Spell

A spell is an action perform with magic typically with a wand and incantation. It is produced by wizardkind and various creatures in the wizarding world. Spell appear throughout the Harry Potter book series.

About

"And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

— Filius Flitwick on the pronunciation of spells

For a spell to work, a witch or wizard has to do four things; use a wand properly, clearly pronounce the correct incantation, concentrate and cast with intention. If they fail to do these things, the spell will fail and potentially cause damage, injury or death. Known incantations are usually derived from the Latin language (e.g. "Wingardium Leviosa") but there are a few incantations in English.

Spells usually produce a flash of light in varying colours with a lightning spark. However, there are spells which have no light. Spells produced incorrectly have loud bangs and intermittent sparks. The length of time a spell works depends on what the spell is. "Expelliarmus" is very brief, "Stupefy" wears off in time, a counter-curse could be needed, certain Dark spells caused permanent damage if done using strong intent (Cruciatus Curse) and a few were final (Killing Curse).

Spell invention is rare and difficult. Pandora Lovegood was killed during her effort to invent a new spell. There is a lot more to inventing a spell than waving a wand and saying what Harry Potter called "a silly word". There is no spell that enables wizards to fly unaided in their human form.

Known spells

A spell is a generic term for a piece of magic. Spells can be put into sub-branches according to their type :

Branch	Notes
Charm	Affects what the target does, e.g. turning a teacup into a rat is a spell or getting a teacup to dance.
Counter-spell	Reverses the effect of spells (e.g. charms, curses and transfigurations).
Contracts	e.g. Unbreakable Vow
Curse	Dark spells that have the intent and potential to cause great harm to the target.
Hex	Causes less damage than a curse but worst than a jinx.
Jinx	Causes minor harm and inconvenience.
Healing	Designed to heal injuries and illnesses.
Transfiguration	Changes stuctures and appearances.