We see in HBP spells created by wizard (ie, Sectumsempra was created by Snape). This got me thinking: there must be more people out there (barring the Lovegoods in this instance) who create their own spells.

What if Voldemort had created a spell that meant he didn't need Horcruxes?

What if Dumbledore and Grindlewald created one instead of the Hallows?

Surely there must be lots of 'unofficial' spells out there being used all the time, perhaps coverups for the Unforgiveable curses that effectively do the same thing, only they're not known to the Ministry?

I don't think there would be any point in inventing a new spell that did the same thing as an old one. For Unforgivable-like spells you would still be prosecuted for the effect that any spell even if the spell wasn't previously known, and for more normal spells it would be easier to look up an existing spell than invent one afresh.
I am sure that new spells do get invented, and some are subsequently approved by the Ministry but I imagine inventing completely original spells is very difficult.

I agree, I would imagine a Witch/Wizard would have to be both highly skilled and creative to invent new originial spells.

Snape did it though: surely someone as intelligent as Hermione could: there must be others.

My thought with the Unforgiveables was that the Ministry may be able to detect someone saying "Crucio" or the like, where as if they invented a spell which has a similar effect with a different name may get past the Ministry detectors...

There could be lots of spells, in the same way there are lots of unregistered Animagi.

Well, we do have Luna Lovegood's mother as an example of a witch who created new things. Luna tells us that she "loved to experiment" and that one of her experiments went badly wrong one day. I've always read this to mean that she was trying to create something new, something that hadn't been tried before. And yes, it backfired. But she must also have created things that went right as well.

Just as Slughorn said that wizards of a certain calibre were drawn to the Dark Arts, I think witches and wizards of a certain curiosity were drawn to create and to explore outside the bounds of "what's been done".....Mrs Lovegood was just one of them.

Apparently, new spells require some trial and error. I certainly don't think I would have liked to be one of the wizards who first developed human transfiguration. I'll bet there was some gruesome accidents.

remember that hermione did create her own spell. The incantation was point me and that caused the users wand to point north. She invented it for the triwizard tourny.

It is described as a discovery, but I interpret that to mean that she discovered it in the many books she searched through. Given her warnings to Harry over the invented spells he uses from the Half-Blood Prince book in HBP, I can't see her having invented her own spells.

I would put it forward that new spells are not invented as such, but discovered. The sectumsempra spell always existed, when Snape "invented" it he simply found the word sequence that would perform the spell. Maybe it was trial and error; more likely there is some (obviously quite difficult) method of discovering spell words.

Most spells seem to be based off of Latin, so I imagine that a skilled wizard would start by figuring out several ways to say what they want to do n Latin. They would then try different variations of the incantation along with different wand movements until they found a combination that worked.
We also know that some spells (riddiculus, expecto patronum) require certain thoughts or emotions in order to work, so that could complicate the process.
I think it would be easiest to start with a spell that you know and adapt it. For instance; aquamenti produces a fountain of water, a similar wand movement and something like vinementi might produce a fountain of wine. Slightly diffrent movements might produce red or white wine.
So I would think that building on existing spells would be pretty do-able, and there are probably countless spells that someone has already gone to the trouble of figuring out. Where it gets complicated is brand new areas of magic, or complex spells.
I don't think you could simply create a way to split your soul without a horocrux, Voldy spent years trying to become immortal, and the horocrux was still the best thing he knew how to do. Flamel was the only one of countless wizards that we know of who figured out the philosopher's stone.
I'm sure that some wizards (who have the gold not to need to work) spend their time in research, but a completely new spell would be the achievement of a lifetime.

I agree, I think that spells (for the most part) are similar to recipes, a list of common components that, when combined in just the right way, result in something wonderful. Just like with cooking, most people can follow a recipe and reproduce the completed dish but, few people can invent a successful recipe.
A combination of words and wand movements can do most anything, conjure water or kill a person. Being able to invent something new requires understanding of the individual parts of a spell and, how they work when combined with other elements.

Here's a related question: Do wizards in other countrys use different spells? If so then the latin words really aren't essential to the spell.

