Spell

> Are you sure that’s a real spell? Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me.
>
> Hermione Granger's talent for spell-casting at an early age, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

A **spell** was a controlled manifestation of magic that affected the world in a supernatural fashion, such as levitating objects, conjuring fire or water, or stunning an individual. Generally cast by a witch or a wizard, spells were often produced with an incantation, or for more experienced witches and wizards mentally, and could appear as jets of light. Because of this, spells could often miss, be dodged, or blocked, either with an object or another spell. The action of performing a spell is referred to as **casting** or **spellwork**.

## Spell

### Effect

Affected the world in a variety of magical ways

## Usage

> Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising! The swish and flick! And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.
>
> Professor Flitwick in Charms class, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Normally, spells required four main factors to be properly accounted for in order to succeed: wand movement, incantation, concentration and intention. Although casting some spells were a matter of caster's will, while for others, it was a question of intent, it was invariably the case that if one did not move their wand in the correct way, did not speak the incantation properly and/or could not retain their concentration and/or desired outcome in their imagination during casting, then the spell would fail or backfire. In addition, the quality and duration of spells depended entirely on the amount of spell energy they were capable of generating for it, as well as their level of success at transferring and distributing it, which could be improved with practice or decline with neglect. It should also be noted that spells could be performed with or without speech and wands, though non-verbal and wandless spells were much more difficult and hence were usually not taught to practitioners until they reached a more advanced level, such as the sixth year of study at Hogwarts.

> There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.
>
> Harry Potter learning that magic is not as easy as he thought, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Most incantations derived from the Latin language (such as *Accio*) but there were also some English incantations (such as *Obliviate* or *Stupefy*). It could be that, in other countries and wizarding territories, spells with an English incantation or another incantation other than Latin-based, could be used in other languages, as long as wizards used the same wand movement, concentration and intention.

A simplified analogy for the differentiation between Transfiguration and Charms is the difference between form and function or matter and energy; one was concerned with what the object *is* (its form - Transfigurations) whilst the other was concerned with what the object is *doing* (its function - Charms).

## Appearance

When performed, spells usually manifested as light, sparks, lightning, or fiery energy of various colours from the wand they were cast with, such as the tell-tale red of *Stupefy* or green of *Avada Kedavra*. However, some spells, such as *Accio* and *Silencio*, produced no visible intermediate effect. Some spells also made loud noises when cast, although Harry Potter noted that "bangs and smoke were more often the marks of ineptitude than experience."

## Durations

Typically, spells brought about through magic had a certain time limit placed upon them. This means that effects and after-effects magically induced by them were not meant to last, since spells like *Expelliarmus* only operated briefly and swiftly, while spells like *Stupefy* and *Petrificus Totalus* would wear off eventually. Counter-curses could also end a designated spell's effect. Likewise, a spell whose effect had yet to diminish would disappear at the moment of the caster's death. However, it was mentioned that ancient Egyptian wizards could place curses on their tombs for anyone who might open them, and that these curses remained long after the casters were presumed dead. It could be that the Egyptian wizards used curses that could grow stronger over time or at least retain their power after the casters' deaths, as that was one known aspect of certain Dark magic. Memory Charms could be so strong that they could completely remove a person's memory or even damage his or her mind permanently. If the Imperius Curse was cast poorly on a victim, or if the Cruciatus Curse was used on a victim for a prolonged period of time, it could also damage the victim's mind permanently. The Killing Curse would instantly kill its victim, and that would be irreversible and permanent, unless one was protected by sacrificial protection or had a Horcrux the moment they were hit with the curse.

## Origin

New spells could be crafted by wizards and witches, though Spell creation was a highly difficult and dangerous practice, as exemplified by Pandora Lovegood, who was killed in a backfired attempt at spell-crafting. Severus Snape was often attributed with the creation of spells such as *Levicorpus* and *Sectumsempra* during his time as a student at Hogwarts.

## Classification

Below is a list of all known categories that spells could be assigned to. It should be noted that when it comes to the classification of spell types, "the boundaries are flexible," and as such, types of spells may overlap, or have non-indicative effects. It also seems likely that certain spell types belonged to separate classification schemes to others. For example: Petrification was dark magic of the most advanced kind, but it was also Transfiguration; Melofors was both a Jinx and a Conjuration, Fiendfyre could be considered as conjuration as well as a curse and many healing spells could also be considered either charms or counter-spells. Hence, it appears that charm vs transfiguration is one method of classification and differentiation, and that charm/counter-spell/healing spell vs jinx/hex/curse is a different one.

A simplified analogy for the differentiation between a transfiguration and a charm is the difference between form and function or matter and energy; one was concerned with what the object *is* (its form - transfigurations) whilst the other was concerned with what the object is *doing* (its function - charms).

## Behind the scenes

* J. K. Rowling defined a spell as "*The generic term for a piece of magic.*"
* Many spells are portrayed as energy blasts, bolts or beams, sometimes in the shape of lightning, with various colours. Other times, spells can manifest as balls or bursts of sparks and fire of various colours, vibrational shockwaves, wave like wisps of smoke like energy, or flashes of light, but in many instances, these physical manifestations of spells can be used as projectiles.
* Commonly, a spell can also contain great concussive force or even intense heat, especially when they hit something that is not the target of the spell, with it being enough to damage objects or surfaces. Also, many offensive spells are able to knock down or send a person flying through the air.

## Appearances

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* Template:HPV Template:Mention
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* *Harry Potter Official Site*
* *Harry Potter: The Wand Collection* Template:Mention
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## Notes and references

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:WBS
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:PS
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Template:PM
4. ↑ Template:HBP
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Template:GOF
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Template:OOTP
7. ↑ Template:OOTP
8. ↑ Template:WU (Calamity Essentials - Rhyme and Reason)
9. ↑ Template:WU (SOS Task Force Training: When players obtains a new skill from the skill tree, the in-universe explanation given is that their spell-casting has improved on account of their improved ability to distribute spell energy.)
10. ↑ Template:WW
11. ↑ Template:HBP
12. ↑ Template:GOF
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Template:COS
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 J.K.Rowling Official Site - Extra Stuff
15. ↑ Template:GOF
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Template:GOF
17. ↑ Template:HBP
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Template:COS
19. ↑ Template:PS
20. ↑ Template:POA
21. ↑ Template:OOTP
22. ↑ Template:OOTP
23. ↑ Template:PM - All about... Severus Snape
24. ↑ Template:HBP
25. ↑ J.K.Rowling Official Site
26. ↑ Template:COS
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Template:HM
28. ↑ Template:POA
29. ↑ Template:DH
30. ↑ Template:COS
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Template:GOF
32. ↑ Template:HBP
33. ↑ Template:PS
34. ↑ Template:GOF
35. ↑ Template:HBP
36. ↑ J.K.Rowling Official Site - Extra Stuff (available via Web Archive)