Conjuration

"Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry"

- Quirinus Quirrell conjures ropes

Conjuration is an advanced form and branch of Transfiguration, some of the most complex magic taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Conjurations are distinguished from the other branches of Transfiguration, by their ability to transfigure the desired object from 'thin air'.

Conjuration is more than difficult than Transformation, Switching, and Vanishment and is only taught to students at N.E.W.T.-level. The only form of Transfiguration exceeds Conjuration in difficulty is Human Transfiguration. Conjuration also has some overlap with charms and some Dark spells, such as the Water-Making Spell and the Floating-eyes Curse.

Nature
"...these are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T level"

- Professor McGonagall to her fifth year class Since Conjuration is an advanced form of Transfiguration, most are N.E.W.T.-level, taught to sixth years and above at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, although some conjurations are simpler and are taught to younger students. Some conjurations taught are the Fire-Making Spell (Incendio), the Water-Making Spell (Aguamenti) and the Bird-Conjuring Charm (Avis), the former two are taught in Charms class. There are limits as to what can be conjured; Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration has five Principal Exceptions which cannot be conjured, one of which is food.

According to The Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk, "for reasons that are still not fully understood ... two categories of creature are easier to conjure from nothing than any other: birds and snakes." The spell to conjure birds is called the Bird-Conjuring Charm, which suggests that Serpensortia might be called the Snake-Conjuring Charm.

Dangers


Many things can go wrong when attempting to conjure something from nothing, especially in the case of living creatures. If Conjuration is not performed exactly right or if the caster is simply messing around with Conjuring Spells, mistakes such as frog-rabbit hybrids can occur. The hybrids in question can be explainable by the magical law Principle of Artificianimate Quasi-Dominance. Things such as severed heads and indeterminate stumps can also occur, when the conjuration isn't exactly right, as well.

Miranda Goshawk, has written entries in the Standard Book of Spells series about the dangers of poor conjuration.

Known instances of Conjuration
"However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water."

Known Conjuration spells

 * Arrow-shooting spell: Conjures and fires a group of arrows.
 * Aqua Eructo Charm (Aqua Eructo): Conjures a jet of clear water, similar to Aguamenti.
 * Bird-Conjuring Spell (Avis): Conjures a flock of birds.
 * Bluebell Flames: Conjures blue flames.
 * Bridge-conjuring spell: Conjures a bridge
 * Butterfly-conjuring spell: Conjures butterflies
 * Ecto Spell (Ectomatic): conjures ectoplasm
 * Ferula: Conjures a wooden rod and bandages.
 * Fiendfyre: Conjures cursed fire.
 * Fire-Making Spell (Incendio): Conjures a jet of flame
 * Flagrate: Conjures a fiery rope.
 * Fountain of Wine: Conjures wine.
 * Gemino Curse (Geminio): Conjures a duplicate of the target object.
 * Inanimatus Conjurus Spell: Possibly conjures an object.
 * Incarcerous: Conjures ropes.
 * Leek Jinx: Conjures leeks from the victim's ears.
 * Orchideous: Conjures flowers.
 * Sardine Hex: Conjures sardines from the victim's nose.
 * Snake Summons Spell (Serpensortia): Summons a snake.
 * Spider-Conjuring Spell: Summons a Spider.
 * Water-Making Spell (Aguamenti): Conjures a jet of clear water, similar to Aqua Eructo.

Known practitioners

 * Appleby Arrows supporters

Behind the scenes
J.K. Rowling has said that items conjured from thin air tend not to last long.

Appearances

 * PS undefined
 * PS F
 * PS G

Notes and references
es: Conjuración pt-br: Conjuração