Snake Summons Spell

> The end of his Draco Malfoy's wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them and raised itself, ready to strike.
>
> Description, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The **Snake Summons Spell** (*Serpensortia*) was a[transfiguration ***spell*** that conjured a live snake from the end of the wand. Out of all of the spells used to conjure living things, The Snake Summons Spell was amongst the easiest, alongside the Bird-Conjuring Charm. The counter-spell to this conjuration was the ***Snake-Vanishing Spell***.

## History

> The 'Snake Summons' spell originated in India and is often illicitly used today by wizards who are called by the Muggle moniker, 'Snake Charmers.'
>
> History of the spell, Cast-a-Spell handbook

The Snake Summons Spell was first ***Spell creation***, sometime prior to 1987, in India, but was used worldwide (although usually in its homeland) by wizards known to ***Muggles*** as "***Snake Charmer***s".
During the 1987–1988 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Transfiguration Professor Minerva McGonagall taught this spell.
This spell was utilised by Draco Malfoy during the first Duelling Club meeting in 1992 at the advice of Snape, summoning forth a black serpent in an attempt to attack Harry Potter. After a failed attempt by Gilderoy Lockhart to dispose of it, Harry spoke to the snake with Parseltongue, inadvertently revealing his status as a Parselmouth to the school. Snape's enjoyment at Harry's horror turned to horror himself at this discovery, and he ***obliterated*** the snake, ***vanishing*** it in a cloud of black smoke.

## Notable practitioners

Minerva McGonagallDraco Malfoy
* ***Snake Charmer***s

## Etymology

*Serpens* is Latin for "serpent"; *ortus* is the past participle of the Latin verb *oriri* "to be created".

## Behind the scenes

* Although the book states that the snake is conjured (brought forth into existence from nothingness), the Harry Potter Official Website states, when a user attempts to cast the spell at the farthest edges of the room, that: "*It appears the snake did not hear you. Try to cast your spell in the centre of the room*", suggesting that the serpent is brought forth from elsewhere.
* In the film adaptation of, when Draco Malfoy casts the spell on Harry Potter during a duel organised by Gilderoy Lockhart, he makes wild, large movements similar to a snake's slithering pattern. It is unknown whether this is just for dramatic purposes to intimidate Harry, or if it modifies the effect to his desire.
* Despite the fact that the spell originated in India, the incantation is still derived from the very European language Latin, unlike *Alohomora*, which is African in origin and is derived from a local language.

## Appearances

* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) (First Entire Appearance)

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Chapter 11
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) - Chapter 17 (*Duelling Club*)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `HM412`
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harry Potter Official Site via *Internet Archive*
5. ↑ *Serpensortia* entry on the Cast-a-Spell kit found in the Library section of the Harry Potter Official Site.
6. ↑ HP Lexicon: Serpensortia
7. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film)

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