Levitation Charm

"The Levitation Charm is one of the first spells learnt by any young witch or wizard. With the charm a witch or wizard can make things fly with the flick of a wand. The charm is an excellent test of your magical skills, wand control and above all, patience."

- An excerpt from the entry in the Book of Spells

The Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa ) is a charm used to make objects fly or levitate, taught to first years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

There are a number of lesser variations of the Levitation Charm, such as the Hover Charm, the Rocket Charm and the Floating Charm, just to name a few, but the Levitation Charm remains the original and best.

History
"The Levitation Charm was invented in 1544 by warlock Jarleth Hobart who mistakenly believed that he had at last succeeded in doing what wizardkind had so far failed to do, and learnt to fly."

- Miranda Goshawk, Book of Spells.

The Levitation Charm was first developed in the sixteenth century, and warlock Jarleth Hobart is credited with its creation.

On 16 July, 1544, Hobart invited a large crowd of wizards, among which was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, to witness his "maiden flight" — a public demonstration of his own revolutionary charm on himself. He climbed onto the roof of his local church and, after several speeches and a rousing performance of the national anthem he leapt and, having cast the spell, was left hovering in mid-air. At first, he seemed to have succeeded but, after having spent nearly three minutes watching him hanging in mid-air, the crowd grew impatient to see him move somewhere, and booed him.

In response to the catcalls, Hobart tried to move in midair, and started performing vigorous swimming movements, which produced no effect. Mistakingly believing that his clothes were making him heavier and impeding his movement, Hobart stripped thus making him fall ten feet onto the ground below, as it were the clothes that were holding him up in the air — they had been charmed by the Levitation Charm, not Hobart himself. He fell completely naked on the ground, breaking sixteen bones, and received a fine for "outrageous silliness" from the Chief Warlock.

Hobart returned home, humiliated, where he realised that his spell could make objects levitate for varying lengths of time, depending on the skill of the spellcaster and on the weight of the object. He also concluded that small animals or even children could be levitated, but that they had no control whatsoever of their movement once airborne.

He thus made a second announcement, and an even larger crowd gathered to see his second demonstration of the spell (hoping for another laugh at his expense). Hobart's demonstration was, at first, by far more successful than the first one: he showed the onlookers how he could easily levitate objects ranging from small rocks to fallen trees. Hobart decided that, for a finale, he would levitate the Chief Warlock's hat — what he managed to levitate, however, was the Chief's wig, exposing his bald head to the gathered crowd. The Chief was not amused, and was determined to duel Hobart, but the Warlock levitated the Chief's robes over his head, and ran for it.

This is also the first spell students learn to cast during their Charms lessons in the first year. They revise it in the second and their third year. The theoretical Charms O.W.L. exam includes a question on the Levitation Charm. Hermione Granger was the first student in her class to levitate a feather.

Effects
"He eventually realised that he had invented a spell that would lift objects into the air and could cause them to hover for varying lengths of time, depending on their weight, and the skill of the spellcaster."

- An excerpt from the entry in Book of Spells.

The Levitation Charm appears to be an improvement on both the Levioso and Locomotor spells and/or the Hover Charm, being able to lift objects high in to the air but also allowing one to magically move them through it as well. It also conveniently defies gravity by lifting objects heavier than a normal person would otherwise be able to carry, as seen when Ron used this on a troll's club, something a first year Hogwarts student would otherwise never be able to do without magic.

Despite its strengths, however, the Levitation Charm has one fatal flaw: it does not work on human beings. Though a human can be levitated using this charm, it is actually their clothing that is being affected. The charm is apparently not strong enough to allow a human to do anything more that float a few feet off the air using this method, and therefore does not allow the true flight afforded to most other objects.

Almost anything can be lifted with this spell, although the object levitated depends on the skill of the caster and the weight of the object

Other practitioners

 * Orabella Nuttley
 * Bellatrix Lestrange
 * Colin Creevey
 * Dean Thomas
 * Draco Malfoy
 * Filius Flitwick
 * Fred Weasley
 * George Weasley
 * Katie Bell
 * Luna Lovegood
 * Quirinus Quirrell
 * Sirius Black

Etymology
Wingardium is a composite word, based on: English to wing meaning "to fly" (e.g. the plane winged skywards ); arduus (meaning "high, tall, lofty, steep, proudly elevated" ) or arduum (meaning "steep place, the steep" ); and the common Latin ending -ium. Leviosa probably derives from Latin levo, meaning to "raise, lift up", or levis, meaning light (of weight). Altogether, therefore, the incantation could best be read as "lift up high".

Behind the scenes


"This charm ought not to be seen as a joke spell. It can be most useful in duels and can lift physical obstacles and can even Levitate small creatures (though this is likely to confuse any poor animal and is certainly not to be encouraged)."

- An excerpt from Book of Spells.


 * Whilst it was originally assumed that this spell and the Hover Charm were the same, they are not; the Hover Charm makes the target hover, whereas this one is always described as making it fly.
 * The fictional character Babbitty may have used this spell to levitate a horse.
 * In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the trio does not use this spell to stop the Whomping Willow from moving, although they do know it. It is only in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that they use the spell to stop the tree.
 * As a homage to the scene in the movie, the PC version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) had feathers flying out of the wand when the spell was used.
 * In the GBC video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, this spell is used to lift small enemies (havling no effect on large ones), and will deal damage depending on the target (e.g. if it is very light, flying, or, has a shell, it deals very little damage).
 * A potential variation of this spell is Alarte Ascendare, used by Gilderoy Lockhart to unintentionally send a snake flying into the air.
 * This may have been the spell that Bill and Charlie Weasley used to levitate the tables and have a fight with them.
 * The first question of the 1996 Theory of Charms exam required students to give the incantation and wand movement for a Levitation Charm.
 * In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Reparo is not present, Wingardium Leviosa is used instead as repairing charm. It levitates broken LEGO pieces to form a new or previous object.
 * Although this spell canonically produces no visible effects (apart from its actual spell effect of levitation) - a possible sign of its simplicity - it sometimes does in other HP media. For example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the spell connects objects and wand via a yellow stream of light continually released from the wand tip whereas in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (GBA version) a blue orb of magical energy is shot at the target. In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 a pink glow appears around the object and levitates it.
 * In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 the Levitation Charm is also a double up of the Cruciatus Curse for Death Eaters. It works the same way as the Levitation Charm by lifting it's victim off the ground, but instead it causes them to writhe and scream.
 * This spell is Warwick Davis's favourite line.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) 
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * 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 (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Harry Potter: Spells
 * Harry Potter Trading Card Game
 * Wonderbook: Book of Spells
 * Pottermore

Notes and references
Levitation Encantamiento levitatorio Sortilège de Lévitation Siipiirdium lentiusa