typically used to conceal magical objects and occurrences from muggles, making them blend into the background like a chameleon. Alastor moody cast this spell on harry when he and his advance guard had to fly to grimmauld place from privet drive. When moody cast the spell it felt to harry as if cold trickles were running down his body from his head, where moody had hit him with his wand. Once the spell had been cast, his body immediately blended in with the background [ootp3]. Moody lifted the spell when they reached their destination, and hit harry's head with his wand again: this time, the trickles felt hot [ootp4].

Dissendium

this may be a path-revealing spell. Harry learnt it when he used the marauder's map to take a secret passage to hogsmeade, when he was banned from the trip due to his lack of a permission form and the proximity of sirius black to hogwarts. Harry used it to open the secret passage that lay behind the statue of the hump-backed one-eyed witch on the third floor. The map itself showed him what to do, by creating a speech bubble next to the depiction of him. The incantation given may be a spell, or it may just be a password for this particular passage [poa10].

Drought charm

this spell dries up a limited amount of water. Harry researched this in preparation for the second task of the triwizard tournament, but as it is designed only to dry up puddles and ponds, he decided he probably wouldn't be able to remove the entire hogwarts lake with it [gof26].

Duro

the latin word for "i make hard".

Duro turns the target object into stone. Hermione cast it on a tapestry during the battle of hogwarts. The tapestry in question was at the bottom of a flight of stairs that she had just turned into a slide with glisseo: she, ron and harry burst through it, and when some death eaters followed them down she turned it into stone, as evidenced by the painful crunch behind them [dh32].

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Enchanted mist

this was one of the obstacles harry encountered in the maze during the third task of the triwizard tournament, and is presumably produced by some magical means. It is golden in colour and causes the world of anyone entering it to turn upside-down. Their feet are still on the ground, but up and down are reversed, meaning that the victim is left dangling, stuck to a floor that has become the ceiling, with the sky beneath them. The spell is broken if the victim removes a foot from the ground, and the world turns back the right way up for them [gof31].

Enchanted sleep

during the second task of the triwizard tournament, one hostage for each champion was placed in the village of the merpeople in the hogwarts lake, for the competitors to rescue. The hostages were first put into an enchanted sleep in order to protect them whilst underwater. Not only were they unconscious, but they could also breathe underwater, as streams of bubbles kept emerging from their mouths, although this second effect is likely to be due to a separate charm placed upon them. The hostages were tied to a statue in the middle of the village and guarded by the merpeople as they waited for the champions to arrive [gof26].

Engorgio

"engorge" means "to fill to excess".

The engorgement charm. This causes the target of the spell to enlarge until it is several times its original size. It is likely that the target has to be living matter. Evidence of this comes from the fact that wherever it has been cast in the books so far, this has been the case. Fred and george weasley put an engorgement charm on their ton-tongue toffees, which they "accidentally" let dudley dursley eat, leading his tongue to grow to over 4 feet in length before his parents would let arthur magically shrink it again [gof4]. In addition, moody/crouch used an engorgement charm on the spider he was using to demonstrate the unforgivable curses in his dada lessons. The spider grew larger than a tarantula, much to ron's chagrin [gof14].

In contrast, when fred and george wanted to increase the size of the copy of the quibber that contained harry's interview, they used an enlargement charm [ootp26]. Also similar is the growth charm, which harry got mixed up with the colour-change charm during his owl and swelled a rat he was meant to be turning orange to the size of a badger before he could do anything about it [ootp31]. The precise difference between the engorgement charm and the growth charm is unknown.

Enlargement charm

similar to the engorgement charm described above, this causes an object to swell in size. It is thought that the engorgement charm works only on organic matter animal or vegetable matter, whilst the enlargement charm works on other objects [ootp26].

Ennervate

this spell revives an unconscious person. It is often used to help someone who has had stupefy cast on them to regain consciousness. This occurred when winky was hit by stupefy following barty crouch jnr's casting of the dark mark at the quidditch world cup - on this occasion, amos diggory woke her up using the spell so she could be questioned [gof9]. Dumbledore also used it to revive viktor krum when he had been stunned by crouch jnr [gof35], and in turn to revive crouch himself for questioning after the murder of cedric diggory [gof35].

We can assume that the spell also works on people who are unconscious for other reasons, as harry attempted to cast it on dumbledore when he had been rendered unconscious by the emerald potion in the horcrux cave [hbp26]. On this occasion, the incantation harry used was "rennervate", but this is likely to have simply been harry getting the spell wrong in the heat of the moment rather than an entirely different piece of magic.

Entrail-expelling curse

invented by the rather vicious-looking urquhart rackharrow, 1612-1697. The effect of this spell is unknown, but presumably involves expelling entrails. A portrait of urquhart hangs in the "dangerous" dai llewellyn ward in st mungo's hospital, where arthur weasley was treated after being attacked by nagini [ootp22].

Entrancing enchantment

the effect of this spell isn't specified, but lockhart mentioned it in the same breath as love potions during his ill-fated valentine's bash, and so we can assume that it entrances the target person in order to make them fall in love with the caster. According to lockhart, professor flitwick knows more about entrancing enchantments than any other wizard he'd met, and was therefore a "sly old dog" [cos13].

Episkey

from the greek "episkeyi" meaning "repair".

A healing spell. Tonks used to it repair harry's nose when it was broken after malfoy petrified him and stamped on him after he followed blaise zabini into his compartment on the hogwarts express [hbp8]. It isn't just for breaks, however, as harry used it to heal demelza's cut lip when ron accidentally punched her during quidditch practice [hbp14]. It may also have been the spell lockhart was attempting to cast when he accidentally removed all the bones from harry's arm [cos10].

Erecto

from the latin "erectus", which means "upright".

Hermione used this spell to put up the tent that she, harry and ron were using to camp out in whilst on the run from the death eaters. On their first night away from grimmauld place, harry was attempting to put it up by hand before hermione saved him the bother by using this magic [dh14]. It can therefore be assumed that they continued to use it from that point on.

It is likely that the spell can be used to make other objects assemble themselves in addition to tents, but this is unconfirmed.

Evanesco

latin for "i vanish".

This spell is used to make an object or objects vanish. It is assumed that the spell works only on objects, and not on people or animals. Evanesco is also known as the vanishing spell, and is taught in the 5th year at hogwarts. Vanishing magic is some of the hardest the students learn at owl level [ootp13]. It is likely that evanesco actually makes the target object disappear entirely rather than just turn invisible, although this is unconfirmed. Simple invisibility can be achieved using an invisibility spell (such as the one fred and george placed on their headless hats [ootp24]), which increases the probability of evanesco having a different effect, but the effects of the spell have been ambiguous to date.

Professor snape used evanesco to make harry's attempt at a draught of peace disappear during the first potions lesson of his 5th year, after harry's failure to add syrup of hellebore turned it into useless goo [ootp12]. This would have been a pointless exercise if the potion had just turned invisible - it seems from this that it disappeared entirely.

On the other hand, bill weasley used it to vanish some important order of the phoenix parchments before harry could seem them when harry was staying at grimmauld place, and he wouldn't have done that unless he could get them back again [ootp5]. Also, when harry's class had moved on from vanishing snails to vanishing mice in their transfiguration lessons, ron's attempt was incomplete and he was left with a wriggling tail [ootp15]. The tail would not have wriggled if the rest of the mouse had totally gone, only if it was invisible.

Expecto patronum

from the latin "expecto", meaning "i await" or "i hope for", and "patronus", meaning "a protector" or "a guardian". Hence the full meaning of the phrase can be expressed as "i hope for a guardian". "expecto" could also be interpreted as dog (ie anglicised) latin. In this context, it would come from "ex", meaning "away from", and "pectus" meaning "heart, soul, or chest". Therefore, in this case the phrase would mean "out of the soul/heart, a protector."

the patronus charm. This is highly advanced magic, beyond ordinary wizarding level, as reported by both remus lupin when he was teaching harry how to do it [poa12] and by hermione when she and harry travelled back in time to save sirius [poa21]. The spell produces a patronus, which takes the form of a silver animal made of vapour, but is actually a projection of the caster's positive emotions [poa12]. It acts as a guardian, protecting the spell caster, and can be used to ward off both dementors [poa12] and lethifolds [fb]. It may well work against other creatures as well, although this is unconfirmed.

Remus lupin taught harry how to conjure a patronus after dementors invaded the pitch during the first quidditch match in his 3rd year, causing him to fall off his broom and lose the game [poa9]. It took a lot of practice, however, due to the advanced nature of the magic in question. To conjure a patronus, the spell caster must speak the incantation - expecto patronum - while concentrating hard on an extremely happy thought or memory. When the charm is cast successfully, the spell caster's wand emits a patronus [poa12]. The inexperienced caster may not manage to produce anything but a vague film of mist, but when the spell has been mastered, a fully-fledged and well-defined creature - referred to as a corporeal patronus - will be created [ootp8]. The type of animal the patronus assumes depends entirely upon the witch or wizard who conjures it, reflecting certain traits of the caster's personality. Like animagus form, the patronus of any given witch or wizard is fixed, but it can change due to extreme stress or emotional upheaval [hbp16].

