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"— and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced — like this — slammed him to the floor — thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down — with my other, I put my wand to his throat — I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm — he let out a piteous moan […] — the fur vanished — the fangs shrank — and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective — and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."
— Lockhart's supposed use of this spell[src]

The Homorphus Charm (incantation unknown) was a charm that could supposedly be used to temporarily change a transformed werewolf back into their human form.[1][2] It was not, however, a cure for lycanthropy, regardless of how it was described by Gilderoy Lockhart in his false account of his defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf.[1]

Nature[]

Cecil Lee: "The Homorphus Charm. The only spell known to wizardkind that is capable of curing werewolves."
Jacob's sibling: "It can cure werewolves? Why not just use that instead of capturing them?"
Cecil Lee: "Well, not all of us are as gifted as Gilderoy Lockhart… He says he always casts the spell perfectly, but when I cast it, it only temporarily returns a werewolf to human form. In any case, it can be quite valuable for stopping a werewolf in its tracks."
Cecil Lee tells Jacob's sibling about the Homorphus Charm[src]

Lockhart described the spell as being "immensely complex" and performed by placing the tip of one's wand to the throat of whoever the caster wanted to return to human form.[1]

Contrary to Lockhart's description of the spell, however — his books were later found out to contain a wealth of invented details aimed at making his stolen feats of bravery look more impressive,[3] — there was no known cure for Lycanthropy. Cecil Lee of the Werewolf Capture Unit remarked that, for him, the spell only temporarily returned a werewolf to human form (as he believed in Lockhart's accounts, Lee assumed this was due to him having failed to fully master the charm).[2]

History[]

At some point in or shortly prior to the early 1980s, a highly accomplished and courageous Armenian warlock successfully saved the inland city of Wagga Wagga in Australia from a fearsome and ferocious werewolf that had been terrorising its inhabitants, a feat he accomplished by means of the immensely complex Homorphus Charm. Soon thereafter, however, before the tale could reach the public eye, news of this hero's feat of bravery reached a British wizard and author by the name of Gilderoy Lockhart, who proceeded to track him down to hear the full account from the warlock for himself. Once Lockhart had convinced him to tell how he accomplished the defeat of the notorious Wagga Wagga Werewolf, however, the traveller placed a Memory Charm on him to make the warlock forget that it was he who had made the achievement in question, allowing Lockhart to take credit for said event, including it into his collection of fraudulent accounts where he alleged to have saved various villages from werewolf attacks, later known as Wanderings with Werewolves.[3] In the book, however, Lockhart alleged that he could use the spell to cure them.[1][4]

During the 1980s, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked by Fenrir Greyback and his pack during a Hallowe'en feast. Cecil Lee of the Werewolf Capture Unit was dispatched to investigate. A fan of Lockhart's, and proponent of the Homorphus Charm, he attempted to teach this spell to Jacob's sibling. Lee also attempted to use the Homorphus Charm during his subsequent confrontation with Greyback a month later, when he returned to finish what he had started. However, he was unsuccessful, and the spell did nothing but emit a rain of sparks from the tip of his wand. Lee later did capture Grayback, however, with the Incarcerous Spell.[2]

Etymology[]

Homorphus is a combination of the Latin Homo meaning 'man' and the Greek morphe- meaning 'shape' or 'form'.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Although this spell is described as a charm, its described effects seem closer to Transfiguration. Alternatively, since the wounds left by a werewolf bite are said to be "cursed" by werewolf Remus Lupin, by extension the condition of Lycanthropy could be seen as a type of blood borne curse. As such, the Homorphus Charm might be a counter-curse, which can reverse the transformation, albeit only temporarily.
  • As this spell has never been shown to properly work in the series, it is possible that this spell is ineffective, or that it has so far not been properly mastered by a skilled enough wizard.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 10 (The Rogue Bludger)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 1, Side Quest "Hallowe'en Feast"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 16 (The Chamber of Secrets)
  4. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 1, Side Quest "Howling Halloween"
Defence Against the Dark Arts (D.A.D.A.)
Subjectsdada
D.A.D.A. at Hogwarts
Classroom 3C · Classroom 3C backrooms · Temporary Classroom · Hogwarts Turris Magnus · Teacher's Office · Storeroom · Staircase · Storage room · Lesson Cup · Race Cup · Duelling Club · Dumbledore's Army
Professors
Isidora Morganach · Dinah Hecat · Arsenius Jigger · Albus Dumbledore · Galatea Merrythought · 1984–1985 professor · 1985–1986 professor · 1986–1987 professor · 1987–1988 professor · Patricia Rakepick · 1989–1990 professor · First 1990–1991 professor · Olivia Green · Quirinus Quirrell · Gilderoy Lockhart · Remus Lupin · Bartemius Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) · Dolores Umbridge · Severus Snape · Amycus Carrow (as Dark Arts teacher) · Unidentified professor · Brindlemore
Textbooks
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection · Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts · Break with a Banshee · Gadding with Ghouls · Holidays with Hags · Travels with Trolls · Voyages with Vampires · Wanderings with Werewolves · Year with the Yeti · The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts · Defensive Magical Theory · Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners · Confronting the Faceless · Defence Against the Dark Arts
Spells studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Aqua Eructo · Boggart-Banishing Spell (Riddikulus) · Bombarda Maxima · Cave inimicum · Concealment Charms · Counter-curses · Counter-jinxes · Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) · Curse of the Bogies (Mucus ad Nauseam) · Cursed barrier spell · Densaugeo · Deprimo Spell (Deprimo) · Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) · Ear-Shrivelling Curse · Everte Statum · Freezing Spell (Glacius) · Full Body-Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus) · Fumos Duo · Green Sparks · Hex-Breaker· Hex-deflection · Hex Zapper · Homorphus Charm · Human-presence-revealing Spell (Homenum Revelio) · Impediment Jinx (Impedimenta) · Imperius Curse (Imperio) · Imperturbable Charm · Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) · Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) · Lacarnum Inflamari · Langlock · Levitation Spell (Levioso) · Limbo Mist anticharm · Nonverbal spells · Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) · Pimple Jinx (Furnunculus) · Protective enchantments · Red Sparks (Vermillious) · Reductor Curse (Reducto) · Salvio hexia · Sea Urchin Jinx · Seize and pull charm (Carpe Retractum) · Shield Charm (Protego) · Smokescreen Spell (Fumos) · Snake-Vanishing Spell (Vipera Evanesca) · Softening Charm (Spongify) · Stretching Jinx · Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) · Tongue-Tying Curse (Mimblewimble) · Trip Jinx · Twitchy-Ears Hex · Verdimillious Charm (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Duo Spell (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Tria · Vermillious Duo · Vermillious Tria · Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos)
Creatures studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Banshee · Boggart · Chameleon Ghoul · Charmed skeleton · Cornish Pixie · Dementor · Dugbog · Erkling · Flesh-Eating Slug · Ghost · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Gytrash · Hag · Hinkypunk · Iguana · Imp · Inferius · Kappa · Manticore · Nocturnal beasts · Nogtail · Poltergeist · Red Cap · Snake · Troll · Vampire · Vampire bat · Werewolf · Yeti · Zombie
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