Changes: Homorphus Charm

Revision as of 04:08, 10 January 2016

"Simple, yet effective — and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."

— Lockhart bragging about his supposed use of this spell to end a village's terror^[src]

The Homorphus Charm was described by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart as what he used to cure the Wagga Wagga Werewolf.

Nature

He described the spell as being "immensely complex." He later admitted to having stolen the credit from an Armenian warlock.

Since Lockhart is known for providing phony spells, that all of his books are known to contain a wealth of invented details, and given that there is no known cure for Lycanthropy, it is possible that this spell does not truly exist or that it has a different effect than Lockhart described (possibly just temporarily forcing a transformed person back into human shape, rather than preventing the change).

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 effects seem closer to Transfiguration.
Considering the fact that there is no cure for lycantrophy, it is likely that this spell were a highly advanced piece of magic which returned the werewolf to its human state, only for him/her to turn into a werewolf by next full moon.

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First mentioned)

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |name=Homorphus Charm
 |image=
-|incantation=
+|incantation=Unknown
 |type=[[Charm]]
 |hand=
 |light=
-|effect=Returns transformed to [[Human|original form]]
+|effect=Temporarily changes a transformed werewolf back into their human form (according to [[Gilderoy Lockhart]])}}
+{{Quote|Simple, yet effective — and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks.|Lockhart bragging about his supposed use of this spell to end a village's terror|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets}}
-}}
-The '''Homorphus Charm''' was described by Professor [[Gilderoy Lockhart]] as what he used to cure the [[Wagga Wagga Werewolf]]. He described the [[spell]] as being "immensely complex." He later admitted to having stolen the credit from an [[Armenian Warlock|Armenian warlock]]. This [[charm]] will [[Transfiguration|transfigure]] most things back to their original state such as [[Animagus|Animagi]] or transfigured objects. This is possibly the [[Animagus reversal spell|spell]] that [[Remus Lupin]] and [[Sirius Black]] used to reveal [[Peter Pettigrew]].
+The '''Homorphus Charm''' was described by Professor [[Gilderoy Lockhart]] as what he used to cure the [[Wagga Wagga Werewolf]].
+== Nature ==
-It should be noted however, that the original version of this spell was most likely a Transfiguration one, as opposed to a [[Charm]], as the latter can only change what an object does, as opposed to what the object ''is''.
+He described the [[spell]] as being "immensely complex." He later admitted to having stolen the credit from an [[Armenian Warlock|Armenian warlock]].
+Since Lockhart is known for providing phony spells, that all of his books are known to contain a wealth of invented details, and given that there is no known cure for [[Lycanthropy]], it is possible that this spell does not truly exist or that it has a different effect than Lockhart described (possibly just temporarily forcing a transformed person back into human shape, rather than preventing the change).
 ==Etymology==
 ''Homorphus'' is a combination of the Latin ''Homo'' meaning 'man' and the Greek ''morphe-'' meaning 'shape' or 'form'.
+==Behind the scenes==
-==Appearances==
+* Although this spell is described as a [[charm]], its effects seem closer to [[Transfiguration]].
+* Considering the fact that there is no cure for lycantrophy, it is likely that this spell were a highly advanced piece of magic which returned the werewolf to its human state, only for him/her to turn into a werewolf by next full moon.
+==Appearances==
 *''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' {{1st mention}}
-*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' {{comment|Possibly}}
-*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)]]'' {{comment|Possibly}}
-*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)]]'' {{comment|Possibly}}
 [[fr:Sortilège d'Homomorphus]]
 [[it:Incantesimo Omosembiante]]
+[[pl:Zaklęcie homomorficzne]]
 [[Category:Charms]]
 [[Category:Spells of unknown incantation]]