Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Have you ever wondered…
How spells are created?
Well, the answer is simpler than you might have guessed.
It’s all thanks to a handful of extremely cunning witches and wizards, who saw a problem
in their life, and tried to create a magical solution.
As we look through the historical records of the wizarding world, we find no shortage
of famous wizards and witches who have left their mark on magic, and created spells that
are still in use in modern times.
Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the most famous spells, and their creators,
as we go over the history of magical inventors.
Let’s get in to it.
Badeea Ali and Ben Copper
Ben Copper, and his friend, Badeea Ali, were both students at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft
and Wizardry in the mid nineteen eighties.
Although Copper was sorted into Gryffindor, and Ali into house Ravenclaw, the two ended
up creating a spell together.
This particular magical attack was an updated version of the traditional knockback jinx
that students at Hogwarts had used for generations.
Named Flipendo Maxima, due to its greater effects, this particular spell might have
actually been quite dangerous for the students, since it caused them to fall backwards, and
often times their heads would bounce violently off the stone floors of the school.
At a different time during her stay at Hogwarts, Badeea Ali created another spell.
This one summoned a dazzling meteor shower in the sky.
And, as Ali would later come to discover, she could even use the incantation to transform
the paintings at Hogwarts, and fill them with their own falling stars.
William Weasley
William Weasley was the oldest member of the Weasley siblings.
His job as a Curse Breaker often took him far away from the Weasley’s family home,
known as the Burrow.
During his time away, Bill used his magical abilities to become one of Gringott's greatest
employees.
In a showdown in Egypt, Bill even defeated a Mummy.
But perhaps his greatest achievement came during the second Wizarding War.
During that time, Bill invented a spell that would block any dark-mark wearing Death Eater
from entering a building.
This barrier would become pivotal in the battles that the Order of the Phoenix would participate
in throughout the War.
Severus Snape
As a former Death Eater, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Severus Snape led an
interesting life.
And in addition to his many missions, in service to Albus Dumbledore, Snape was actually quite
an accomplished spell maker.
During his time as a student in Hogwarts, and as a professor, Snape created many of
the spells that students use to this day.
Snape’s Langlock curse was a particularly popular one.
With a simple swing of a wand, this spell would lock a target’s tongue to the roof
of their mouth, preventing them from speaking.
As a frequent victim of bullying, Snape undoubtedly found this spell useful when he was on the
receiving end of jeers.
In the same vein, Snape also created a spell that would cause anyone nearby to temporarily
experience a deafening noise…
so that he could gossip without fear of being overheard.
This spell was called the Muffliato charm, and Harry Potter often used it in class.
But perhaps Snape’s most famous curse was Sectumsempra.
This one caused painful cuts to magically appear on its victim’s skin.
Harry used it in fights against Draco Malfoy, the Inferi who protected one of Voldemort’s
horcruxes, and even against its creator…
Severus Snape, himself.
Gilderoy Lockhart
Professor Gilderoy Lockhart’s legacy isn’t one to be very proud of.
On his journey to eventually becoming a star teacher at Hogwarts, Lockhart had regularly
exaggerated his own abilities, and even lied about his achievements.
He was famously exposed as a fraud when confronted by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, shortly before
the pair entered the Chamber of Secrets.
Unfortunately, in the aftermath, Lockhart erased his own memory.
But before his downfall, Gilderoy Lockhart actually created one of the most charmingly
narcissistic spells in the wizarding world.
Through an incantation, Lockhart was able to project his image into the sky via the
Holographic spell, so that everyone around could enjoy his beauty.
Albus Dumbledore
We can’t be sure how many spells Albus Dumbledore created, but according to the records of Hogwarts,
there’s only one that was attributed to him.
This was the Patronus Charm communication spell.
During the Second Wizarding War, Dumbledore smartly realized that there were too many
ways that the Order of the Phoenix could be deceived, and be lured into traps by false
messages.
To combat this, he created a spell that would use an individual’s Patronus to transmit
messages, since this was always unique to a non-Dark Wizard.
Tom Riddle
Tom Riddle, more famously known as Lord Voldemort, was an extremely accomplished spell crafter.
Before his resurrection, Riddle created Morsmodre, the spell that set the sky alight with the
Dark Mark.
And he even designed the spell that would kill Albus Dumbledore, the curse that rested
on the ring of Marvolo Gaunt.
Yes Dumbledore died to avada kedavra, but this spell WOULD have killed him.
Tom Riddle also created a spell that allowed him to fly without the use of a mount or broom.
This was called unsupported flight, and although the films depict many Death Eaters achieving
a similar feat, it was actually quite rare.
