Lesson 1: Introduction

• Brief History and Essential Laws
• Ancient times
• Magic was practiced much more openly and freely than it is today
• Magic was used to protect many ancient tombs, and even today curse-breakers working for Gringotts attempt to retrieve the treasures from within, though not necessarily without loss of limb
• Ollivander family
• One of the first, and certainly the longest, to have practiced the craft of making wands
• Been in business since 382 B.C.
• Council of Warlocks 
• Established 1000 A.D. 
• Wizards separated from muggles
• 1400 A.D. - various countries form their own magical governments
• International Statute of Secrecy in 1689
• International decision to fully separate the Muggle World and the Wizarding World
• Not officially established by all international magical communities until 1692
• Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery
• Established in 1875
• Have to be 17 years old before you can practice magic outside of school or other designated areas
• Exceptions: when your life, or the life of a fellow Witch, Wizard or Muggle is at stake
• The Trace - the nickname of the spell which can automatically determine if someone underage attempts to use magic where they are not allowed to
• Home is a designated exception zone
• Discovery of Wands
• We refer to the modern foci for magical ability as a "wand"
• Primitive tools: 
• Crystals
• Crude wands made of hippogriff wing feathers wrapped around a stick
• Metal Rods
• Wand: a wooden shaft containing a core from a powerful magic source that allows us to focus and channel our power
• Chapter 1: Essential Wizarding Law
• Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (1875): restricts to the use of magic outside areas such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and other areas designated as Exception Zones by Witches and Wizards who are under the age of 17
• Exceptional circumstances: situations in which the life of the Witch or Wizard, or of other Witches, Wizards and Muggles are at risk
• The International Statute of Secrecy (1689): law that separates the Muggle World and the Wizarding world makes each magical government responsible for hiding all evidence of magical activity as well as the magical flora and fauna (plants and animals) within their jurisdictions
• Chapter 11: Wand-Lighting and Wand-Extinguishing Charms
• Wand Lighting Charm
• Incantation: Lumos
• Pronunciation: ‘LOO-mos’
• Wand Movement: “Single counter-clockwise loop”
• Focus: none
• Willpower: low; determines the color of the light
• Concentration: None
• Depending upon the amount of charge (the amount of willpower you throw behind the spell) the light might change from a soft pearly white to a lemon-yellow (which indicates sufficient energy, or charge, has been applied), or even scarlet if the caster has put too much into it
• Wand-Extinguishing Charm 
• Incantation: Nox
• Pronunciation: ‘NOCK-ss’
• Wand Movement: “Swift flick”
• Focus: None
• Willpower: None
• Concentration: None

• The Source of Your Magic
• No one is sure where magical ability comes from; it is passed from a Wizard to their children
• squib: someone with no ability to use magic but with limited ability to detect magical activity or use magical devices
• Muggle-born: children of muggles several generations removed from magical heritage that possess magical ability 
• Magic can be done without considering it
• Magical Power
• The power within you allows you to focus your will and intention, perform the requisite wand movements and incantation, and project your magic to reshape reality
• Your power flows through your wand, focused by your wand’s core and insulated by the wood, until it reaches the tip
• "Flight Charms"
• Hover Charm: allows us to magically move something off the ground
• Rocket Charm: only capable of propelling an object straight up into the air and back down again
• Height obtained is somewhat controllable depending upon the effort you put into it 
• Floating Charm: can target a distant object rather than requiring physical contact and moves the object in a controlled vertical movement 
•  Objects can only be levitated a handful of feet into the air, and they cannot be directed to move any other way besides up and down
• Levitation Charm: allows the caster to control not only the vertical movement of an object but its movement back and forth or side to side
• Incantation: Wingardium Leviosa
• Wand movement: swish and flick
• Mental: focus on the thing you'd like to levitate
• Chapter 3: Magic Power, Magic Blood
• Muggles:
• Lack magic, therefore they cannot cast spells, sense magic, or brew potions
• Can't use devices that aren't necessarily powered by magical energy, but instead may require only the presence or intermingling of magical power
• Some devices are enchanted so that muggles can use them, but these are usually prank items and are enchanted illegally
• Can be affected by magic, like dementors (guard Azkaban, the wizard prison), but do not know what or why they are affecting them
• Witches and Wizards
• Squib: non magical child from magical parents, very rare
• Not able to actively use magic or magical devices, but can have magical knowledge
• Aren't able to see dementors, like muggles
• Muggle born: a magical child from two muggles, usually because of a witch of Wizard somewhere in their family history
• Pure blood: The offspring of two magical parents who have never intermixed with Muggles
• Half blood: Those who are known to have at least one Muggle parent, grandparent, etc. in recent memory (as well as at least one Witch or Wizard)
• Chapter 4:  The Spellcasting Process
• The caster must properly speak the incantation (unless sufficiently advanced enough depending upon the spell).
