Summoning Charm

"Accio!"

- Casting a Summoning Charm

The Summoning Charm is a spell that causes an object at a distance from the caster to fly into his or her arms. The caster must know the general area of the object in order to summon it, and the farther away it is, the harder it is to summon. The spell's incantation is Accio; the caster must point his or her wand at the desired item or name it.

Successful uses

 * Molly Weasley used several Summoning Charms to find many different magical sweets Fred and George Weasley were trying to sneak out of the house to the Quidditch World Cup in 1994.
 * That same year, Hermione Granger taught the charm to Harry Potter, who later used it in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament to summon his broom to him to outmanoeuvre the Hungarian Horntail.
 * Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Alastor Moody) used the Summoning Charm to take the Marauders Map away from Severus Snape before he could read it.
 * Harry Potter used this charm to summon the Triwizard Cup, which had been made a Portkey, in order to escape Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters in 1995.
 * The Summoning Charm was used many times during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries by the Death Eaters in trying to take the prophecy from Harry Potter, by Hermione Granger to retrieve wands, and by Ron Weasley, who summoned a brain in a tank to himself while under the effects of a disorienting curse.
 * Harry Potter summoned Madam Rosmerta's brooms to himself and Albus Dumbledore to get back to Hogwarts in 1997.
 * Hermione Granger summoned books about Horcruxes from the Headmaster's Office in 1997.
 * Harry Potter summoned his glasses on his 17th birthday (in 1997).
 * Harry Potter on his toad with which he was practising his Silencing Charm in Charms class (in 1995)..

Unsuccessful Uses

 * Harry Potter tried to cast the charm while Hermione Granger was teaching him how to use it.
 * Harry Potter tried to cast the charm wandlessly to retrieve his wand after Dudley hit him when they were attacked in 1995 by two Dementors sent by Dolores Umbridge.
 * Bellatrix Lestrange tried to cast the charm on the prophecy at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, but Harry managed to hold on to it.
 * Harry Potter tried to cast the charm nonverbally and wandlessly to retrieve his wand after Draco Malfoy hit him with a Full Body-Bind Curse in 1996.
 * Harry Potter tried the Charm to summon Salazar Slytherin's fake locket in the Horcrux Cave in 1997.
 * Harry Potter tried it to summon Hedwig and Rubeus Hagrid during the Battle over Little Whinging.
 * Hermione Granger tried the Summoning Charm to summon Salazar Slytherin's Locket in Regulus Black's bedroom at 12 Grimmauld Place.
 * Hermione Granger tried to use a Summoning Charm to summon Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup in the Lestrange Vault, but the protections on the Horcruxes made this impossible.
 * A Death Eater tried the charm to summon Harry's Cloak of Invisibility.

Etymology
The Latin word accio means "I call" or "I summon". In the Hungarian translation, the spell is called "Invito", possibly from the word "to invite".

Behind the scenes

 * In the 2006 short film The Queen's Handbag, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley both use the charm in an attempt to retrieve Queen Elizabeth II's handbag, which has been lost. They are unsuccessful and Hermione suggests they're too far away from it, suggesting the charm may have a maximum range. However, in Goblet of Fire, Hermione stated that distance didn't matter, as long as the caster was concentrating hard enough. Also, the short film's canonicity is uncertain, so it is unlikely this applies to mainstream continuity.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * The Queen's Handbag

Notes and references
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