About This Quiz
It's been more than 20 years since the first Harry Potter novel debuted (really!) but the cultural juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down. The winter of 2018 will see the second Newt Scamander film, "The Crimes of Grindelwald," and "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" continues to be a big draw at the amusement park Universal Orlando.Â
And what's at the heart of the Harry Potter series? What accounts for its staying power? Memorable characters and riveting plots, you say? Well, OK, sure. But we were thinking about the spells! After all, who doesn't daydream about being able to heal a sprained ankle with an incantation, or cause the office gossip to vomit up slugs? Imagine the power!Â
But it took Harry and his friends seven years at Hogwarts to master all the spells that they needed to be competent witches and wizards. So we ask, in the years you spent devouring the novels (and impatiently waiting for the next one to come out) were you as good a student? We're got a quiz to help you find out! Bear in mind, spells came in several different varieties, so you'll see references in this quiz to charms, hexes and curses ... but they all fit under the umbrella of "spells."Â
Show us how many you remember now ... Accio quiz!
This one's used early and often in the Potter books. Harry seems to like it a lot -- he's a "defense is the best offense" kind of wizard.
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This spell makes objects float in the air (note the similarity to "levitate"). Hermione masters it right away and officiously gives Ron and Harry unasked-for help with it.
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The name of the "killing" spell is "Avada Kedavra." In this way, J.K. Rowling took an innocent, well-known magic phrase and made it something very sinister.
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Remus Lupin teaches the third-years this trick in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's a practice run for learning to fend off dementors.
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The negative effects need to be intended for a spell to be a hex. That is, if a spell misses its target and breaks something, it's not necessarily a hex.
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Aqua Eructo makes water spout from the user's wand. This, presumably, is forgivable -- though it might take a while if the person in the way had spent a long time on their hair that morning.
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"Sectumsempra" is a harsh spell that causes slashes to appear on the victim's body, as though they were being cut by an invisible sword. It's appropriate, then, that it's associated with the moody, sometimes scary, Snape.
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"Alohomora" is put to good use by Ron, Harry and Hermione in the series. After all, they're always in places they're not supposed to be!
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"Expecto" is Latin for "I await." The use of this verb suggests that the spellcaster is confident his or her patronus will appear -- and confidence seems to be important to this spell.
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"Confundere" means "to confuse" in Latin, and this is the sense in which the Potter books use it. However, the English word "confound" has evolved to mean "frustrate expectations" or even "prevent."
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Naturally, it's "stupefy." In English, this means to make passive or nearly unconscious. In the Potter world, it's a useful, nonlethal defensive spell.
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Harry uses it to call his broom to him. After that, it's possible for him to outfly the fierce Hungarian Horntail dragon.
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The "Morsmordre" spell is essentially a form of magical firework. It creates Voldemort's glowing-skull symbol in the sky. Death Eaters shoot it off when they're feeling rambunctious.
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Cedric uses this spell in the Triwizard Tournament. It creates a kind of diver's helmet around his head when he is diving in the lake.
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Harry remembers the blinding green light from his infancy. He saw it when Lord Voldemort tried to kill him and failed.
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In the first film, overachiever Hermione uses this to fix Harry's glasses on the Hogwarts Express. Pretty impressive, given that she hasn't had an hour of formal instruction in magic yet!
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"Reducio" is used to come to the rescue when someone or something has been hit by the "Engorgio" spell. Although it could come in handy when packing for trips!
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Though a wand is a witch or wizard's essential tool, it isn't always necessary. The students of Hogwarts learn wandless magic, and sometimes simply whisper a spell to make it happen.
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Jinxes are unpleasant, but not as bad as hexes. And certainly not as bad as curses.
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"Finite Incantatem" essentially means "Finish (the) incantation." It's useful for getting magical mayhem under control.
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"Nox" is Latin for "night." That's why it bookends "lumos," which creates a magical light for the spellcaster.
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Of course, the answer is "muggletum," taken from J.K. Rowling's well-known word for non-witches and non-wizards. "Mundanii" would almost work -- "mundanes" is a sci-fi and fantasy lover's term for people who don't read or watch those genres.
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This one comes in handy at the Quidditch World Cup. Ludo Bagman uses it to project his voice out over the stadium, without use of a sound system. Nifty!
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Remus Lupin remembers this one fondly in "Prisoner of Azkaban." He says that back in his Hogwarts days, there was a period where you could "hardly move for being hoisted into the air by your ankles."
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This name is derived from the "tarantella," the wild, fatal dance people supposedly did after being bitten by a tarantula. (Really, people believed this!). The second half, "allegra," is a musical instruction means "quickly" in Italian.
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This word might (confusingly) remind you more of "diffident," the English word for shy, than the Latin "diffindere," for "to split." A little Latin goes a long way in the Potter world.
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"FIdelius" is adapted from the Latin word for "faithful." This "faithful" person then protects the secrets of the spellcaster, as Peter Pettigrew did (and then didn't do) for James and Lily Potter.
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The Latin-derived name for this one makes it sound worse than it is. It sounds a bit like the victim is being forced to ambulate toward his or her death! But no, it just means the legs are stuck together. (Whew).
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This spell causes bats to come out of a person's nose and fly off. (Seriously!) Ginny once used it on Draco Malfoy, who probably deserved it.
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You probably knew that this is closely related to the English word "evanescent," meaning "fleeting or disappearing." Ah, all becomes clear (maybe literally!)
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While many charms, jinxes and hexes have Latin-derived names, this one is quite simple. It's said to wear off within a few hours.
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The correct name for this spell is the Caterwauling Charm. The adjective was probably chosen because it starts with C -- Rowling likes her alliteration.
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Oculus Reparo, if you'll remember, was the glasses-repair spell Hermione used early in the series. But "Episkey" is a catchall spell for minor injuries, while "Ferula" creates a splint for broken limbs.
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Yes, this one is a bit of a trick question. It's Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Mad-Eye, who gives the colorful lecture on the Unforgivable Curses.
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This witch only appears in a Hogwarts textbook. The book notes that true witches used the Flame-Freezing Charm to escape injury when being burnt at the stake. Wendelin is said to have enjoyed "the tickling sensation" of the flames.
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