Post by Prof. Destiny Smith on Apr 25, 2009 19:44:10 GMT -6
Featherweight Charm
This charm is used to make something lightweight so that it can be carried more easily. After he had run away from Privet Drive before the start of his third year, Harry thought about bewitching his trunk to make it as light as a feather, tying it to his broom, wearing his Invisibility Cloak and flying to London. Luckily for him the Knight Bus arrived before he could put this dubious plan into action [POA3].
Ferula
"ferula" is Latin for "stick" or "rod".
Conjures a splint and bandages, which then bind an injury of the caster's choice. After tying up Wormtail in the Shrieking Shack, Remus Lupin cast this on Ron's broken leg so that he could get back to the castle where Madam Pomfrey could mend it properly [POA19].
Fidelius Charm
"fidelis" is Latin for "faithful".
This is, according to Professor Flitwick, an immensely complex spell that allows a secret to be concealed, even if under normal circumstances it would be in plain sight, for an indefinite period of time. When the spell is cast, the magically protected secret is known only to one person, who is referred to as the Secret-Keeper. The information in question is stored and concealed within their very soul. The only way that any third party can become privy to the protected information is if the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it directly to them. It cannot be revealed in any other way, and so even those who the Secret-Keeper has informed cannot pass the information on [POA10, HBP2].
James and Lily Potter, along with their baby son, were protected by this charm when they went into hiding in Godric's Hollow. Unfortunately, they chose Peter Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper, who turned out to be a spy for Lord Voldemort. He immediately informed the Dark Lord of their location, and he promptly murdered them [POA10, 19].
Dumbledore also protected the information of where the Order of the Phoenix had its Headquarters using the Fidelius Charm. On this occasion he himself acted as Secret-Keeper, and as he was not present when Harry first arrived there, he had to provide a hand-written note in order for Harry to be able to see the house. Once he had done so, the houses on either side shrunk back, and number 12 Grimmauld Place appeared between them [OOTP4].
Later, the Fidelius Charm was used to protect the Weasleys' Auntie Muriels house, where they had moved after it became unsafe to stay at The Burrow, and also Bill and Fleur's cottage, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were hiding out. Arthur was the Secret Keeper for Auntie Muriel's, whilst Bill took the duties for Shell Cottage [DH24].
JKR stated on her website that the magic is not broken if the Secret-Keeper dies: rather, the secret cannot then be told to anybody else. This would have important connotations if the Secret-Keeper has informed nobody, or very few people. In the case of 12 Grimmauld Place, with Dumbledore is dead, nobody except the current Order of the Phoenix would ever be able to see the house. Once they are all dead, nobody would know the secret at all, and number 12 Grimmauld Place would, in effect, cease to exist [JKR Website].
Information given in Deathly Hallows contradicts this, however. In this book, it states that if the Secret Keeper dies, each person that they have told becomes a Secret Keeper in their place. This makes the charm far less effective, of course, as there are now multiple Secret Keepers who can be caught and coerced into giving out their information. Realising this, the Order of the Phoenix stopped using Grimmauld Place as Headquarters when Dumbledore died [DH6]. This version of what happens when the Secret Keeper dies is far more logical that the previous explanation and can be assumed to have superseded it.
It is also confirmed in Deathly Hallows that if the Fidelius Charm is cast on a human target, if the target person dies, the magic ceases. This became apparent when Harry and Hermione visited Godric's Hollow and could see James and Lily's house [DH17].
FiendFyre
Fiendfyre is colossally powerful enchanted fire that burns everything in its path. Its flames are unusually large, and it appears to have enough consciousness to actually follow its intended victims. The flames form themselves into the shapes of vicious magical animals as they raze everything in their path in a fiery inferno. The blaze is so potent that Fiendfyre is one of the very few substances that are capable of destroying a Horcrux.
Crabbe cast this spell in the Room of Requirement when he sneaked in with Malfoy and Goyle as Harry went to retrieve the Diadem of Ravenclaw. It seems to be an exceptionally advanced curse for Crabbe to be performing, and perhaps this is illustrated in the fact that once he had created the fire, he had no control over it whatsoever, and he ended up dying in the blaze. In the enclosed space of the Room, the heat and smoke created by the Fiendfyre were almost too much to bear, and the others only managed to escape with the aid of some very nifty broomstick flying [DH31].
Finite/Finite Incantatem
From the Latin "finis", meaning "end".
These are two spells that have very similar effects, and so they are covered together here. Both remove the effects of other spells that are currently in operation: it is likely from descriptions of their use in the books that Finite addresses and negates a single spell, whilst Finite Incantatem applies to all spells in the vicinity.
Remus Lupin cast Finite on Neville Longbottom following the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, in order to remove the effects of a Tarantallegra curse that Dolohov had cast on him [OOTP35]. Snape used Finite Incantatem at Lockhart's Duelling Club when the students attacking each other got out of control, and random curses were flying in all directions [COS11].
Fire Charm
When Harry and Dumbledore were attacked by Inferi in the Horcrux cave, Dumbledore created a ring of crimson and gold fire to protect them. This may be simply a Dumbledore-powered version of Flagrate or Incendio, or it may be a separate fire creation charm that we hadn't previously seen [HBP26].
Flagrante Curse
"Flagrantia" is Latin for "blaze".
This may simply be the name of the spell whose incantation is Flagrate, which is described below. The observed effects of the two - in simple terms, burning things - are very similar.
The Flagrante Curse was used by Gingotts Bank to protect the Lestrange vault. It caused the treasure within the vault to become burning hot when touched, so much so that it blistered the skin immediately on contact, thus making it impossible to pick anything up without suffering immense pain. Griphook was almost buried under scalding hot treasure during the break-in, and had to be rescued by Harry [DH26].
Flagrate
"Flagrantia" is Latin for "blaze".
This spell enables the caster able to draw lines of fire with their wand. Hermione used this in the rotating room in the Department of Mysteries to mark which doors they had tried [OOTP34]. The first mark she made lasted for the time they were in the Death Chamber, but it was gone by the time Harry followed Bellatrix back through after the fight [OOTP36].
Tom Riddle also wrote in the air with Harry's wand in the Chamber of Secrets, rearranging the letters of his name into the phrase "I am Lord Voldemort". He may well have been using this, or a similar, spell to achieve this effect [COS17].
Flame Freezing Charm
This charm was used by Medieval witches to remove the effects of the fire when they were burned at the stake, replacing the heat with a gentle tickling sensation. The witch in question would scream a bit and pretend to be burning in order to keep up the pretence, whilst in reality suffering no harm at all. Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be apprehended on no fewer than 47 different occasions [POA1].
Flesh Memory
When Golden Snitches are made, they are enchanted to have a Flesh Memory. This allows the Snitch to identify the first person to touch it, an ability which is used to adjudicate whenever a capture is disputed. In order to avoid corrupting the Flesh Memory before the Snitch has been used competitively, the maker wears gloves during manufacture to avoid touching it directly [DH7].
Flying (Human)
See "Human Flying".
Flying Charm
Different to Wingardium Leviosa, which merely makes objects float in the air, the Flying Charm allows them to be manoeuvred by the user and turns them into genuinely controllable airborne items. The Flying Charm is applied to broomsticks, as confirmed by Draco Malfoy when he was criticising Ron's broom during one Quidditch practice: "why would anyone put a Flying Charm on a mouldy old log like that?" were the words he chose [OOTP14]. It is likely that this is also the charm used on Flying Carpets [GOF7]. It is clear that Flying Charms can be cast only on objects rather than animals or people, because until at recently as 1997, it was well known throughout the wizarding world that no spell existed that allowed a wizard to fly unaided [QA]. Voldemort broke through this barrier, inventing a spell that allowed him to fly [DH4], and he taught this skill to Severus Snape as well [DH30]. As both these men are now dead, the art may be lost once more.
Freezing Charm
Hermione used a clever Freezing Charm to immobilise Cornish Pixies after Professor Lockhart's disastrous first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, following Lockhart's pathetic attempt to deal with them himself [COS6]. According to Horace Slughorn, Freezing Charms are also effective in disabling Muggle burglar alarms [HBP4].
Full Body-Bind Curse
See "Petrificus Totalus".
Fur Charm
When Ginny was upset about the spate of Petrifications at school during her first year, Fred and George embarked on an ill-conceived campaign to cheer her up. One thing that they did was to cover themselves in fur and jump out at her from behind statues. Far from cheering her up, however, it merely caused her to have nightmares, which made Percy so cross that he wrote to their mother to ask her to make them stop it [COS11].
Furnunculus
This hex causes the victim's body to break out in boils where the spell hits them. Harry attempted to cast it on Malfoy during his 4th year, after Malfoy had called Hermione a Mudblood. Malfoy cast his own spell at the same moment, however, and both were deflected: Harry's hit Goyle in the face, which immediately started to sprout boils [GOF18]. At the end of the year, when Malfoy came to Harry's compartment on the Hogwarts Express to gloat about Voldemort's return, Harry again cast it at him and again hit Goyle. On this occasion George Weasley cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx on Goyle at the same time, and the combined effect was to knock him unconscious and cause him to sprout little tentacles all over his face [GOF37].
This charm is used to make something lightweight so that it can be carried more easily. After he had run away from Privet Drive before the start of his third year, Harry thought about bewitching his trunk to make it as light as a feather, tying it to his broom, wearing his Invisibility Cloak and flying to London. Luckily for him the Knight Bus arrived before he could put this dubious plan into action [POA3].
Ferula
"ferula" is Latin for "stick" or "rod".
Conjures a splint and bandages, which then bind an injury of the caster's choice. After tying up Wormtail in the Shrieking Shack, Remus Lupin cast this on Ron's broken leg so that he could get back to the castle where Madam Pomfrey could mend it properly [POA19].
Fidelius Charm
"fidelis" is Latin for "faithful".
This is, according to Professor Flitwick, an immensely complex spell that allows a secret to be concealed, even if under normal circumstances it would be in plain sight, for an indefinite period of time. When the spell is cast, the magically protected secret is known only to one person, who is referred to as the Secret-Keeper. The information in question is stored and concealed within their very soul. The only way that any third party can become privy to the protected information is if the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it directly to them. It cannot be revealed in any other way, and so even those who the Secret-Keeper has informed cannot pass the information on [POA10, HBP2].
James and Lily Potter, along with their baby son, were protected by this charm when they went into hiding in Godric's Hollow. Unfortunately, they chose Peter Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper, who turned out to be a spy for Lord Voldemort. He immediately informed the Dark Lord of their location, and he promptly murdered them [POA10, 19].
Dumbledore also protected the information of where the Order of the Phoenix had its Headquarters using the Fidelius Charm. On this occasion he himself acted as Secret-Keeper, and as he was not present when Harry first arrived there, he had to provide a hand-written note in order for Harry to be able to see the house. Once he had done so, the houses on either side shrunk back, and number 12 Grimmauld Place appeared between them [OOTP4].
Later, the Fidelius Charm was used to protect the Weasleys' Auntie Muriels house, where they had moved after it became unsafe to stay at The Burrow, and also Bill and Fleur's cottage, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were hiding out. Arthur was the Secret Keeper for Auntie Muriel's, whilst Bill took the duties for Shell Cottage [DH24].
JKR stated on her website that the magic is not broken if the Secret-Keeper dies: rather, the secret cannot then be told to anybody else. This would have important connotations if the Secret-Keeper has informed nobody, or very few people. In the case of 12 Grimmauld Place, with Dumbledore is dead, nobody except the current Order of the Phoenix would ever be able to see the house. Once they are all dead, nobody would know the secret at all, and number 12 Grimmauld Place would, in effect, cease to exist [JKR Website].
Information given in Deathly Hallows contradicts this, however. In this book, it states that if the Secret Keeper dies, each person that they have told becomes a Secret Keeper in their place. This makes the charm far less effective, of course, as there are now multiple Secret Keepers who can be caught and coerced into giving out their information. Realising this, the Order of the Phoenix stopped using Grimmauld Place as Headquarters when Dumbledore died [DH6]. This version of what happens when the Secret Keeper dies is far more logical that the previous explanation and can be assumed to have superseded it.
It is also confirmed in Deathly Hallows that if the Fidelius Charm is cast on a human target, if the target person dies, the magic ceases. This became apparent when Harry and Hermione visited Godric's Hollow and could see James and Lily's house [DH17].
FiendFyre
Fiendfyre is colossally powerful enchanted fire that burns everything in its path. Its flames are unusually large, and it appears to have enough consciousness to actually follow its intended victims. The flames form themselves into the shapes of vicious magical animals as they raze everything in their path in a fiery inferno. The blaze is so potent that Fiendfyre is one of the very few substances that are capable of destroying a Horcrux.
Crabbe cast this spell in the Room of Requirement when he sneaked in with Malfoy and Goyle as Harry went to retrieve the Diadem of Ravenclaw. It seems to be an exceptionally advanced curse for Crabbe to be performing, and perhaps this is illustrated in the fact that once he had created the fire, he had no control over it whatsoever, and he ended up dying in the blaze. In the enclosed space of the Room, the heat and smoke created by the Fiendfyre were almost too much to bear, and the others only managed to escape with the aid of some very nifty broomstick flying [DH31].
Finite/Finite Incantatem
From the Latin "finis", meaning "end".
These are two spells that have very similar effects, and so they are covered together here. Both remove the effects of other spells that are currently in operation: it is likely from descriptions of their use in the books that Finite addresses and negates a single spell, whilst Finite Incantatem applies to all spells in the vicinity.
Remus Lupin cast Finite on Neville Longbottom following the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, in order to remove the effects of a Tarantallegra curse that Dolohov had cast on him [OOTP35]. Snape used Finite Incantatem at Lockhart's Duelling Club when the students attacking each other got out of control, and random curses were flying in all directions [COS11].
Fire Charm
When Harry and Dumbledore were attacked by Inferi in the Horcrux cave, Dumbledore created a ring of crimson and gold fire to protect them. This may be simply a Dumbledore-powered version of Flagrate or Incendio, or it may be a separate fire creation charm that we hadn't previously seen [HBP26].
Flagrante Curse
"Flagrantia" is Latin for "blaze".
This may simply be the name of the spell whose incantation is Flagrate, which is described below. The observed effects of the two - in simple terms, burning things - are very similar.
The Flagrante Curse was used by Gingotts Bank to protect the Lestrange vault. It caused the treasure within the vault to become burning hot when touched, so much so that it blistered the skin immediately on contact, thus making it impossible to pick anything up without suffering immense pain. Griphook was almost buried under scalding hot treasure during the break-in, and had to be rescued by Harry [DH26].
Flagrate
"Flagrantia" is Latin for "blaze".
This spell enables the caster able to draw lines of fire with their wand. Hermione used this in the rotating room in the Department of Mysteries to mark which doors they had tried [OOTP34]. The first mark she made lasted for the time they were in the Death Chamber, but it was gone by the time Harry followed Bellatrix back through after the fight [OOTP36].
Tom Riddle also wrote in the air with Harry's wand in the Chamber of Secrets, rearranging the letters of his name into the phrase "I am Lord Voldemort". He may well have been using this, or a similar, spell to achieve this effect [COS17].
Flame Freezing Charm
This charm was used by Medieval witches to remove the effects of the fire when they were burned at the stake, replacing the heat with a gentle tickling sensation. The witch in question would scream a bit and pretend to be burning in order to keep up the pretence, whilst in reality suffering no harm at all. Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be apprehended on no fewer than 47 different occasions [POA1].
Flesh Memory
When Golden Snitches are made, they are enchanted to have a Flesh Memory. This allows the Snitch to identify the first person to touch it, an ability which is used to adjudicate whenever a capture is disputed. In order to avoid corrupting the Flesh Memory before the Snitch has been used competitively, the maker wears gloves during manufacture to avoid touching it directly [DH7].
Flying (Human)
See "Human Flying".
Flying Charm
Different to Wingardium Leviosa, which merely makes objects float in the air, the Flying Charm allows them to be manoeuvred by the user and turns them into genuinely controllable airborne items. The Flying Charm is applied to broomsticks, as confirmed by Draco Malfoy when he was criticising Ron's broom during one Quidditch practice: "why would anyone put a Flying Charm on a mouldy old log like that?" were the words he chose [OOTP14]. It is likely that this is also the charm used on Flying Carpets [GOF7]. It is clear that Flying Charms can be cast only on objects rather than animals or people, because until at recently as 1997, it was well known throughout the wizarding world that no spell existed that allowed a wizard to fly unaided [QA]. Voldemort broke through this barrier, inventing a spell that allowed him to fly [DH4], and he taught this skill to Severus Snape as well [DH30]. As both these men are now dead, the art may be lost once more.
Freezing Charm
Hermione used a clever Freezing Charm to immobilise Cornish Pixies after Professor Lockhart's disastrous first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, following Lockhart's pathetic attempt to deal with them himself [COS6]. According to Horace Slughorn, Freezing Charms are also effective in disabling Muggle burglar alarms [HBP4].
Full Body-Bind Curse
See "Petrificus Totalus".
Fur Charm
When Ginny was upset about the spate of Petrifications at school during her first year, Fred and George embarked on an ill-conceived campaign to cheer her up. One thing that they did was to cover themselves in fur and jump out at her from behind statues. Far from cheering her up, however, it merely caused her to have nightmares, which made Percy so cross that he wrote to their mother to ask her to make them stop it [COS11].
Furnunculus
This hex causes the victim's body to break out in boils where the spell hits them. Harry attempted to cast it on Malfoy during his 4th year, after Malfoy had called Hermione a Mudblood. Malfoy cast his own spell at the same moment, however, and both were deflected: Harry's hit Goyle in the face, which immediately started to sprout boils [GOF18]. At the end of the year, when Malfoy came to Harry's compartment on the Hogwarts Express to gloat about Voldemort's return, Harry again cast it at him and again hit Goyle. On this occasion George Weasley cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx on Goyle at the same time, and the combined effect was to knock him unconscious and cause him to sprout little tentacles all over his face [GOF37].