Harry has used the patronus charm to good effect on a number of occasions: he saw off some "dementors" (in reality malfoy, crabbe and goyle in disguise) in his first quidditch match after learning the spell [poa13], and later in the year drove an entire pack of real dementors away from himself and sirius after travelling back in time [poa20]. He also successfully defended himself and dudley dursley from an attack before the start of his 5th year [ootp1].

Harry taught the charm to the da later that year, with mixed results: cho and hermione managed to produce excellent results, with their patronuses being a swan and an otter respectively. Neville, lavender and seamus had more problems with the magic at first [ootp27], but seamus at least had mastered it two years later [dh32].

The order of the phoenix utilise patronuses in a different manner: they use them for communication. When tonks found harry on the hogwarts express after he had been attacked by malfoy, she sent word to the school using her patronus [hbp8]. Kingsley shacklebolt used the same means of communication to warn the guests at bill and fleur's wedding of the coming of the death eaters [dh8], whilst severus snape used his patronus to guide harry to the sword of gryffindor, which he had hidden in a frozen pond in the forest of dean [dh19].the patronuses of a number of witches and wizards are known. These are:

cho chang - swan [ootp27]
aberforth dumbledore - goat [dh28]
albus dumbledore - phoenix [dh20]
seamus finnigan - fox [dh32]
hermione granger - otter [ootp27]
luna lovegood - hare [dh32]
ernie macmillan - boar [dh32]
minerva mcgonagall - cat [dh30]
harry potter - stag [poa21]
kingsley shacklebolt - lynx [dh8]
severus snape - doe [dh33]
nymphadora tonks - werewolf [hbp8]
dolores umbridge - cat [dh13]
arthur weasley - weasel [dh7]
ron weasley - terrier [dh32]

expelliarmus

latin "expellere" means "to drive out". The "armus" has two possible explanations: in latin, "armus" itself means "shoulder", and by extension, "arm", so it could suggest something being driven from a person. However, "armum" means "arms/weapons", which seems a more likely derivative.

This spell is used to disarm an opponent. It is a relatively simple spell, as professor lockhart attempted to teach it to the students during their 2nd year in his ill-fated duelling club [cos11]. It is unclear how much success he had, but harry, ron and hermione had certainly mastered it by the end of their 3rd year. On this occasion they used it simultaneously in an attempt to disarm severus snape and prevent him handing sirius over to the dementors. Cast together in this way, not only did it disarm snape, but the power of the spells hurled him across the room and knocked him unconscious [poa19]. This appears to be a known side-effect of this spell when cast with a lot of power, as lockhart was also thrown against the wall when snape cast it on him at the duelling club [cos11].

Expelliarmus has played an important part in gof and hbp, and none more so than in the graveyard confrontation between harry and voldemort. It is this spell that harry cast at the same time as voldemort attempted avada kedavra, resulting in the priori incantatem effect between their brother wands that ended up allowing harry to escape [gof34].

Crucially, draco malfoy also cast this spell on dumbledore on the hogwarts ramparts, after dumbledore and harry had returned from the horcrux cave in hbp. Draco's intention was to render the headmaster defenceless before killing him. Malfoy's nerve failed him and he couldn't go through with the killing, but the job was completed by severus snape [hbp27].

After harry's performance in the graveyard, the death eaters began to see this spell as harry's "signature move". Remus lupin was furious with harry for using it during the escape from privet drive, and thus giving away which of the seven potters was real [dh5]. Whilst he took this advice on board, he still used it in his final duel with voldemort, successfully retrieving the elder wand from him, whilst the dark lord's own avada kedavra curse rebounded and killed him [dh36].

Expulso

"expulsio" is latin for "i drive out", or "i expel".

Causes a target object to explode. Dolohov used this after he and rowle had tracked harry, ron and hermione down to the café on the tottenham court road. Luckily for harry it missed him and exploded a table behind him [dh9].

Extension charm

see "undetectable extension charm".

Extinguishing spell

from the context, it can be inferred that this is a spell that puts out fires. Charlie weasley told hagrid that the dragon-keepers would be standing by during the first task of the triwizard tournament with their extinguishing spells at the ready in case anything got nasty [gof19].

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