Charmed skeleton

Charmed skeleton
Species information
Eye colour	Green, sometimes none
Related to	Inferius (possibly) Zombie (possibly)
Height of average adult	Varies
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Reanimated skeleton
Affiliation	Dark Arts
Status	Extant

A charmed skeleton was a human skeleton that had been magically reanimated by a Dark wizard, similar to Inferi. Lord Voldemort, an experienced necromancer, was capable of summoning charmed skeletons. Charmed skeletons could be easily destroyed with either simple offensive jinxes or the Tickling Charm.

History

Skeleton attack on Hogsmede

Around Hallowe'en in the 1980s or 1990s, Ismelda Murk accidentally charmed an army of skeletons in Godric's Hollow's graveyard that then went on to attack Hogsmeade until they were driven away by Pumpkin Johnny.

At the Hallowe'en feast

During the Hallowe'en feast in 1984 at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore was known to have charmed skeletons to dance for the students' entertainment. It is unclear if Dumbledore used necromancy to do so, or a movement charm similar to Piertotum Locomotor.

1993–1994 school year

Professor Remus Lupin taught third-year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry about charmed skeletons in his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, during the 1993–1994 school year.

Behind the scenes

Hermione Granger: "Oh no! A charmed skeleton!"

Harry Potter: "We'd better both cast at once!"

— Hermione Granger and Harry Potter encountering a charmed skeleton in the Shrieking Shack

A skeleton attempting to attack Harry Potter and Hermione Granger inside the Shrieking Shack

• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PC version), Harry Potter and Hermione Granger encounter several charmed skeletons in the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, who attack them by throwing bones at them. They (the player) must use the Tickling Charm together to destroy them, with the skeletons only losing an arm or a leg if just one individual used the spell on them.
• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Lord Voldemort made some charmed skeletons from bones in the Little Hangleton graveyard, and had them attack Harry Potter, with Harry (the player) having to use simple bombarding jinxes to destroy them.

A charmed skeleton in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

• They appear in certain levels of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7. They appear as a pile of bones. When you use the Levitation Charm to assemble their bones together, they form a skeleton which will sometimes be wearing a top hat, which, depending on the skeleton assembled, will start to dance or do something else. When this happens the game will play some music that will vary depending on the skeleton. They do not attack the player and can be broken again with the casting of any spell, and can be rebuilt again.
• In theory, charmed Skeletons do not differ from Inferi, with the only visible difference being that skeletons have further decayed than the corpses Inferi are made of. It is possible that the charmed skeletons were actually Inferi, mistaken for a different creature because of the differing appearance. However, when looking at the overall differences between charmed Skeletons and Inferi are that charmed Skeletons are not confirmed to be afraid of heat and light (although they likely are), while Inferi are confirmed to be afraid of both heat and light. Then again, the word "inferi" was not used until the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2005 and the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released a year earlier.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (First appearance) (Not in home console versions)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game) (PC and console versions)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery