Episkey is a healing spell that heals relatively minor injuries such as broken toes.
Known users
In 1996, Tonks used this spell to fix Harry Potter's broken nose, and that same year Harry used it to fix Demelza Robins' broken lip; he probably had not learned it in class, but assumed that if it could heal broken noses, it could heal split lips.
Known practitioners
Etymology
The word comes from the Greek "episkevi" ("επισκευή"), which means "repair".
Behind the scenes
- J. K. Rowling writes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that Harry's knowledge tells him this spell could belong to a variety of healing spells, in the same way a species of plants belongs to a larger genus.
- In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Luna Lovegood finds Harry on the Hogwarts Express instead of Nymphadora Tonks. Luna also uses the Episkey spell to mend Harry's broken nose when they reach the Entrance Gates to Hogwarts.
- Luna mentions in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that she had never fixed a broken nose before, prior to healing Harry's with this spell "only a few broken toes, and, well, how different are they really?". It is therefore likely that this spell can be used to mend broken toes too.
- In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Episkey does not cause a cold-hot sensation, but rather pain. Harry yells in pain when Luna sets his nose, although this may just be because of the usual pain of setting a dislocated bone.