Rarely UnLocking Charm

> There are many ways to pass through locked doors in the magical world (see the Fire-Making Spell, Gouging Spell, and the Reductor Curse) where you wish to enter or depart discreetly, however, the Unlocking Charm is your best friend.
>
> The introduction in the *Book of Spells*, Wonderbook: Book of Spells

The **Unlocking Charm** (*Alohomora*), also known as the **Unlocking Spell** or the **Thief's Friend** was a charm that unlocked objects such as doors or windows. It was also able to open doors locked by the Locking Spell (*Colloportus*), and as such, acted as its counter-charm. The Anti-Alohomora Charm could be used to prevent this charm from working on a locked target.Template:Real Magical Spell

## History

Descriptions of this spell were written in numerous books, including ***the first volume of the Standard Book of Spells series***, where it was described in chapter seven. and ***a spellbook*** that could be found in the Hogwarts Library. This spell was also taught in Charms class in the first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was one of the first spells students learnt.
In the summer of 1992, Harry Potter considered using this charm to unlock the cage of his pet owl Hedwig at ***4 Privet Drive***, but did not, since he knew that underage wizards and witches were not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts.

The door guarding the Philosopher's Stone was protected against the Unlocking Charm; a winged key was necessary to open it. A single door in the ***Department of Mysteries*** was impervious to this spell as well; it may be presumed that it opens in the ***room*** where the ***British Ministry of Magic*** studies the power of love in the ***Department of Mysteries***.

## Counter-charm

There was a spell called the Anti-Alohomora Charm which was used to counteract this spell. ***Magical lock***s also existed and were placed on several doors, but could be unlocked with this charm.

## Known uses

### Successful

> Oh, move over,” Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry’s wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, “Alohomora!” The lock clicked and the door swung open —
>
> Hermione using this charm to unlock a door on the Third-Floor corridor, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

### Unsuccessful

> They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn’t budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.
>
> Hermione Granger's unsuccessful use of this charm in the Underground Chambers, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

## Known practitioners

Profile - Filius F Flitwick.pngFilius FlitwickProfile - Hermione Granger-COS Promo.jpgHermione GrangerProfile - Ronald Billius Weasley.pngRon WeasleyTom Riddle
* ***Rowan Khanna***

## See also

* *Annihilare*
* *Aberto*
* *Dunamis*
* *Liberare*
* *Emancipare*
* *Open Sesame*
* *Portaberto*

## Etymology

***J. K. Rowling*** stated that the word was from the West African Sikidy figures used in geomancy and has the literal meaning "*Friendly to thieves*".<ref>Rowling, J. K. (2008-04-14). Statement of J.K. Rowling in testimony during the WB and JKR vs. RDR Books. Archived on 2008-04-16 from http://web.archive.org/web/20080423072217/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2008/4/15/first-day-of-jkr-wb-vs-rdr-books-trial<ref>

## Behind the scenes

 File:Alohomora-0.gif
 File:AlohomoraPAS.png
 File:AlohomoraGesture.png
* As it was described in a textbook, this may be learned in Hogwarts Charms classes in the first year.
* This may be the spell that ***Remus Lupin*** used to open a wardrobe containing a Boggart and the spell that Harry Potter used wandlessly to open his cupboard to retrieve his school supplies.
* In Template:POA, instead of using the Unlocking Charm to help Sirius Black escape, Hermione used *Bombarda* to blast open his cell door.
* In Template:PS, Ron Weasley tried to use this spell on the door of the flying key chamber instead of Hermione Granger.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:PS Template:1st
* Template:COS Template:Possible Template:Mention
* Template:POA
* Template:OOTP
* Template:DH
* Template:FB
* Template:FB
* Template:SOD
* Template:HPS
* Template:TCG
* Template:PM
* Template:WBS
* Template:FBC
* Template:HM
* Template:WU
* Template:PAS
* Template:MA Template:Mention
* Template:HL

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Template:WBS
2. ↑ Template:HM
3. ↑ Template:COG - *Fantastic Beasts: A Cinematic Yearbook*
4. ↑ Template:PS - Chapter 17 (*Three-headed Sentinel*)
5. ↑ Template:HM
6. ↑ Template:COS
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PSF 16`
8. ↑ Template:PS - Chapter 8 (*The Boy Who Lived*)
9. ↑ Template:PS
10. ↑ Template:PS
11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PSF9`
12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PSF`
13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PSF8`
14. ↑ Template:HM

Template:Charms