Sectumsempra

Sectumsempra was a curse invented by Professor Severus Snape that lacerates the target and causes severe haemorrhaging. Snape created it as a student of Hogwarts, with the intention of using it against his enemies, likely including the Marauders, and it became one of his specialities.
==History==
===Creation===
The curse was invented by Severus Snape and recorded during his time as a student at Hogwarts, when he was known as "The Half-Blood Prince". He created it to retaliate against his enemies such as the Marauders,As the book says "For enemies", and the Marauders were the ones he hated the most as they constantly bullied him, it is highly likely they were the enemies he meant. and he recorded it in his N.E.W.T.-level Potions textbook. He used it enough for Remus Lupin to recognise it as one of his signature spells.
It is unknown when Severus Snape invented this spell, but according to Sirius Black, Snape "knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year."
===1996–1997 school year===
Many years later, in the 1996–1997 school year, Harry Potter came into the possession of Snape's textbook and learned the incantation. Knowing nothing more than that it was "for enemies" and believing that the "Half-Blood Prince" (Snape's nickname signed into the book) merely copied it as a note of reference, Harry became interested in trying it. He expected humorous effects, as he had found with Levicorpus and other spells in the book.
Harry initially considered using it against Cormac McLaggen for annoying him, though it was not until he confronted Draco Malfoy in the sixth-floor boys' bathroom that he tested it, seriously wounding Malfoy. Snape intervened to heal Draco, and having realised that Harry got a hold of his old textbook, he punished Harry with a multitude of detentions; though for fear of exposing himself as the curse's inventor, Snape chose not to turn Harry in for greater punishment.
Despite disliking Malfoy, Harry did not want to harm him to such an extent, and was both horrified and guilt-ridden for using the curse against him, while reprimanding the Prince within his mind for adding such a deadly spell into his notes. Professor McGonagall considered Harry to be lucky not to have been expelled for such an act and full-heartedly supported the detentions, while Pansy Parkinson wasted no time in vilifying Harry far and wide; Ginny Weasley, however, stood up for Harry's usage of the curse, as it saved him from being struck by Malfoy's Cruciatus Curse.
During Harry and Dumbledore's hunt for a Horcrux, Harry accidentally attracted the attention of an army of Inferi. In an attempt to stop them, one spell Harry used was the Sectumsempra Curse, but it merely slashed their unfeeling flesh and did not seriously impede their approach. Later that night, after Snape murdered Dumbledore, Harry attempted this curse against him, only for Snape to block it and angrily reveal to Harry that he was its inventor.
===1997–1998 school year===
The next year, during the Battle of the Seven Potters, Snape attempted to use the curse to sever the hand of a fellow Death Eater, but due to a slip, he accidentally cut off George Weasley's left ear instead, leaving him guilt-ridden. The Order of the Phoenix was not able to regrow the ear, as curse wounds (especially those in the nature of the Dark Arts), are unable to be healed, and the counter curse was unknown. Due to the nature of the events at the time, the Order believed Snape acted on ill-intent, and their grudge against him intensified, until Snape revealed his misfiring, posthumously, via his memory to Harry.
==Nature==
A rather dangerous curse, when the incantation was uttered its effect was the equivalent of an invisible sword; it was used to slash the victim from a distance, and resulted in deep wounds. The slash followed the user's wand movements. Due to the depths of the cut, victims of this curse ran the risk of dying from blood loss if treatment was not applied in time, and if the wounds were not instantly fatal.
==Known uses==
===Successful===
Caster(s) 	Victim(s) 	Date 	Note
Severus Snape	James Potter I	June, 1976 	Used it to injure him, after James and Sirius Black started to bully him after an Ordinary Wizarding Level exam.
Severus Snape	George Weasley	27 July, 1997 	Used it to sever the hand of a fellow Death Eater, who had been aiming at Remus Lupin's back during the Battle of the Seven Potters, but due to a slip, he accidentally cut off George's left ear instead, leaving him guilt-ridden.
Harry Potter 	Draco Malfoy 	Early May, 1997	Used it to seriously wound him without a clear idea of what the effects would be, after he found the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making that contained this spell.
== Known practitioners ==
Severus Snape.jpg|Severus Snape
HBP promo side Harry cropped.jpg|Harry Potter
==Etymology==
The incantation Sectumsempra derives from the two Latin words: sectum, a participle of the verb sĕco , "to cut", and semper, meaning "always" or "ever". Since English has many words meaning "cut" or "lacerate", and since spell-names lend themselves to both infinitive and gerund verb forms ("to cut" and "cutting"), Sectumsempra can be translated in more than one way: "cut always", "ever cutting", "always sever", "ever severing", and so forth. "Sever" for sectum may be regarded as a particularly appealing translation in that "sever" creates a pun on Snape's first name, Severus.
==Behind the scenes==
*This curse's effect is similar to the Severing Charm, except it is used for more malicious intent and causes more slash-like wounds.
*Snape's invention of Sectumsempra was not likely a secret, as Remus Lupin was able to recognise it during the Battle of the Seven Potters.
*It is possible that Snape cast this curse against James Potter during their fifth year at Hogwarts after the Marauders publicly humiliated him, however this is unlikely since the effects were not as extreme as they were when the spell was used against Draco Malfoy and George Weasley.
*In the films, Sectumsempra appears as a small flash of white light launched forward like many spells, which causes a cut when it strikes the target. As a result, Harry only slashed Draco once across the chest, as opposed to the face as well.
*In , the handwritten note "Sectumsempra - For Enemies" in Snape's copy of Advanced Potion-Making is briefly seen twice. The first time, it is misspelled as "Sectumpsempra". The second time, it has the correct spelling. 
*In the video game adaptation of , this spell is purple in colour, as opposed to white in the film adaptation.
*In , Harry uses Sectumsempra on Malfoy only to find out the spell has, apparently, painlessly sliced him in half.
*In , Voldemort may have used this spell to slit Snape's throat before having Nagini finish him off. The effect of Voldemort's use of the spell was a slash of the Elder Wand and it cut Snape's throat.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Amputations
Category:Curses
Category:Spells Entirely Invented by Severus S Snape
Category:Spells With-An Light
Category:Spells With Incantations of Latin Known Origin