I mean, if Wizards have been active in England for over 1000 years then that's before the world had really been explored. So wizards in say, Asia or South America would have been developing magic independantly around the same time. So early Azrec wizards certainly wouldn't have been speaking latin. Would it follow that you could figure out the incantations in multiple languages to do the same thing?

i dont think that would work tho, what if someone used a spell non-verbally? then the ministry wouldnt be able to detect it. i think they "track" magic itself, thats why under-17s would be able to practice magic in a wizarding household and the ministry would never know; they cant tell who actually performs the spell, only the spell itself. that leads me to think that saying the incantation or not, you would be detected simply because you used magic itself.


i agree with this theory; the spells most probably already exist, and then the able witch/wizard simply (or not) finds out a way to "channel" the spell through the wand and "control" it. we know that magic is energy - therefore, to create a spell, i think all thats required is the knowledge of how to "shape" (not the word i was looking for but nvm) this energy, this magic, into the desired form (the spell) and direct it at something or someone by the means of the incantation and wand movement.

ravenseeker, thats an interesting point, i dont know. i never really thought about spells in different languages. maby latin is like the universal language of magic i cant go with the idea of translating spells, would they still work? good question.

I agree with you. I think that to intentionally create new spells, one would have to be bright. However, I don't think you need to be smart to create unintentional spells... I'm thinking of something Flitwick says in the first or second book about a wizard who pronounced a spell wrong and wound up with a buffalo. He created a spell (although not a very useful one).

ahh spell theory. How much I would love to write on and on about this subject in cannon. First though let me point out a few things.

Just because Snape wrote down the spell and the anti-spell in his text book doesn't mean he was responsible for creating it. Snape liked writing in his book and the spell was popular at the time. He may have simply thought it interesting and written it down, or maybe he decided to write it in the margins of what seems to have been his magical note pad (that is, the text book) after it was used on him - perhaps to ensure that upon being subject to it again he could quickly dispel it.

Next we have the matter of Luna Lovegood's mother who died while creating spells. Whatever the actual method for creating spells, it appears that it is quite dangerous and may not be as simple as stringing latin words together.

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I will post something discussing magic later. As an aside, however , I would like to speculate that spells may be primarily latin in this universe because latin, unlike other languages, is dead and not subject to changes in syntax rules and other things like that.


Oh and I would also like to note that I disagree with the first book and that I think magic cannot be as simple as holding a wand and accidentally just saying things because no one has ever warned any character about holding their tongue whilst holding their wands - less they be subject to accidental spell work. I believe she only used the buffalo was only used as a comic device in her book and was not, at the time, worried about the rules of her world.

But Snape was responsible for creating those spells. At the end of HBP he accuses Harry of using his own spells against him and I believe he even used the term "my creations." I may not remember that correctly and I'm too lazy to look it up, but the text makes it very clear that he "invented" the spells.

Oh septum sempra - heh right.

Creating a spell i think would mean to actually learn the magic creating the spell. Not just to remember the movement or pronunciation. I think that when Snape created sectumsempra, he actually understood what he was doing. I mean, I don't think anyone could actually just make up a spell, they would have to study the magic. Snape created sectumsempra because he was really into dark magic and knew how to control it, and thus he created sectumsempra. Also, you can see how he likes to experiment on his own, he has own method of doing the potions they do in class.

Of course Snape himself created the spells he wrote in his/Harry's sixth year potions book. If we didn't know that before, it is confirmed in Chapter 28 of HBP (p.563, Raincoast).

When Harry and Snape are fighting (ie - when Snape is trying to get off the school grounds and Harry is chasing him), Potter says, "Sectum--" and Snape deflects the curse. Immediately thereafter, Potter thinks, "Levi--" and Snape wallops Harry - magically, of course. Then Snape says, "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince. ..."

Snape invented Sectumsempra and Levicorpus. And undoubtedly the other spells Harry came across hand-written in the margins of Advanced Potion-Making.

All spells had to be invented by somebody at some time, and these can be credited to the very gifted (even at age 15/16) Severus Snape.





Laura



"I spent a lot of time inventing the rules for the magical world so that I knew the limits of magic. Then I had to invent the different ways wizards could accomplish certain things. Some of the magic in the books is based on what people used to believe really worked, but most of it is my invention."
- JKR, Barnes and Noble interview, March 19, 1999



"The five years I spent on HP and the Philosopher's Stone were spent constructing The Rules. I had to lay down all my parameters. The most important thing to decide when you're creating a fantasy world is what the characters CAN'T do."
- JKR, South West News Service, July 8, 2000