• The caster must perform the required wand movements.
• The caster must, if the spell requires it, properly focus and target the spell's effect.
• The caster must, if the spell requires it, concentrate on the correct thoughts, feelings and desires.
• The caster must, if the spell requires it, have enough magical willpower.
• Chapter 12: Magical Flight & "Flight" Charms
• Witches and Wizards can fly with the help of enchanted objects such as brooms of flying carpets
• Flying without enchanted objects
• You-Know-Who - Harry Potter eyewitness account
• Professor Serverus Snape
• The Hover Charm: cast upon an object that the caster is physically touching in some way, it allows the caster to move that object up and down
• Incantation: Levioso
• Pronunciation: ‘Lev-ee-O-so’
• Wand Movement: “Inward Spiral then Up”
• Focus: None
• Willpower: Moderate; determines how heavy and object can be lifted
• Concentration: None
• The Rocket Charm: does not require the caster to be touching the target, only capable of propelling an object straight up into the air and back down again
• Incantation: Alarte Ascendare
• Pronunciation: ‘A-lar-tay a-SEN-day-ray’
• Wand Movement: “Quick Swish at the End”
• Focus: the target object
• Willpower: High; determines how high the object will ascend before falling
• Concentration: None
• The Floating Charm: target a distant object, objects can only be levitated a handful of feet into the air, and they cannot be directed to move any other way besides up and down
• Incantation: Fluito
• Pronunciation: ‘flew-ee-toe’
• Wand Movement: “Jab and Upward Flick”
• Focus: The target object
• Willpower: High to very high, depending on the weight and distance of the object
• Concentration: Moderate. Concentration should be maintained on the target object
• The Levitation Charm: 
• Incantation: Wingarduim Leviosa
• Pronunciation: ‘wing-GAR-dee-um levi-O-sa’
• Wand Movement: “Swish and Flick”
• Raise your wand toward the left and then let it glide gently toward the right, wand tip pointed forward. Then you simply move the tip of your wand back toward your body before flicking it in the direction of your target.
