80 Fun Facts About Harry Potter Spells

Which disarming spell became Harry's signature and rebounded Voldemort's final Killing Curse?

Some wizarding historians credit Merlin with inventing it, but it only caught on after Elizabeth Smudgling used it in a Dartmoor duel in 1379.

In which year did Elizabeth Smudgling popularise the Disarming Charm in a duelling contest on Dartmoor?

Others claimed its first widespread use was in Madagascar in the 11th century.

What does Wingardium Leviosa, the charm taught to Hogwarts first-years, do?

Ron got the swish-and-flick wrong until Hermione corrected his pronunciation, and later used it to knock out a troll with its own club.

Which charm illuminates the tip of the caster's wand?

It can also be used to reveal magically hidden things.

Which counter-charm puts out the light at the end of a wand?

It is Latin for night; its partner charm is Latin for light.

Which charm summons a named object toward the caster, even one out of sight?

Harry used it to fetch his Firebolt during the first Triwizard task, and Molly Weasley used it to pull Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from the twins' pockets.

Which of the three Unforgivable Curses places its victim completely under the caster's control?

A person under it was said to be Imperiused; Barty Crouch Sr and Pius Thicknesse were both controlled this way.

What does the Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) inflict on its victim?

Prolonged exposure causes insanity, which is what Bellatrix Lestrange did to Neville's parents.

What is the penalty for using an Unforgivable Curse on another human being?

Barty Crouch Sr nonetheless authorised Aurors to use them against Death Eaters during the first war.

What colour of light accompanies the Killing Curse?

It kills instantly and painlessly, leaving no mark on the body, which is why Muggle doctors could find nothing wrong with the Riddles.

Which incantation conjures a Patronus?

It is regarded as far beyond N.E.W.T. level; many fully qualified wizards cannot manage a corporeal one.

What animal form does Harry Potter's Patronus take?

It matched his father James's Animagus form; Harry first produced it fully during a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.

Whose Patronus, a doe, led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the Forest of Dean?

It was the same form as Lily Potter's, which is how Harry finally understood where Snape's loyalties lay.

Who gave Harry private anti-Dementor lessons to teach him the Patronus Charm?

He was one of the youngest wizards ever to attempt the charm with real results.

Who devised the method of using Patronuses to carry spoken messages?

The technique was believed to be exclusive to the Order of the Phoenix; Kingsley's lynx warned the wedding guests that the Ministry had fallen.

Which spell defeats a Boggart by forcing it into a form the caster finds funny?

It comes with a whip-crack noise; Neville's Boggart-Snape ended up in his grandmother's dress and vulture hat.

Which charm makes its target buckle with laughter, weakening them?

It appears in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, and Harry used it on Malfoy in the Duelling Club.

Which spell makes a target's legs spasm wildly, as if dancing?

Malfoy fired it at Harry in the Duelling Club; it works on anything with legs, living or not.

Which charm, nicknamed the Thief's Friend, unlocks doors and windows?

Hermione used it on the third-floor corridor in her first year; an Anti-Alohomora Charm can block it.

Which spell locks a door so that it cannot be opened by hand?

It is in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1; Hermione used it to slow the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries.

Which charm erases specific memories from a person's mind?

Mnemone Radford, who developed memory-modifying charms, became the Ministry's first Obliviator; Hermione used it on her own parents.

Which charm confuses and misdirects its target, and works on anything that has a mind?

Hermione cast it on Cormac McLaggen at Keeper trials, and Harry suspected Snape of using it on the Goblet of Fire.

Which curse causes its target to explode?

Hermione used it on the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike to shake off pursuing Death Eaters.

Which curse blasts solid objects to pieces, reducing them to mist or ashes?

Ginny was noted for the strength of hers; the Trio used it on the shelves of prophecies in the Department of Mysteries.

Which spell, nicknamed the Stunner, renders its target unconscious?

A jet of red light; several at once can seriously injure, as McGonagall found when four hit her in the chest.

Which curse temporarily paralyses an opponent and is a favourite of inexperienced young duellists?

Hermione used it on Neville in their first year, and Draco Malfoy on Harry aboard the Hogwarts Express in the sixth.

What is the incantation of the Leg-Locker Curse, which binds the victim's legs together?

Malfoy used it on Neville, who had to bunny-hop back to Gryffindor Tower.

Which charm protects the caster with an invisible shield that reflects spells?

Fred and George sold Shield Hats, Cloaks and Gloves based on it to the Ministry.

