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Are there any more details on Hermione's use of this charm concerning the cart? such as the location, the other people, etc? Mafalda Hopkirk 16:44, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

It's during Deathly Hallows when Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Gringotts. I'll take a look and see if I can expand it. - Cavalier One(Wizarding Wireless Network) 17:41, 13 December 2007 (UTC)


Is the Cushioning Charm ever referred to as Spongify? It's because Flitwick says Spongify is the Softening Charm in the Philosopher's Stone video game (PS2 version).  Seth Cooper  owl post! 21:47, January 14, 2011 (UTC)
Bumping. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 00:10, January 24, 2011 (UTC)

softening/cushioning charm

How do we know these things are the same thing? Seems like a stretch to me, given the known effects of Spongify and that diagram of a cushioning charm on a broom... Green Zubat 22:39, July 23, 2011 (UTC)

Should´t it be higher canon that "Aresto Momentum" is the cushoning charm? Hermione uses ut in DH, and in the DH film. Rodolphus 18:16, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

Yes check Done --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 21:57, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

This is even worse than what we had before! Firstly, Film!Hermione used a different spell from Book!Hermione, secondly I cannot recall any evidence stating that Aresto Momentum and the Cushioning Charm are one in the same. They don't even have the same effects! Aresto Momentum arrests one's momentum and the cushioning charm creates a cushion, there's even a diagram. Changing Green Zubat 22:09, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

In Deathly Hallows Hermione casts a spell she later identifies as the Cushioning Charm. In the film, Hermione casts this spell in the same circumstances, and the spell has the same effect as the Cushioning Charm (characters' fall is halted without visible signs of pain -- as if they landed atop an invisible cushion, and then they fall to the rocky floor). In the film adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban the actual effects of this spell are never actually seen. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 22:45, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
Actually, in PoA, we don't see Harry fall to the floor but he does appear to stop in mid-air before black-out. However, even that aside, in DHPt.2 hermione shout the spell and they stop suddenly, then fall again (and painfully, I might add). That spell was identified as Aresto and seems to correlate with PoA. However, in the book, it says (as per the quote on the article) "[Harry] felth himself glide back towards the ground as though weightless, landing painlessly". That was identified as a Cushioning Charm. They did not glide in the film and it was not painless, hence the spell =/= cushioning charm. Green Zubat 22:53, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
The spell's effects, as pictured in the diagram from Quidditch Through the Ages, include the cushioning of a target area/object so that it seems like there's an "invisible cushion" over it. These effects match the ones of Aresto Momentum in Deathly Hallows: Part 2: their drop is halted as if by an invisible cushion and, after the spell's effects vanish in a non-canonical film visual gag, they fall to the ground. The description of the spell's effects in Deathly Hallows (the book) is unclear and ambiguous, as Harry did not actually see what happened (a short while before, the narration states that Harry could not see anything due to the water of the Thief's Downfall); that was his interpretation of what happened: he felt himself as though he was gliding, when actually the rock's texture became that of a cushion. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:04, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
"when actually the rock's texture became that of a cushion."
— Seth Cooper

I'm not trying to offend here, but that is the most blatant act of twisting the events to suit one's own fanon I have ever seen. You can't possibly divine that. It doesn't matter what you think "really happened", because thats fanon. What "really happened" is told to us in the books and its never said in those books that Aresto Momentum was used. All is said is that Harry felt as if he were gliding, then landed. He didn't say "It felt as though I'd just slammed into an invisible cushion", which might just be grounds for merging Aresto & this article (maybe). Maybe saying that the two spells might be related/the same could go in Behind the scenes but we need to reserve the main space for the facts, not original research. Green Zubat 23:16, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

Oh, and one more thing. You're "interpretation" of the events would better support a Softening/Cushioning charm merge, which is clearly erroneous.Green Zubat 23:18, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
No offense taken, of course. I'm not trying to make my own interpretation of what happened, I'm merely trying to apply what we learnt about the spell in Quidditch Through the Ages with the information given in Deathly Hallows. As the spell is the same, I find it very unlikely that has two completely different effects: creating an "invisible cushion" (QA) and making one glide to the ground (DH). The only explanation is that what Harry felt and heard (notice that the word "see" is never used in the Deathly Hallows excerpt) was not exactly what actually happened (it's safe to disregard that Whisp's work has that kind of innacuracies, as it is highly praised and recommended by proeminent wizarding figures). --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:27, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
I see we agree to disagree. I'm fine with keeping both articles and leaving "Behind the scenes" notes saying they might be the same spell, though. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:45, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I completely agree, thanks :) Green Zubat 23:57, July 30, 2011 (UTC)

Just to err on the safe side and avoid speculation. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:59, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
Yes check Done --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 00:16, July 31, 2011 (UTC)

It seems logical that the Cushioning Charm and Aresto Momentum are two different spells. The diagram in QotA suggests the Cushioning Charm creates an invisible buffer of "softness" between a person and a hard surface. It's unclear from the text in DH26 whether Hermione cast the Charm on she and the rest of the group, or at the the ground, but presumably it was the invisible "softness" buffer created by the spell that broke the impact. Aresto Momentum, based on the effect observed in PoA/f and DHP2, seems to counteract gravity by slowing down the speed at which the target(s) fall so that they don't hit the ground hard.

I'd say the filmmakers changed Hermione's Cushioning Charm to Aresto Momentum for comic effect and for continuity with PoA/f. If I wanted to rationalize why the effect of Aresto Momentum depicted in DHP2 differs from the effect seen in PoA/f, I'd say the spell didn't have a chance to gradually slow the group's fall because Hermione cast it when they were inches from the ground, thus it stopped the fall in a very abrupt manner. It's kind of like the difference between jamming on a car's brakes suddenly and gradually slowing to a stop.

It also seems logical that there'd been more than one spell to break a fall. There's more than one spell for cutting, starting a fire, creating light, etc. Starstuff (Owl me!) 05:49, August 1, 2011 (UTC)

Softening/Cushioning Charms (Again)

I wasn't here the last time this argument went on, and so I wondered what exactly was wrong with the assumption that the Cushioning and Softening Charms were the same (apart from that it's an assumption). --Happy Christmas! (Season's Greetings) 21:50, December 2, 2012 (UTC)

Just wondered, how do we know that this isn't the same circumstance as with Jelly-Legs Jinx and Jelly-Legs Curse and that they aren't just the same spell with alternative names? --Hunnie Bunn (talk) 23:41, January 18, 2013 (UTC)
I suppose we don't know that it isn't, but unless we have a source saying, I don't think we can assume they are the same. ProfessorTofty (talk) 00:59, January 23, 2013 (UTC)

Standard Book of Spells

According to the article on The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, the Cushioning Charm appeared in it in the first video game. Could someone please provide a reference for it? Thanks. --Hunnie Bunn (talk) 21:47, December 31, 2012 (UTC)

Fixed. Someone, apparently, mixed-up the Cushioning Charm and the Softening Charm. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:31, January 18, 2013 (UTC)
Thank you for fixing it. --Hunnie Bunn (talk) 23:41, January 18, 2013 (UTC)
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