• Focus: The target object
• Willpower: Moderate to very high, depending on the weight and distance of the object
• Concentration: Moderate. Concentration should be maintained on the target object
• Allows the caster to control not only the vertical movement of an object but its movement back and forth or side to side
• Allows the caster to lift objects normally too heavy for them to lift themselves, though this also requires some effort
• Doesn't work on humans

• Wand Properties
• The wand is as unique as the witch or wizard that it choses because wands can be considered semi sentient in their own right
• They are living therefore are not capable of acting on their own
• A wand seeks the witch or wizard it most closely identifies with naturally and will usually never perform quite as well in the hands of another witch or wizard
• Wand Movements
• Almost all spells that require a wand require a series of wand motions
• Some describe the shaping of the magic and others act to indicate the target of the effect
• Almost all targeted spells require that your wand be pointed toward your target at the end of the movement
• Magical Limitations
• One of the greatest limitations of magic is the intricacy with which each individual spell is cast 
• For every spell, you must memorize the precise words and wand movements, and if necessary direct the magic toward the proper target, concentrate on the correct thoughts, feelings and desires, and even then you may need sufficient power 
• The Mending Charm
• 1754 by Orabella Nuttley - used to repair the Colosseum after a particularly rowdy crowd of rival Quidditch fans began to fight following a match 
• To mend a simple break the caster must simply say the proper incantation and make the correct wand gesture while picturing the mug as undamaged
• The image does not have to be exact, but at least and idea
• Should you start to slip in your concentration or in the wand movement, what you’ve attempted to mend will only be half-done
• The Unlocking Charm: unseals both magical and mundane
• Known as the Thief's friend
• Originated in Africa
• Brought to the Wizarding World by Eldon Elsrickle - used it to go on a looting spree throughout homes in London until the counterspell was invented by Blagdon Blay
• Before the discovery of the Unlocking Charm, there were of course other methods for getting past sealed doors, but this usually involved blasting them off their hinges or smashing the lock, both of which were extremely loud and noticeable 
• The trick to this spell is that you need to focus on the object you’re attempting to unlock and visualize yourself unlocking it as you cast the spell
• As the complexity of the lock grows or more things bar your way, it becomes harder to successfully cast this spell
• It is not always necessary to see the lock, but it must somehow be attached to the door or chest you want to unlock
• Chapter 5: Wand Basics
• The Wand is an extension of the with or wizard and is typically classified by four parameters
• Length: Uually found within the range of 9 and 14 inches
• Shorter wands: user whose character something is lacking
• Longer wands: user with a physical peculiarity that demanded the excessive length
• Flexibility: speaks to the degree of adaptability and willingness to change possessed by the wand-and-owner pair
• Flexible wands: pliant, spongy, springy, supple, whippy, willowy or yielding. 
• Rigid wands: firm, inflexible, resistant, stiff, unbending, unpliable, or unyielding
• Wood: different woods can have an almost human power of perception and preferences 
• Core: made from some part of another magical being
• Ollivander wands: unicorn tail hair, dragon heartstrings, and phoenix feathers
• Other material (such as kelpie mane, veela hair, troll whiskers, dittany stalk, or kneazle whisker) either possesses insufficient power or have a considerable drawback
• Chapter 6: Wand Motion
• A spell spoken properly but without the correct wand movement usually fails
• One thing to note is that wand movements are made regardless of whether the witch or wizard is right-handed or left-handed
• Backfires: the magical energy you were building up just bursts away in the form of sparks, a loud bang, or a small explosion
• Longevity: practice allows the caster to obtain a level of endurance that is necessary to cast for more than a handful of minutes
• Flexibility: every witch or wizard should practice wand movements daily to build better reflexes in the hand and arm they use for casting
• Chapter 13: The Unlocking Charm and The Mending Charm
• The Unlocking Charm: begin the wand movement as you begin saying the spell and end it as you finish saying the spell, regardless of how quickly you say the spell or perform the movement
• Incantation: Alohomora (‘al-LOH-ha-MOR-ah’)
• Wand Movement: Backward S curving up at the end
• Focus: Visualization of yourself, unlocking the lock
• Willpower: None for simple mechanical locks; minimal to very high for locks ranging from complex mechanical to complex magical
• Concentration: None
• The complexity of the physical or magical lock must also be taken into account. Complex physical locks aren’t much more of a challenge than simple ones
• The Mending Charm: only non-magical fixes can be made with this spell and cannot restore something utterly destroyed or transformed
• Incantation: Reparo (‘reh-PAH-roh’)
• Wand Movement: Inward pointed spiral, continued until the object is fully repaired
• Focus: A visualization of the object undamaged
• Willpower: Minimal
