Every Spell Harry Potter Uses Himself In The Movies, Explained & Ranked By Power
Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
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Despite being loudly and almost immediately proclaimed the Chosen One, Harry Potter’s magical prowess has often been a point of debate among fans. Over the course of the eight Harry Potter movies, the Boy Who Lived achieves magnificent victories, but he spends surprisingly little time actually showing off his magical repertoire on screen.
Critics have leaped on this fact, invariably pointing out the fact that Hogwarts’ supposedly most gifted wizard sticks to one or two trusty spells when there are hundreds he could choose from. Obviously, he’s a student, but by the time of the Battle of Hogwarts in his final year, he’s surely more capable than his overreliance on Expelliarmus suggests. Then again, it does him well at the end of all things…
Anyway, isn’t a boy wizard essentially fighting an entire wizarding war with just one signature move (with a few Stupefies thrown in for good measure) even more impressive than if he constantly cycled through a full spectrum of spells? Harry uses (mostly) the right spells for the right occasions as defined by his moral system, occasionally pushing the boundaries of acceptable (and legal) behavior only when provoked. And yes, he’s more varied in his spell usage in the books, but the Harry Potter movies had to change things repeatedly, and that’s a far lesser crime than wiping Peeves entirely out of existence.
What remains in the cinematic universe is a more varied and surprisingly lethal array of magic than he ever seems to get credit for. And only by sifting through every scene across all eight films can you find them all and rank them by how powerful they actually are.
19 Honorable Mention: The Accidental Spells
Before diving into spells Harry deliberately casts, it’s important to first acknowledge that Harry’s formative magical education also included some magic that resulted from a lack of emotional restraint. Before he arrived at Hogwarts, he vanished and reinstated the glass at the zoo, trapping Dudley, and later blew up his Aunt Marge after taking offense at her badmouthing his parents.
There are other mentions in the book, like the remarkable feat of apparently flying up to the school roof (a magical ability only Snape and Voldemort are known to be capable of), but they didn’t make it into the movies. And while there is some pretty impressive magic involved in some of these examples, but because they were completely accidental, they don't count here. And really, how useful would inflating someone be, beyond revenge or bullying?
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01
What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?
✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.
02
In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?
✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.
03
What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?
✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.
04
How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?
✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.
✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.
05
How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?
✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.
✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.
06
What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?
✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.
✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.
07
What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?
✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.
✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.
08
The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?
✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
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18 Periculum
A useful spell doesn’t immediately guarantee a powerful one, and arguably the weakest spell Harry casts in all the movies is also a very specific utility spell. He uses Periculum during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament in The Goblet of Fire to seek help for Fleur Delacour. When he finds her injured in the maze, he sends a distress flare of red sparks into the sky to draw attention. Useful, of course, but very narrow in scope, and not really difficult to achieve.
17 Lumos
Again, Lumos - the illumination charm - is very useful for lighting things up, but that's literally its only application. It's effectively a magical flashlight, and is used throughout the sequels, starting with the very first scene in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Theoretically, you could use it to temporarily dazzle an enemy, but access to almost any other defensive spell would render it redundant. The Prisoner of Azkaban's first plot hole also unwittingly proved that the Ministry of Magic doesn't even count Lumos as a real spell, since Harry uses it in his bedroom and doesn't activate the Trace.
16 Arania Exumai
Depending on how you feel about spiders, Arania Exumai is either the best spell in the world or one of the Harry Potter series' most oddly specific ones. Invented for the movies, and seen in The Chamber of Secrets used by both Tom Riddle and Harry himself, the spell is used solely to repel spiders, leaving a scorch mark when not finding their target. It's too oddly specific to be classed as a really powerful spell, and it's mostly included in the movies to show both how adaptable Harry is, and how easily influenced he is by Riddle's diary.
15 Levicorpus
Harry teaches the other members of Dumbledore’s Army a number of very useful defensive spells in The Half-Blood Prince, in order to prepare for the coming war, but for some reason he also spends valuable time teaching them Levicorpus. Invented by Severus Snape during his schooldays, the spell allows the caster to levitate the target of the spell (dangling them by their ankle in the original form). Harry impressively seems to adapt the spell in The Half-Blood Prince to essentially just float Nigel Wolpert in the air, but aside from getting things off high shelves, or mildly inconveniencing an enemy (who would need to be disarmed first), it’s a flashy spell with limited use.
14 Engorgio
The Engorgement Charm makes a very brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 when Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the run. Hiding in the woods in their enchanted tent, Harry casts Engorgio on a candle, turning its flame into a column of fire for a comic moment that reminds you that he’s still not exactly a master wizard. When Barty Crouch Jr uses it as Mad-Eye Moody to make a whip scorpion larger, you can see a little more value in its power, but it feels like a basic classroom spell that absolute no teenage wizards would ever have used for any other reason at all.
13 Rictusempra
Just as The Prisoner of Azkaban misunderstands the Trace, The Chamber of Secrets gets Rictusempra completely wrong. Harry uses what the books introduce as the Tickling Charm - a spell that needs no further definition, thanks to its name - in his Defense Against the Dark Arts duel with Draco Malfoy. Instead of causing uncontrollable laughter - a cruel but not exactly deadly punishment - the wrong version of the spell is a knockback charm. Draco is hit hard and spins backwards in the air, which is reasonably useful in actual duels, but never turns up again in the movies.
12 Ascendio
Invented specifically for The Goblet of Fire to get Harry out of a sticky situation, Ascendio is the Ascension Charm, which throws the target of the spell high into the air (or rapidly upwards through water), including if used on oneself. Harry uses it when he’s about to drown during the Second Task of the Triwizard tournament and is catapulted out of the lake in a visually impressive feat. A useful utility spell.
11 Aguamenti
The true nature of the Water-Making Spell is a little unclear, but there’s no denying that on paper, the ability to conjure a stream of clean, drinkable water out of nothing is impressive. Given that there are areas of the world that struggle with water poverty, it’s powerful in general application. We see it first in the movies when Harry tragically attempts to quench Dumbledore’s thirst in the crystal cave after he consumes the Drink of Despair. It fails because of an incantation, and later fails to extinguish the Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement (again, because of the nature of the dark magic). So the most notable uses failed, but the real world applications would be huge, even if it’s unclear how long conjured water would last.
10 Confringo
The visual impact of the Blasting Curse - Confringo - is unquestionable, since it’s accompanied by a fireball, but how powerful it actually is might be more up for debate. It’s used a few times in the movies, and notably by Harry when he reveals he’s still alive after Voldemort believes he’s killed him. He pops up and casts Confringo at Nagini, only to see the fireball bounce off the snake and into a group of Death Eaters, who are knocked over. They’re obviously dazed, but such a percussive spell should surely do more than that when there’s a fireball involved? Still, its heavy use in battle at least suggests wizards believe it to be powerful.
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