Taboo -
talon-clipping charm -
Tarantallegra -
Tergeo -
Thief's Curse -
Thief's Downfall -
Tickling Charm -
time travel -
toenail-growing hex -
Tongue-Tying Curse -
Trace, the -
Transmogrifian Torture -
Trip Jinx -
Twitchy Ears Hex
no incantation given
"taboo", Eng. forbidden, particularly when forbidden by social custom
When put on a word, anyone who then says that word becomes trackable by the caster; saying the word breaks protective enchantments and causes some kind of magical disturbance.
The Death Eaters placed a Taboo on the word "Voldemort", reasoning that only serious opposition such as the Order of the Phoenix would use it (DH20)
Harry accidentally broke the magical protections around the campsite where he was staying by slipping and saying the name as he had been used to doing for years, forgetting that it was Taboo (DH22).
The choice of name for this effect is neat; there was already a social taboo on saying the name before the spell was ever cast.
talon-clipping charm
no incantation given
A charm used for dragon care.
Harry found this spell in a book in the Hogwarts library when researching ways to overcome the Hungarian Horntail in the first task (GF20).
Tarantallegra (TAIR-an-tuh-LEG-ruh)
"tarantella" It. dance associated with the tarantula, from Taranto, a city in Italy + "allegro" It. fast
Forces the victim's legs to do a crazy dance.
Dolohov used this spell on Neville during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries (OP35).
Tergeo (tair-GAY-oh)
"tergeo" L. to wipe off, to wipe dry; to scour, to clean
Cleans up the target object or person.
Hermione used this spell to siphon blood off Harry's face, which had been left there after his nose had been broken by Draco Malfoy (HBP8)
Ron used this spell to siphon oven grease off his handkerchief so that he could lend it to Hermione, who had just burst into tears (DH6).
Harry used this spell to remove dust from some of the framed photographs in Bathilda Bagshot's house (DH17).
no incantation given
An unspecified bit of nastiness which can be cast on someone who steals something.
People who stand too long reading Quidditch Through the Ages in a shop without buying it might find themselves the object of this curse (QA).
no incantation given
A waterfall that can be released over the track at Gringotts that has the effect of washing away all enchantment, all magical concealment.
This was released against Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook during their raid on the Lestranges' vault. It removed the effects of Polyjuice Potion from Hermione, of a number of small charms and Transfigurations from Ron, and lifted the Imperius Curse from Bogrod, whom they had compelled to accompany them. It did not, however, damage Harry's Invisibility Cloak or other magical items that they had with them (DH25).
See RICTUSEMPRA.
See TITILLANDO.
no incantation used; by magical device only
An extremely dangerous magical effect, allows a person to travel back in time. Because of the potential for catastrophe should history be altered, time travel is all but forbidden in wizarding society. Certain magical devices can be used for time travel, but access to them is strictly controlled.
Hermione once used a Time-Turner to repeat hours of the day and take more classes than would otherwise have been possible (PA21).
The Pensieve and Tom Riddle's diary allowed a form of time travel, although the person or persons traveling were not actually part of the time they entered. Instead, they became observers, unseen and unheard. This form of time travel is tied to stored memories and the traveller views the past from a vantage point near the person whose memories are used. This form of time travel might be better termed "memory travel."
Time is studied in one of the rooms of the Department of Mysteries; a Death Eater whose head fell into a huge bell jar in that room was changed from the neck up into a baby (OP35).
"Tickling Spell"
A curse which causes the victim to be tickled.
-
Similar to the charm Rictusempra, but nastier, apparently, since it's found in the book Curses and Counter-Curses (Pm).
no incantation given
Causes the target's toenails to grow alarmingly fast.
One of the Half-Blood Prince's self-invented spells (HBP12).
Ron recommended that Harry use it on McLaggen after the latter's antics cost them a match (HBP19)
Tongue-Tying Curse
"Mimble wimble"
Binds the target's tongue to keep him or her from talking about some specific subject.
Arthur Weasley said that Mad-Eye Moody had set up a couple of curses at number twelve, Grimmauld Place in case Snape returned there. The curses were to both "keep him out and bind his tongue if he trie[d] to talk about the place" (DH6).
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were affected by this upon their arrival at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Something whooshed over them like cold air, causing their tongues to curl backward on themselves, making it impossible for them to speak, though their tongues soon unravelled again. It was unpleasant, and afterwards Ron made retching noises and (with Hermione) stammered for a while (DH9).
- This curse appears in the book Curses and Counter-Curses (Pm).
Trace, the
no incantation given
The charm that detects magical ability around under-seventeens.
Moody said that if Harry or anyone around him cast a spell to get him out of number four, Privet Drive, Pius Thicknesse and the Death Eaters would know about it thanks to the Trace (DH4).
Discussed by Harry and Ron as the principal reason why they had to wait until after Harry's seventeenth birthday to begin hunting for Horcruxes (DH6). When the time came, Harry initially revelled in its removal (DH7).
Ron said that it's wizarding law that the Trace breaks at seventeen and that it cannot be put on an adult (DH9). When asked if Harry's Trace could still be on him, Remus Lupin said 'Impossible', then added that for one thing, if it had been the Death Eaters would have known for certain where Harry was (DH11).
Transmogrifian Torture
"trans" L. across + ?
"transmogrify" Eng. verb c.1656, from L. to change or
alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect
c.f. Calvin and Hobbes: his "duplicating machine" is called a
Transmogrifier ("Calvin and Hobbes" is a very popular comic strip
in the U.S.)
perhaps also related to:
"moggy" Br. slang: cat
Supposedly something which results in a cat being killed.
Lockhart pronounced with certainty that Mrs. Norris was dead, killed by the Transmogrifian Torture. Immediately thereafter, Dumbledore informed everyone that she wasn't in fact dead, rather she was Petrified, and Lockhart pointed out that he knew this all along. Knowing Lockhart, it is distinctly possible that there is no such thing as the Transmogrifian Torture (c.f. PESKIPIKSI PESTERNOMI) (CS9)
no incantation given
Trips the target.
Draco Malfoy used a Trip Jinx to catch Harry in the seventh floor corridor, running away from the Room of Requirement (OP27)
no incantation given
Causes the ears of the victim to wiggle and twitch uncontrollably.
Harry was hit with this hex as they practiced Hex-Deflection in Defence Against the Dark Arts (GF28)