• Concentration: High. Visualization should be maintained until the object is repaired

• Language: the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and ideas to one another
• Scripts: written system of symbols; take 2 forms
• Single complex symbols: require learning the sophisticated methods used to create them and thousands of unique symbols can exist in the language
• Alphabet: a relatively small set of symbols organized into groupings called 'words', with each word having a different meaning
• Alphabets
• Phoenician Alphabet (1050 B.C.): contains ancient forms of most of the letters that we use today however it didn't have representations for the vowels, which were usually left to the reader to supply themselves
• Greek and Latin alphabets as well as english: contain specific symbols for vowels
• V: both a consonant and a vowel
• We still use the same alphabet developed three millennia ago with relatively minimal changes 
• Incantations
• Most incantations we will learn about can be traced back to a Latin (or pseudo-Latin) root
  • Latin is one of the oldest known languages
• An incantation requires precise pronunciation to be effective
• Sometimes mispronunciations result in nothing happening, sometimes there's only a minor mishap such as a small bang or backfire, but there are times when being even slightly off can result in completely unintended consequences such as explosions
• The Fire-Making Charm
• Incantation: Incendio
• The word "incendio" in Latin literally means "fire"
• Practice it only within a well-ventilated area and not around anything you do not want to catch fire
• It is a spell that will mature as you continue in your studies and develop your focus
• The Locomotion Charm
• Not actually a "flight" charm
  • While the object it affects appears to "fly", in reality it is simply hovering a few inches above the ground
• The true purpose is to move the target from one place to another
• It's possible to cast the Locomotion Charm on an object and then direct that object toward a particular spot while casting another spell
• Chapter 14: The Fire-Making Charm and the Locomotion Charm
• The Fire-Making Charm
• Incantation: Incendio (‘in-SEN-dee-oh’)
• Wand Movement: Curved flick up and down (as a flame)
• Focus: The target to be ignited
• Willpower: Low to very high, depending on the distance of the target and the difficulty of igniting the target
• Concentration: None for a simple ignition; moderate concentration on the target should be maintained for a continuous stream
• Grows in finesse and power as the user does
• The Locomotion Charm: creates a thin barrier only a few inches (several centimeters) between whatever is targeted and the ground with the main purpose of Moving its target from one location to another 
• Incantation: Locomotor (‘LOH-koh-moh-tor’)
• Wand Movement: Full circle with an upward flick toward the target at the end, then pointed where the object should go
• Focus: The target object
• Willpower: Moderate to very high, depending on the distance and weight of the object
• Concentration: Minimal concentration should be maintained on the object
• It is the combination of two word from ancient Latin. "Loco" means place or location, while "motor" means to move. Taken together it means "move to a place"
• It is usually useful to specify the target of the spell verbally as well 
• Useful because it can remain active with very little concentration 

• Focus
• Focus affects spells differently than wand movements of incantations and is not present in every spell
• You cannot avoid focus if the spell requires it
• Focus is the shaping of your will toward a specific goal
• If you lose your focus, your spell targets something you had not intended or the magic is unleashed in an uncontrolled burst from the tip of your wand
• To focus a spell, your mind must be relatively clear
• At the moment your spell is supposed to take effect, if required, your focus must be solely upon the task of casting the spell
• The Severing Charm
• Relies heavily on your ability to focus 
• The charm not only needs to be targeted specifically, but factors such as depth must be taken into account
• Not very effective when used against animated, living things, making it an impractical dueling spell
• The Softening Charm
• The object targeted by this spell becomes a bit squishy and bendable for a short time
  • The texture becoming more like rubber and becomes bouncy
•  If you do not focus correctly, you might accidentally soften the wrong thing, but it will right itself quickly enough
• The effects of the charm are temporary
• Chapter 8: Mental Focus
• Mental Focus: the ability to close off wadering thoughts within your mind and focus completely on the task at hand
• At its simplest focus requires that you are pointing your wand in the right direction
• You also don't want to just focus haphazardly upon whatever you're trying to cast your spell upon
• Even if you are focusing upon the specific target of your spell you must avoid letting stray thoughts get in the way
• It is important that you focus only upon what your spell is supposed to do and upon what it is supposed to affect
  • Focus and intention are the same; you want to affect a specific thing and you want the spell to work a certain way
• Chapter 15: The Severing Charm and the Softening Charm
• The Severing Charm: allows the caster to precisely cut the target they are focused upon
• Incantation: Diffindo (‘deef-IN-doe’)
• Wand Movement: “V-Shaped down and up, ending with a swish in the direction to cut.”