Under the Fidelius Charm, what is the person in whose soul the hidden information is concealed called?

The Potters made Peter Pettigrew theirs; only when the Keeper dies do all who were told become Keepers themselves.

Which Half-Blood Prince curse, marked "for enemies", did Harry use on Draco Malfoy in a bathroom?

Its inventor healed the wounds with a song-like counter-curse and later slashed off George Weasley's ear with it by accident.

Which jinx, meant to be cast nonverbally, hoists its victim into the air by the ankle?

James Potter used it on its own inventor in Snape's Worst Memory; the counter-jinx is Liberacorpus.

Which charm fills the ears of everyone nearby with a buzzing so that a conversation cannot be overheard?

Hermione disapproved of it because it came from the Half-Blood Prince's book, but used it herself on the run.

Which jinx glues the victim's tongue to the roof of their mouth?

Harry used it on Peeves, and it works on poltergeists as well as people.

Which charm amplifies a voice, as used by Ludo Bagman commentating the Quidditch World Cup?

Its counter-charm, Quietus, turns the volume back down.

Which charm renders its victim temporarily mute?

Fifth-years practised it on ravens and bullfrogs; done badly, the target swells up and makes a deafening noise instead.

Which charm conjures a jet of clean, drinkable water from the wand?

Harry used it to try to give Dumbledore water in the cave, only for the water to vanish before it reached his lips.

Which spell conjures a jet of flames to set things alight?

Arthur Weasley used it to light the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace before travelling by Floo.

Which curse produces enchanted flames that take the form of serpents, chimaeras and dragons?

Crabbe unleashed it in the Room of Requirement, destroying the diadem Horcrux and himself.

Which charm seamlessly repairs a broken or ripped object?

Hermione fixed Harry's glasses with it on the Hogwarts Express; Harry's own wand was later beyond its reach until the Elder Wand did the job.

Which witch invented the Mending Charm, in or before 1754?

The other three are the author of The Standard Book of Spells, the first Ministry Obliviator, and the duellist who popularised the Disarming Charm on Dartmoor.

Which healing charm mends minor injuries such as broken noses, toes and split lips?

Tonks used it on Harry's nose after Malfoy stamped on it, and Harry used it on Demelza Robins.

Which charm conjures bandages and splints broken bones?

Lupin used it on Ron's broken leg in the Shrieking Shack.

Which spell clears a choking person's airway by vanishing whatever is stuck in it?

Slughorn used it on Marcus Belby, who choked on a pheasant while discussing his uncle's Wolfsbane Potion.

Which cleaning charm is also used to punish swearing by filling the culprit's mouth with soap?

James Potter did exactly that to a teenage Snape in Snape's Worst Memory.

Which spell siphons up liquids such as blood, dust or grease?

Hermione used it to clean the blood off Harry's face after Malfoy broke his nose on the train.

Which Transfiguration spell vanishes objects "into non-being, which is to say, everything"?

Fifth-years practised it on snails and then mice; Snape used it on Harry's ruined potions.

Which charm cuts precisely, and can cause death or injury if used carelessly?

Harry used it to split Cedric's bag so he could warn him about the dragons.

Which charm makes its target swell up, and counters the Shrinking Charm?

Hagrid almost certainly used it on his pumpkins, and Barty Crouch Jr on the spider he tortured in class.

Which charm turns an object to stone?

Hermione used it on a tapestry during the Battle of Hogwarts so two Death Eaters ran into solid stone.

Which spell, in use since the Middle Ages, turns a staircase into a smooth slide?

The girls' dormitory stairs at Hogwarts do it automatically when a boy tries to climb them; Hermione cast it during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Which charm duplicates an object into a replica almost impossible to tell from the original?

Hermione copied Slytherin's locket with it, and the Lestrange vault at Gringotts was cursed with it so that every touched object multiplied.

Which charm conjures a flock of birds?

Ollivander tested Krum's wand with it before the Triwizard Tournament, and Hermione's conjured canaries later went for Ron's face.

Which spell conjures a live snake from the end of the wand?

Malfoy cast it at Harry in the Duelling Club, which is how the school learned Harry was a Parselmouth.

Which jinx directs conjured creatures or objects to attack a target?

Hermione used it after catching Ron kissing Lavender Brown; the birds she had conjured went for his face.

Which jinx hinders a target's movement, slowing it down or stopping it in its tracks?

