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9:00 am EST, February 21, 2020

Harry Potter Spells: A complete list of what they all do

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Need to unlock a door? Disarm an enemy? Fix a broken object? There’s a Harry Potter spell for that! In the Harry Potter universe, there is a spell to fulfill any need, from the everyday to the extraordinary. Below is a list of all Harry Potter spells known to wizard and what they do. For your connivence, this spell list is in alphabetical order, from A – Z!

All Harry Potter spells: A list of what they do

Get practicing all of these Harry Potter spells — make sure you’re prepared to traverse the Wizarding World! And if you love Harry Potter, take our quick-and-easy 2-Question Sorting Hat Quiz, and brush up on your Harry Potter cast list!

You should also listen to MuggleCast, the weekly Harry Potter podcast discussing Fantastic Beasts, the original Harry Potter books, and so much more.

All of the spells below have been mentioned in either the book or film series. At the end of the list, you’ll find newer spells that’ve only appeared in the Fantastic Beasts film series.

We’re sure more spells will come into existence as more films (and TV shows?) come into existence in the decades ahead, so check back for more additions!

Aberto: unlocks a door; first seen in Fantastic Beasts (the movie)

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Accio: Summoning Charm; used to summon objects toward the caster (usually from a long distance)

Aguamenti: produces a jet of water from the caster’s wand

Alohomora: used to unlock and open doors

Avada Kedavra: the Killing Curse; causes a green flash of light; Harry Potter is the only known survivor of this curse; one of three Unforgivable Curses banned by the Ministry of Magic

Harry Potter spell list

Bat-Bogey Hex: causes the victim’s bogies to enlarge, grow wings, and attack the victim

Bubble-Head Charm: creates a bubble of air around the caster’s head and mouth, acting as a breathing apparatus

Caterwauling Charm: causes a loud, high-pitched shrieking noise when encountered

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Cheering Charm: causes the person upon whom the spell has been cast to become happy and content

Colloportus: used to magically lock a door and prevent it from being opened by non-magical means

Confringo: Blasting Charm; causes items the charm comes in contact with to burst into flames

Confundo: Confundus Charm; causes the victim to become confused and disoriented

Crucio: causes the victim extreme pain; one of three Unforgivable Curses banned by the Ministry of Magic

Descendo: causes the target object to move downward

Diffindo: Severing Charm; causes the targeted object to rip or tear

Disillusionment Charm: hides objects and humans

Engorgio: Engorgement Charm; causes objects to increase in size

Episkey: used to heal minor injuries

Evanesco: used to vanish objects

Expecto Patronum: used to cast a Patronus (a physical manifestation of one’s most positive feelings), which guards against dementors and can be used for communications

Harry Potter list of best spells

Expelliarmus: used to disarm another wizard

Finestra: shatters glass; first appears in Fantastic Beasts

Homenum Revelio: allows the caster to detect human presence

Impedimenta: Impediment Jinx; prevents the victim from approaching the caster (by knocking back, tripping, etc.)

Imperio: removes the victim’s free will and ability to make decisions for him- or herself; one of three Unforgivable Curses banned by the Ministry of Magic

Impervius: causes objects to repel outside forces, such as water

Incendio: creates fire

Levicorpus: a nonverbal spell that causes the victim to be dangled upside down by his or her ankles

Liberacorpus: the nonverbal countercurse to Levicorpus

Locomotor: causes an object to rise and move at the command of the caster

Lumos: projects a beam of light from the user’s wand

Morsmordre: conjures the Dark Mark

Muffliato: used to prevent conversations from being overheard by filling the ears of those nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing noise

Nox: puts out wand light

Obliviate: used to hide memories

Permanent Sticking Charm: causes objects to permanently stay in place

Petrificus Totalus: Full Body-Bind Curse; temporarily binds the victim’s entire body, thus immobilizing him or her

Portus: turns objects into Portkeys

Priori Incantato: creates an “echo” of previously performed spells

Protego: Shield Charm; rebounds minor to moderate hexes, jinxes, and spells upon their caster

Reducto: Reductor Curse; breaks objects and in its strongest form has the ability to disintegrate them

Rennervate: revives the victim of a Stunning Spell

Relashio: causes the victim to release whatever they are holding

Rennervate: revives someone who has been Stunned

Reparo: used to repair broken objects

Revelio: a revealing spell; first used in the Fantastic Beasts film to reveal Graves is Grindelwald

Rictusempra: Tickling Charm; causes an extreme tickling sensation that disables the victim

Riddikulus: spell used when fighting a Boggart; causes the Boggart to transform into something the caster finds humorous

Scourgify: used to clean objects

Sectumsempra: spell that causes deep gashes on the victim’s body

Silencio: used to make something silent

Sonorus: magically magnifies one’s voice

Stupefy: used to stun a victim

Taboo: a jinx that can be placed upon a word so that when the word is spoken, a magical disturbance is created which alerts the caster of the Taboo

Tergeo: used to remove matter (blood, dirt, etc.) from an object

Unbreakable Vow: causes the vow being taken by the witch or wizard to be inviolable with the consequence of death if it is breeched

Wingardium Leviosa: Hover Charm; causes an object to levitate

Harry Potter spells that debuted in’Fantastic Beasts’

Fantastic Beasts spells

With November 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and November 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, J.K. Rowling came up with several new spells that should be considered canon. Here are the new spells we pulled from her screenplays, which were released concurrently with the movies.

Appare Vestigium: Tracking spell that “materializes as a swirl of gold” and shows “traces of recent magical activity.” Used by Newt to track beasts and Tina.

Avenseguim: Takes an object owned by someone and turns it into a way to track that person down. Newt used the spell on the feather from Kama’s cap to find him.

Finite: A spell to counter Protego Diabolica. Used by Flamel and friends. We’ve seen this one before, but not in this way.

Nebulus: Creates a swirling fog. Used by Dumbledore to stay under cover, descends over London.

Protego Diabolica: Creates a protective circle — those who are truly on Grindelwald’s side can walk through the flame. Notably, Rowling describes the flame twice as a “black fire,” but in the movie it’s blue.

Surgito: Removes a love enchantment spell. Used by Newt on Jacob to remove Queenie’s enchantment.

Papyrus Reparo: Repairs a torn up postcard.

Ventus: A spell to create a hurricane-force wind, used by Newt to repel the Auror Stebbins.

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