• Focus: The place to cut and the depth of the slice
• Willpower: Low
• Concentration:None
• 1400s by a seamstress named Delfina Crimp
• The caster should finish saying the spell while performing a swish in the direction of the cut
• Possible Mishaps
• Nothing happens
• Partial severing
• Cut ends up being ragged
• Wrong item is cut
• The Softening Charm: temporarily modifies the properties of the target object, making it a bit squishy and slightly bouncy like some plush toys, but not soft the way a stuffed animal is 
• Incantation: Spongify (‘SPUHN-jee-fye’)
• Wand Movement: “S-Shaped with a small swish half-way through”
• Focus: The target object
• Willpower: Moderate
• Concentration: None 
• Mishaps:
• Nothing happens
• Wears off quickly if there isn't enough charge
• Item is only slightly softened
• Useless against living matter
• Metal and stone typically don't "absorb" the magic well enough for a noticeable effect

• A Matter of Will
• Willpower is like mental power just like strength is like physical power
• For those with magical ability, we use our willpower to perform magic, to make impossibility possible
• The more will you focus into a spell, the more violent the backfire if your spell fails
• With your mind focused upon the target of your spell, you then think about the effect of your spell to the exclusion of outside stimuli
• The Sticking Charm
• Used to stick one surface to another, whether this is two halves of a container, a lock to a door frame, or posters to a wall
• Requires all of the elements from the previous weeks, but willpower is the most essential
• Without a sufficient amount of effort, the charm will not function at all
• A good casting of the spell results in a bond that lasts for several days, or even weeks if cast well enough
• Countered with the Unlocking Charm
• Chapter 9: Willpower
• Willpower (non-magical): a measure of one's self-discipline; an individual's ability to restrain themselves from doing something they might be tempted to do, to control their emotions, and to stick to their convictions despite distraction or other impetus 
• Willpower (magical): the ability to use will to shape and control magical ability by focusing the initial flow of magic, and of course exert enough pressure to compel a target to act in a way it wouldn’t otherwise 
• Like lifting a heavy object or weight-training 
• Witches and wizards do NOT exhaust their supply of magic, though, casting powerful magic can be mentally taxing due to the effort of will (or sometimes focus/concentration) required 
• To practice willpower without a wand, find something in the room you are in to focus upon. Look at it, and perhaps any other aspects of the object, but keep your mind on ONLY that item for a full minute
• Focus is one's ability to pinpoint what they want to affect with a spell and how the spell should act
• Willpower is the mental muscle that drives a spell and provides the power for it to function 
• Chapter 16: The Sticking Charm
• The Sticking Charm: holds two objects, that are already touching when the spell is cast, together 
• Incantation: Astrictus (‘a-strik-toose’)
• Wand Movement: The infinity symbol starting and ending in the center, encircling the two objects. (IE: ∞ )
• Focus: The two parts that should be stuck together
• Willpower: High; determines how long the objects will remain stuck and how hard they are to separate
• Concentration: None 
• Effects are long-lasting but by no means permanent 
• The caster's wand should begin and end pointed toward the target
• It doesn't work on living animals
• Mishaps:
• Two objects not sticking
• Wrong objects sticking together
• Backfire which usually results in the caster being stuck to the floor 
• The first time the Sticking Charm was employed it was used aboard roman battle vessels around approximately 100 B.C.
• Witches and wizards would use this spell to keep objects from falling off ships during storms and to help fasten loose doors closed 
• Counter: Unlocking Charm