Harry practised it for the Triwizard maze and later used it on Snape as he fled the castle.

Which jinx forces a target to release its grip on whatever it is holding?

Harry used it underwater on the Grindylows in the second task; it produced hot water instead of sparks.

Which spell conjures ropes out of thin air to bind a target?

Umbridge used it on the centaur Magorian, which was the beginning of the end for her.

Which charm reveals the presence of other humans nearby?

Dumbledore used it nonverbally at the Dursleys', and Hermione cast it in Grimmauld Place and Godric's Hollow.

Which protective enchantment, cast by Hermione around the tent on the Horcrux hunt, deflected hexes?

She cast it in the Forest of Dean and again in a Devon field after the escape from the Lovegoods'.

Which charm turns an ordinary object into a Portkey?

Making Portkeys is restricted by the Ministry, which did not stop Dumbledore turning an old kettle into one in his office.

What does the spell with the incantation "Point Me" make the caster's wand do?

Harry used the Four-Point Spell to navigate the Triwizard maze.

Which incantation conjures the Dark Mark, the skull-and-serpent sign, in the sky?

Barty Crouch Jr cast it at the Quidditch World Cup with Harry's stolen wand; it was said to have been created by Voldemort himself.

Deletrius is the counter-charm to which spell that makes a wand echo its last spell?

Amos Diggory used it on Harry's wand at the World Cup and got a ghostly Dark Mark.

Harry's and Voldemort's wands shared a core. What rare effect occurred when they were forced to duel?

Both wands contained a feather from Fawkes; the loser's wand regurgitated echoes of its recent victims in reverse order.

Who invented the Bat-Bogey Hex, the spell Ginny Weasley was famous for?

Ginny used it on Malfoy in Umbridge's office and on Zacharias Smith on the Hogwarts Express, which impressed Slughorn enough to invite her to the Slug Club.

Which spell gives its caster a continuous supply of oxygen so they can breathe underwater?

Cedric and Fleur both used it in the second Triwizard task; Harry chose Gillyweed and Krum a partial shark Transfiguration.

What happens to the victim of an overdone Cheering Charm?

It was on the third-year Charms exam; Harry overdid his on Ron, who had to be led to a quiet room for an hour.

Which incantation did Arthur Weasley suggest to disguised Ron for a Ministry office that kept raining?

Ron was stuck fixing Yaxley's office while Harry and Hermione hunted the locket.

Which spell lets the caster delve into another person's mind to see memories, emotions and thoughts?

Snape used it on Harry in their lessons; Voldemort could do it without a wand or incantation.

What is the practice of shielding one's own mind from external penetration called?

Snape's early lessons boiled down to clearing the mind; Draco Malfoy learned it from his aunt Bellatrix.

Which hex makes the victim's front teeth grow at an alarming rate?

Malfoy's ricocheted off Harry's own jinx and hit Hermione, whose teeth grew past her collar; she let Madam Pomfrey shrink them smaller than before.

Which jinx makes its victim break out in boils?

The Boil-Cure Potion clears it up; Harry fired it at Malfoy in the corridor before the Yule Ball.

Which charm, one of McGonagall's favourites, brings statues and other inanimate artefacts to life?

She used it to send the suits of armour and statues of Hogwarts into battle: "I've always wanted to use that spell."

Which charm makes objects move downwards?

Ron used it to lower the attic ladder at the Burrow, and Crabbe used it to bring a wall of junk down on Ron in the Room of Requirement.

Which charm gouges out chunks of earth or stone?

The Trio used it to carve a way out of Gringotts on the back of the escaping dragon.

Which charm straightens out an object and sets it up, as Hermione did with the tent on the Horcrux hunt?

The tent had once belonged to Perkins in Arthur Weasley's office and smelled of cat.

The language of Harry Potter's spell incantations is usually described as a modified form of what?

Wizards almost always cast with a wand, though Rowling has described wandless magical cultures on the Wizarding World website.

What is the term for losing a body part through a botched Apparition?

Underage wizards are forbidden to Apparate, and adults must pass an Apparition test rather like a Muggle driving test.

Which Death Eater grabs Ron during Apparition in Deathly Hallows, causing him to be splinched?

It happens as the trio flee the Ministry of Magic after stealing Slytherin's locket from Umbridge.

In the wizarding world, what is a Squib?

Argus Filch is the best-known example; Rowling has said no bloodline is truly 'pure', since all have Muggles and Squibs in their ancestry.