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J.K. Rowling ’s epical saga about the eponymic boy wizardHarry Pottercaptured the mental imagery of millions of readers worldwide . Harry ’s creation is one of intellect - boggling magical entities , curious magical aim , and most significantly , a barrage of intriguing spells and charm . Rowling ’s imaginary world , thoroughgoing with its very own mental lexicon , has left a stunning bequest for all those who adore fantasy .
One of the most fascinating thing about Harry ’s public is the differentspells , torment , and charms — some are dark and able of get irreparable hurt , some are introductory for everyday use , and others are simply vicious . Rowling play around with Greek , French , and Latin ancestor words to conjure , quite literally , the terms that are known in the wizarding world as spells . Let us look at the etymology of ten such magical spell that Rowling sprain until it formed the unadulterated conjuration .
Expelliarmus
One of Harry ’s preferent enchantment , the one he used against Voldemort himself in the last Battle of Hogwarts , expelliarmuscauses the opposer to get go of his scepter involuntarily .
The term is a combination of the word ' expel ' , itself derived from the Latin stem , ' x ' , and ' pellere ' meaning ' to drive out ' . The 2d one-half of the condition is derived from the Latin for ' weapon ' . Together , the words come to intend something to the effect of ' driving out of or rout from the arm ' .
Accio
The summoning charm is used extensively in the wizarding macrocosm to call upon wands , books , or any other object in day to 24-hour interval life . Aparticularly utilitarian go , let us look at its linguistic radical .
In Latin , ' to muster up ' is ' accerso ' , which Rowling brightly turns intoaccio . One of the most memorable minute when Harry used the summoning charm was during the first event of the Triwizard Tournament in the bookHarry Potter and the Goblet of Firewhen he face the regal Hungarian Horntail .
Lumos-Nox
This is a very handy spell used to produce a salvo of light from the tip of the sceptre . It literally helps brighten up a glum place , something Harry engage reward of several timesduring his tardy - dark gallivanting around the Hogwarts palace , especially with the Marauder ’s Map . lover will also commend him utteringlumosto complete his prep without switching on the light in his room at the Dursleys during the holiday .
The word is rooted in the Latin for brightness level , ' lumen ' . The sideboard incantation for this isnox , i.e.to darken . Nox in Latin have in mind ' night ' . The two terms are simple , yet opposites of each other , in every sense .
Obliviate
This is the spell to wipe out memory board , make one forgetful of things , or have their memories fade into limbo . Before the trio of Harry , Ron , and Hermione set out toseek the Horcruxes , the latter uses the spell to check that her parent did not think of her , so as to keep them safe from Voldemort and his henchmen .
The memory appeal derive from the Old French , ' oblivion ' which itself comes from the Latin ' oblīviscī ' meaning ' to leave ' or ' forgetfulness ' . While one can keep one ’s do it one ’s safe by erasing certain memories , the same charm can be used to do something evil and then simply obliviate the memories of witnesses .
Petrificus Totalus
An conjuration that effectively result in paralyzing the mortal it is conduct to – pertificus totalusis the body - binding piece . If one wanted to immobilise an opponent , as Malfoy did to Harry in the sixth installmentHarry ceramicist and the Half - blood Prince , this is the go - to spell out .
The wordpetrificusis an amalgamation of the Greek word ' petro ' meaning ' rock ' and ' ficus ' referring to ' bring ' or ' making ' . Andtotalusis , of course , a looseness with the word ' totally ' . Thus , the spell essentially means ' turning something completely into a stone ' , ergo petrify them so that they can not move .
Wingardium Leviosa
One ofRon ’s early run - ins with Hermione , who was at the time nothing but an insufferable know - it - all , was when the class apply the spellWingardium Leviosaduring Professor Flitwick ’s good luck charm lesson . Ron , sanctify his soul , could n’t get his feathering to float , until Hermione showed him how . It was Leviosa , not Leviosa .
The first half of the term is possibly a conjugate of the Word of God ' wing ' which naturally think of ' to pilot ' and the Latin radical word ' arduus ' substance high or difficult to reach . The second half is more actual , as ' Saint Matthew the Apostle ' in Latin mean ' to lift ' . Hence , the spell essentially means to fly gamey or levitate .
Expecto Patronum
A crucial spell in Harry ’s battle against the grim forces wasexpecto patronum . The castor of the spell had to imagine his or her happiest retentivity and utter the conjuration which would conjure a herculean patronus that could take the form of an animal . Harry ’s of course of instruction , took the shape of a stag , the animagus form of his Church Father , James . It was Remus Lupin who instruct him the spell for the first time to push back away dementorsin his third class at Hogwarts .
' Expecto ' , as one might imagine is derive from the same roots that give rise to the word expectation . It mean ' to expect ' or ' to anticipate ' and ' patronus ' in Latin means ' patron ' or ' protector ' . The English word ' patronage ' is conceived of the latter . morph together , expecto patronuscomes to mean ' wait or anticipating a defender or patron ' , and what is the patronus but a protective guardian to the castor ?
Imperio
One of the three Unforgivable Curses , the Imperius curse was used by glum wizards and disciples of the Dark Lord Voldemort , to control a dupe . During the darkest times in the wizarding earth , when Voldemort had rise to surpassing power , his underlings had used the torment on score of multitude to get them to do their bidding . The victim would not remember any dark human activity he or she might have committed while under the spell .
In Latin , the news ' ad empire ' means ' to control ' . The spell for the curse isimperiowhich essentially mean to govern , rule , or simply power . This makes sense since the soul who casts this spell has infinite power over the victim , getting him or her to do practically anything , even to the extent of killing themselves . When Harry and his protagonist sneak into Gringotts with the goblin Griphook , the latter uses the imperius curse to control another goblin .
Crucio
Another Unforgivable Curse which would of necessity have the witch or wizard who ’d cast it bring down up in Azkaban , the Cruciatus oath is used to torture , do them excruciating pain sensation . The spell used for this iscrucio .
In fact , the intelligence ' excruciate ' has the same etymology as does cruciatus , both of which derive from the Latin verb ' cruciare '' meaning ' to crucify ' . It is a testament to Rowling ’s extraordinary ace that she was able to strike an entire repertoire of Son such as this from Latin and Grecian root .
Avada Kedavra
The mortal curse of allin the entire wizarding humankind , avada kedavra , is the Killing cuss . It is the most terrible of the Unforgivable Curses ; Harry first heard about it during his quaternary class in Hogwarts in the Defence Against Dark Arts class ( which was taught by Barty Crouch Jr. , posing as the auror Mad - Eye Moody ) .
lover might already have figured this one out , avada kedavrais basically the word ' abracadabra ' , scrambled . Abracadabrais a key signature conjuration used by sorcerer worldwide , a bit of hocus pocus to impress audience . There is some argumentation regarding the origin of the parole but Rowling herself has claimed that she twisted the Christian Bible ' abracadabra ' , earlier Aramaic , signify ' to destroy the thing ' wherein she creatively imagined the thing as a person . Hence , destroy the person .
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