An Alarte Ascendare

> He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack.
>
> Gilderoy Lockhart casting this spell non-verbally, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

***Alarte Ascendare*** was the incantation of a charm used to launch an object up into the air.

## *Alarte Ascendare*

### Incantation

*Alarte Ascendare*
(a-LAR-tay a-SEN-der-ay)

## History

Gilderoy Lockhart used this spell non-verbally in an attempt to dispose the ***snake*** which Draco Malfoy had conjured during the first ***Duelling Club*** meeting in 1992. However, his efforts proved to be futile, as the spell merely caused the serpent to fly upwards, which only aggravated it further.

## Known practitioners

Gilderoy Lockhart COS promo.jpgGilderoy Lockhart
## Etymology

*Alarte* comes from the Latin adjective *Alate* 'winged', and *ascendare* is a Latin verb meaning 'to climb' or 'to ascend'. Therefore, the whole incantation may be translated roughly as "winged ascent".

## See also

* Levitation Charm
* Hover Charm
* Rocket Charm

## Behind the scenes

* In the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)*, Lockhart uses the incantation for this spell rather than casting it non-verbally.
* ***Bartemius Crouch Junior*** may have used a variation of this spell to bounce a transfigured Draco Malfoy in the air several times as punishment in 1994. However, Gilderoy's spell lost contact with the wand and target immediately after usage, while Barty's spell kept the contact with wand and the target all the time.
* *Alarte Ascendare* may be closely related to the spell *Ascendio* which was used in the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*. Both spells lift their targets high up into the air, with main difference being the target - *Ascendio* launches the caster into the air while *Alarte Ascendare* launches a target directed at by the wand.
* This may be the incantation for the Rocket Charm, a spell that also causes the targeted object to shoot upwards with great velocity and force.
* Similar to ***Vera Verto***, viewers have raised concerns on the accuracy of the subtitles for spells in the *Chamber of Secrets* film, debating that the actual incantation is "Volate Ascendare". *Volate* is a conjugation of the Latin word *volare* meaning "to fly". This similarly fits the effect of the spell demonstrated.
* Whilst not ***canon***ically confirmed, this spell may be the ***incantation*** for the ***Vaulting Charm***.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) (First appearance) Template:1st ID

## Notes and references

es:Alarte ascendare fr:Alarte Ascendare pl:Alarte Ascendare ru:Аларте Аскендаре

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) - Chapter 17 (*Duelling Club*)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Chapter 11
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `COS17`
4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DH17`
5. ↑ Vera Verto - Harry Potter Wikia talk page
6. ↑ Alarte Ascendare - Harry Potter Wikia talk page