Arania Exumai

Arania Exumai
Incantation	Arania Exumai (ah-RAHN-ee-a EX-oo-may)
Type	Charm
Hand movement
Light	Blue
Effect	Repelled spiders

Jacob's sibling: "How do you think you can help me?"

Patricia Rakepick: "By teaching you a very specific spell for a very specific problem. Arania Exumai, a spell for repelling spiders."

— Patricia Rakepick introducing the spell

Arania Exumai was a charm used to blast away Acromantulas or other large spiders. If the spell missed and struck a stone, it would produce a large black scorch mark, and thus was not recommended for use on humans, although casting through or along a human produced no ill effect so long as a spider was struck.

History

During the 1987–1988 school year, Jacob's sibling and their friends set out to discover another Cursed Vault, which they later suspected to be near the Spider's Lair in the Forbidden Forest. Patricia Rakepick, a consultant at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the time, gave Jacob's sibling a private lesson on this spell, which they later used against the Acromantula that guarded the Vault in the Forbidden Forest.

Known practitioners

Patricia Rakepick

Jacob's sibling

Hermione Granger

Etymology

Arania is derived from the Latin aranea, meaning "spider". Exumai is possibly derived from exuo, Latin for "I lay aside" or "I refuse". Alternatively, the pronunciation of exumai is somewhat similar to that of exime, a conjugation of eximo, Latin for "I banish". Together, the incantation can mean "I lay aside the spider" or "I banish the spider".

Behind the scenes

Ron: "Know any spells?"

Harry: "One, but it's not powerful enough for all of them."

Ron: "Where's Hermione when you need her?"

Harry: "Let's go! Arania Exumai!"

— Harry saving himself and Ron from the Acromantulas

Harry Potter using the spell to repel an Acromantula

This spell as seen in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells

• The spell was created for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and does not appear in any of the novels. In the film adaptation, Tom Riddle uses this spell to blast away Aragog on 13 June 1943, whilst framing Rubeus Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter, after witnessing Riddle's memory from his diary, uses this spell against several Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest whilst escaping the Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony. As both of the scenes in the second novel do not depict the use of this spell, these depictions are not canon.
• The spell seemed to produce different level of effectiveness: in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle's use of this spell released a simple white blast of light that missed Aragog, but left a scorch mark where the spell narrowly missed him, whereas Harry Potter's use of this spell released a beam of blue-white light that kind of carried the Acromantula away before it was blasted out of sight.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry was successful at saving Ron from the Acromantula that had seized him, Ron was also caught by the light of the spell in the process, therefore it should have left a scorch mark on him.
• Bearing in mind viewers' concerns on the inaccuracy of subtitles for spells in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it is possible that "Exumai" may also be incorrectly transcribed. "Exumai" is not a valid Latin word with relevant meaning, while the pronunciation by characters in the film can be alternatively transcribed as "Arania Exime". Exime, in contrast, is a conjugation of the Latin word eximo meaning "I banish", which is much more appropriate considering the spell's effect of repelling spiders.
• In Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Hermione Granger uses this spell to fend the Acromantulas off from the riders. After Hermione casts Arania Exumai, it causes a bright flash. This is where the pictures are taken.
• In Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Rakepick calls this spell the "spider repelling spell", which is possibly its formal name. However, as this name is entirely lower case in the game dialogue, it could simply be descriptive rather than affirmative.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (First appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Disc 2)
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells