Pack -
Patronus -
Patronus Charm -
pepper breath -
Permanent Sticking Charm -
Peskipiksi Pesternomi -
Petrification -
Petrificus Totalus -
Piertotum Locomotor - Placement Charm -
Point Me -
Portus -
possession -
Prior Incantato -
Protean Charm -
Protego -
Protego horribilis -
Protego totalum
"pack!"
A spell that causes items to assemble themselves into a trunk.
Tonks used this spell to help Harry pack his school trunk when he was leaving the Dursleys' house. She said she wasn't very good at housework spells and that her mother used to be able to even make the socks fold themselves up together. Tonks' version was a bit messier, but it certainly got the job done quickly (OP3).
A silvery-white, conjured creature created by using the Patronus Charm. The Patronus is used against Dementors and Lethifolds.
Harry's Patronus is a stag (like his father's Animagus form) (PA21, OP1).
Andros the Invincible is alleged to have been the only wizard known to have produced a Patronus the size of a giant (fw)
Aberforth Dumbledore's Patronus is a goat (DH28).
Albus Dumbledore's Patronus is a phoenix (DH20, JKR)
Hermione's Patronus is an otter and Cho's is a swan (OP27). Seamus at first wasn't sure what his was, just that it was hairy; it turned out to be a fox (OP27, DH32).
Luna Lovegood's Patronus is a hare (DH32).
Ernie Macmillan's Patronus is a boar (DH32).
Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus is a lynx (DH8).
Severus Snape's Patronus is a doe (DH33).
Dolores Umbridge's Patronus is a cat (see) (DH13).
Arthur Weasley's Patronus is a weasel (DH7, DH9).
A Patronus can be commanded by the caster to attack. Harry controlled his and told it to attack each Dementor in turn when they attacked him and Dudley in the alley near Privet Drive (OP1).
See EXPECTO PATRONUM.
Flavius Belby survived a Lethifold attack by casting a Patronus Charm against it (fw/51, FB)
A Patronus can also appear as a shapeless silvery mist, but when cast correctly, it forms a "corporeal Patronus," which means it takes the form of an actual creature (corporeal means having a physical form, from "corpus" L. for body). (OP8)
After a severe emotional upheaval, a witch's or wizard's Patronus may change form (HBP16); this happened to Tonks after Sirius' death, when her Patronus seems to have taken the shape of a wolf (HBP8).
"patronus" Mediaeval L. patron saint
See EXPECTO PATRONUM.
no incantation given
This charm gives the target person fiery hot breath.
no incantation given
Spell that magically fastens one thing to another. It is extremely difficult to remove anything fastened with a Permanent Sticking Charm.
Both the portrait of Sirius' mother and the tapestry showing the Black family tree were fastened to the wall with Permanent Sticking Charms. As a result, the members of the Order couldn't remove them from the walls (OP6).
The enchanted portrait in the Prime Minister's office could not be removed from the wall by Muggle means, so it may have a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back (HBP1).
Used by Sirius Black to put up Muggle posters, Gryffindor banners, and so on in his room at number twelve, Grimmauld Place before he left home (DH10).
See FIXING CHARM
Peskipiksi Pesternomi
(pes-kee PIK-see pes-ter-NO-mee)
"Freezing Charm"?
"pesky" + "pixie" + "pester" + "no" + "me"
Lockhart's version of a Freezing Charm.
Lockhart tried this spell on the escaped Cornish Pixies. It had no effect. The spell words certainly don't fit the usual format, so it seems likely that Lockhart was making the whole thing up on the spot (CS6).
"petrificare" L. to make into stone, from "petra" L. rock
Not a spell so much as a magical effect, caused by seeing the reflected eyes of a basilisk.
The Petrification effect resembles death, except that the victim is still alive, as if in suspended animation. It takes careful examination to discern whether a victim is in fact Petrified rather than dead. If a ghost is Petrified, it turns a dark smoky grey and can only be moved by the use of a fan. The antidote is made from mandrake roots (CS9).
Petrificus Totalus
(pe-TRI-fi-cus to-TAH-lus)
"Full Body Bind", "Body-Bind Curse",
or "full" (UK) / "Full" (US) Body-Bind Curse"
"petrificare" L. to make into stone + "totalis" L. entire
Turns the entire body of the victim rigid.
Hermione cast this spell on Neville with profuse apologies when he tried to stop them from going after the Philosopher's Stone. She referred to it as the Full Body Bind as well as using the incantation (PS16).
Used by Harry on Dolohov during the battle of the Department of Mysteries (OP35)
Cast by Dumbledore on Harry as a nonverbal spell (HBP27, HBP28)
Cast by Harry on a brutal-faced Death Eater and on Fenrir Greyback (HBP28).
Fred Weasley said, while waiting in dress robes in the hot sun for the wedding guests to arrive, that when he got married, all of them could wear what they liked, and he'd put a full Body-Bind Curse on Molly Weasley until it was all over (DH8).
Hermione cast this spell at Antonin Dolohov in the café (DH9).
Piertotum Locomotor (pee-air-TOH-tum lo-co-MO-tor )
"pier" = ? + "totum" L. total, all
"loco" L. from a place + "motionem" L. motion
A variation of the Locomotor spell, used to animate statues and armour.
- McGonagall used this spell to animate the Hogwarts suits of armour and statues to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts (DH30).
no incantation given
Spell that magically positions something in place.
A simple spell, performed with the wand laying flat on the open palm of the caster. When the words are spoken, the wand rotates to point north.
Harry used this spell to good advantage in the Triwizard maze, keeping himself walking in more or less the right direction (GF31).
Portus (POR-tus)
"porta" L. gate, entrance
Turns the target object into a Portkey.
Dumbledore turned an old kettle into a Portkey to number twelve, Grimmauld Place on the night of the snake attack on Arthur Weasley (OP22).
Dumbledore turned the head of the wizard statue into a Portkey to his office with this spell after his duel with Voldemort (OP36).
When the spell is cast, the target object glows blue and trembles briefly before returning to a normal appearance (OP22, OP36).
no incantation given
Dark Magical effect of one person's spirit inhabiting or taking over the body of another.
The only examples of possession are the actions of Voldemort, the greatest Dark wizard of the age.
He used this horrible form of intrusion on snakes and small animals while hiding out in the wilds of Albania without a body of his own.
He possessed Quirrell in order to monitor and control him. In this particular case, Voldemort's face appeared protruding from the back of Quirrell's head (PS17).
Tom Riddle's memory form, freed from its diary by life energy from Ginny Weasley, inhabited the little girl off and on, forcing her to kill roosters, write on the wall, and so on. She talked about it later and said that there were long periods of time when she couldn't remember what had happened to her (OP23).
During the climactic battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, the Dark Lord possessed Harry, trying to make Dumbledore have to choose to kill Harry in order to defeat Voldemort. Harry remembered the love of his mother and friends and the feelings of love drove Voldemort out of him (OP36).
While a Horcrux is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they grow too close emotionally to the object acting as a magical container (DH6).
Prior Incantato
(prye-OR in-can-TAH-toe)
also: Priori Incantatem
"Reverse Spell Effect"
"prior" L. former, earlier, preceeding + "incantatare"
L. to bewitch or enchant
Can be cast as a spell, ("Prior Incantato"), in which case it forces the target wand to emit a ghost image of the last spell it cast. The images can be dispelled using Deletrius.
When two wands are forced to duel that have core material from the same single creature, the result will be "Priori Incantatem," a display in sequence of the last spells one of the wands cast. Which wand will show the spell effect depends on the willpower of the two wizards involved.
Amos Diggory cast this on Harry's wand to discover whether it had cast the Dark Mark (GF9).
When Harry and Voldemort duelled, their wands, which share a core of a feather from the same phoenix, were linked in the Priori Incantatem effect (GF36).
"protean" Eng. able to readily assume a different form, from Proteus, a sea god from Greek mythology who could change his shape rapidly
Complex spell that makes something change form.
Hermione was able to cast a Protean Charm on the fake Galleons the D.A. used during the 1995 - 1996 [Y15 - Y16] school year to pass along the date and time of each meeting. The spell caused the numbers on the members' coins to change when Harry changed the numbers on his coin. The Ravenclaws were all astounded that Hermione, who wasn't in their house, could cast this spell, since it's N.E.W.T. level. Clearly none of them could cast this magic at fifth year level (OP19). Ironically, Hermione got the idea from Voldemort's use of the Death Eaters' Dark Marks as a means of communication.
Draco Malfoy, in turn, deliberately copied the notion of Hermione's D.A. coins to enchant coins as a means of communication for himself with Madam Rosmerta (HBP27).
Protego
(pro-TAY-go)
"Shield Charm"
"protego" L. to defend
This spell creates a magical barrier that will deflect hexes thrown at the caster.
Harry learned this spell in his preparations for the third task (GF31).
Harry used the Shield Charm to defend himself against Snape's Legilimency during Occlumency training and found himself unexpectedly seeing some of Snape's memories (OP26).
Harry used this spell to defend himself and to stop various Death Eaters from Summoning the prophecy away from him during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries (OP35, OP36).
According to the twins, many adult wizards as of Harry's sixth year cannot cast this spell properly, hence the popularity of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes "Shield" clothing line (HBP6).
Ron, grasping at straws, speculates that Moody could have used a Shield Charm against the Killing Curse (DH6).
Cast by Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and various other wedding guests after Shacklebolt delivered his warning (DH9).
Cast by Snape during his duel with McGonagall (DH30).
Used by Harry at the beginning of his final duel with Voldemort (DH36).
Protego horribilis (pro-TAY-go ho-RIB-i-lis)
"protego" L. to defend + "horribilis" L. "horrible, terrifying"
Presumably a variation of Protego.
Cast by Flitwick during the battle of Hogwarts (DH30).
Protego totalum (pro-TAY-go TOH-tah-lum)
"protego" L. to defend + "totalum" mediaeval L. "the whole"
Presumably a variation of Protego.
Hermione cast this along with several other protective enchantments on the campsite in the woods next to the old Quidditch World Cup campgrounds (DH14).
Casting this spell evidently became part of the routine protective enchantments used on their campsites during the hunt for the Horcruxes, because escaping from the Lovegoods' house, Hermione immediately began running in a circle around her companions, casting this along with other protective enchantments before they set up their tent (DH22).
