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"We’ve been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let’s get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."
— Sirius Black talking to Harry Potter about Walburga Black's portrait[src]

The Permanent Sticking Charm (incantation unknown) was a charm that magically stuck one object to another indefinitely.[1] It was unknown how, if at all, this charm could be lifted, leaving an object to stick indefinitely.

Known uses[]

The Sunday edition of The New York Ghost published on 28 November 1926 reported a bride from Baltimore had 'confessed' to casting a Permanent Sticking Charm, suggesting its use may have been illegal under certain circumstances.[2]

In August 1995, Sirius Black suspected that his mother's painting was fixed to the wall in the hallway of Grimmauld Place with such a charm.[1] A few days later, Fred and George Weasley "offered" to use it to stick Ron Weasley's Prefect badge to his forehead.[3]

In 1996, it was implied that the portrait of Ulick Gamp in the Muggle Prime Minister's office also had such a charm on it. The Prime Minister also hired a builder who failed to remove this portrait in his office, likely due to the effects of this charm or a similar spell.[4]

In 1997, Harry Potter discovered that it was used by Sirius Black to permanently affix his Muggle and Gryffindor-themed pictures and posters to the wall in his room to prevent his parents removing them after he ran away.[5]

Known practitioners[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • It is never said whether the charm prevents the object from being removed by cutting away the section of the wall.
  • It seems that once this spell is applied, it is impossible to remove the said object from the portion of the wall since there seems to be no counter-spell for it. However, this might not be completely true since Sirius mentioned that he attempted to remove his mother's painting for months; his refusal to give up may indicate a possible solution.
  • Unlike some spells, the effect of a Permanent Sticking Charm does not seem to expire after its caster dies; the charm on Sirius's bedroom wall remained over a year after his death, and Walburga's portrait remained charmed over a decade after her death.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 5 (The Order of the Phoenix)
  2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (see this image)
  3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 9 (The Woes of Mrs Weasley)
  4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 1 (The Other Minister)
  5. 5.0 5.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10 (Kreacher's Tale)

See also[]

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