It was a technique that wizards and witches had spent centuries trying to master, and
it wasn’t until Tom Riddle’s discovery that it was finally perfected.
Basil Horton & Randolph Keitch
Basil Horton & Randolph Keitch were a pair of famous Quidditch players.
But they were more than just a pair of Falmouth members of the Falmouth Falcons… they were
also the creators of the Comet Trading Company.
You might recognize this name because it’s responsible for some of the most famous broomstick
models in production.
Well, Horton and Keitch’s Comet broomsticks were so beloved by Quidditch players for their
incredible speed, and also, their sudden stopping precision.
This was actually achieved by a spell that the pair of founders created, known as the
Braking Charm.
It allowed their broomsticks to stop on a dime, and was also quite safe.
Miranda Goshawk
Over 50 years before Harry Potter’s final showdown against Lord Voldemort, a young witch
named Miranda Goshawk created a pretty gross spell.
Miranda’s goal was simple.
She wanted her older siblings to finally listen to her, and stop walking all over her.
To do this, Miranda created the Bat-Bogey Hex, which transformed her target’s boogers
into disgusting, bat-like creatures.
Thanks to its revolting nature, the hex was massively popular among students at Hogwarts.
At one point, a student from an unknown house actually used the hex to cause bats to fly
out of every member of his class’s nose.
Levina Monkstanley
Levina Monkstanley was a witch who lived hundreds of years before the rise of Lord Voldemort.
During her life, as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries in the 18th century,
Levina spent her time surrounded by the unknown.
Her job dealt with the mysteries of death, time, love, and consciousness…
but that wasn’t quite enough for her.
Monkstanley also decided to create her own spells.
She was the witch responsible for the Wand lighting charm, which caused a wizard’s
wand-tip to cast a blue-ish light.
She also created the opposite spell, the wand extinguishing charm, which essentially turned
the light off.
Elliot Smethwyck
A decade or two before Basil Horton and Randolph Keitch created the Comet broomstick company,
a wizard named Elliot Smethwyck made an important contribution to broomstick riding.
Realizing that the devices were quite uncomfortable to ride, Elliot created the Cushioning Charm,
which would create a magical seat wherever a rider sat.
Daisy Pennifold
Like many other quidditch players and fans, Daisy Pennifold was a witch who used her expert
skills as a spell caster to create a charm for the sport.
Her Slowing Charm was used to stop Quaffles from falling straight to the ground, and instead,
made them slowly descend so that Quidditch players didn’t need to slow down the pace
of the game, by grabbing the balls from the pitch.
Orabella Nuttley
The Mending Charm has been shown to be quite a versatile piece of magic.
If used properly, the incantation is able to repair almost any inanimate object that
has been broken.
But the spell, surprisingly, isn't’ even that old.
It was created by a witch named Orabella Nuttley, only a few hundred years before the rise of
Lord Voldemort.
Nuttley, who was employed by the Ministry of Magic, used the spell in the aftermath
of an incident at the Colosseum in Rome, where she was forced to repair the millennia old
building.
Urquhart Rackharrow
Urquhart Rackharrow was an accomplished healer in the wizarding community, and lived in the
mid seventeenth century.
Although you might suspect that much of the wizarding world, like that of Muggles, suffered
from a lack of sophisticated medicine…
you’d be wrong.
Wizards and witches had almost always been exceptional healers, and were able to cure
almost any mortal malady that they were afflicted with.
So when we look at Rackharrow’s most famous spell, the Entrail Expelling Curse, it’s
hard to figure out exactly what the health-care provider was trying to achieve.
Some thought that this spell literally caused a target’s colon to be ripped from their
insides, and drawn out of their body.
But Rackharrow, as we’ve already mentioned, wasn’t a Dark Wizard of any type.
He wouldn’t have used the charm to cause harm.
So, in all actuality, the spell probably just alleviates the symptoms of constipation in
its target.
Although, the students of Hogwarts probably didn’t waste time using it with ill-intent.
Herpo the Foul
Herpo the Foul might have been the most powerful Dark Wizard of the ancient World.
Any wizarding historian would tell you that Herpo was a terrible sorcerer, and would probably
point to his creation of the Basilisk as his most horrifying contribution to magic.
But there was one more thing that he made that might have been even worse…
It was Herpo who devised a way to fracture a soul, and preserve it in physical objects,
so that a Dark Wizard could unnaturally prolong their life.
This was the spell that Tom Riddle would use to survive his first death.
And it was Tom Riddle’s horcruxes that would ultimately take Albus Dumbledore’s life.
And that’s it for this video!
Do you want a part 2?
There are still more witches and wizards to cover!
Let me know in the comments.
Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live