Engorgement Charm

Engorgement Charm
Incantation	Engorgio (en-GOR-gee-oh)
Type	Charm
Hand movement
Light	Icy blue
Effect	Caused swelling

"These straightforward but surprisingly dangerous charms cause certain things to swell or shrink. You will be learning both charms together, so that you can always undo an over-enthusiastic cast. There is thus no excuse for having accidentally shrunk your homework down to microscopic size or for allowing a giant toad to rampage through your school’s flower gardens."

— Miranda Goshawk

The Engorgement Charm (Engorgio), also known as Growing Charm, was a charm that caused the target to swell immensely. It was the counter-charm for the Shrinking Charm, causing shrunken objects to return to their original size.

If the caster attempted to engorge the target beyond a certain point, it would violently explode. Although this spell was safe to use on animals, its use was not recommended until the counter-charm had been perfected.

A variation of this spell was Engorgio Skullus, which made the head of a person bigger.

History

An apple being enlarged with this charm

Miranda Goshawk included this charm in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, the third spell in the book. She also wrote about it in Book of Spells alongside the Shrinking Charm, which could be used to counteract this charm.

The Sunday edition of The New York Ghost published on 28 November 1926 had an article about regulators examining the use of this charm for home improvement.

This spell was covered in second-year Charms class during the 1985–1986 school year.

Ron Weasley suggested that Rubeus Hagrid might have gotten in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was young, before learning that he was half-giant.

Effect

It appeared as a circle of icy blue light emanating from the tip of the wand, much like a torch. Anything within this circle would grow exponentially, bouncing and shivering.

Known uses

"'Engorgio!' The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula."

— Barty Crouch Junior's use of this charm on a spider

Caster(s)	Date	Notes
Silvanus Kettleburn	Unknown	Used this charm to enlarge an Ashwinder snake for use in a theatrical performance of The Fountain of Fair Fortune at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Jacob's sibling	1985–1986 school year	Jacob's sibling used an Engorgement Charm alongside the Shrinking Charm to sneak into another House common room.
	1986–1987 school year	Used the charm to enlarge themselves to full size after shrinking themselves in Argus Filch's office.
	1987–1988 school year	Used the charm to enlarge Bill Weasley's and Tulip Karasu's Butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks Inn.
	1989–1990 school year	Used it to enlarge the tribute items for the Merpeople in the Great Lake.
Merula Snyde	1987–1988 school year	Merula used an Engorgement Charm to enlarge a niffler to a gigantic size, increasing the damage it could do, hoping to get Jacob's sibling and their friends in trouble.
Rubeus Hagrid	1992–1993 school year	Hermione suspected that Hagrid has used an Engorgement Charm on his pumpkins.
Fred and George Weasley	August, 1994	The twins placed an Engorgement Charm on the Ton-Tongue Toffee that they "accidentally" dropped in front of Dudley Dursley.
Kevin		The little wizard boy in the World Cup was casting an Engorgement Spell (or something very similar) on a slug.
Barty Crouch Jnr	Autumn, 1994	He used an Engorgement Charm a spider he had bought to his fourth year Defence Against the Dark Arts class, in order to demonstrate the Cruciatus Curse on it.
Harry Potter	December, 1997	Harry cast this on a spider to practise with the blackthorn wand.
Robyn Thistlethwaite	September, 2008	Robyn used this spell on a copy of The Monster Book of Monsters to get a better look at it.
Albus Potter	September, 2020	In an alternate reality, these two boys cast this spell on Cedric Diggory in an attempt to humiliate him so that he would lose the Triwizard Tournament, and be saved from death.
Scorpius Malfoy

Known practitioners

Bartemius Crouch Junior

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Harry Potter

Filius Flitwick

Rubeus Hagrid

Albus Potter

Scorpius Malfoy

Silvanus Kettleburn

Jacob's sibling

Merula Snyde

Robyn Thistlethwaite

• Kevin
• Abel Treetops

Etymology

The word engorge means "to fill to excess".

Behind the scenes

• Given that every potion's brewing process can only be completed by casting a spell, and that it can vary for each potion, the most likely spell used to complete the Swelling Solution is the Engorgement Charm.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, instead of testing his newly gained Blackthorn wand on a spider, Harry used the Engorgement Charm on a candleflame, which caused it to burst into an uncontrollable column of flame before he swiftly used the countercharm.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First mentioned) (Indirectly mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Appears in an alternate reality)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Appears in an alternate reality)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Mentioned in a newspaper)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy

Notes and references

The Standard Book of Spells
Grade 1 · Grade 2 · Grade 3 · Grade 4 · Grade 5 · Grade 6 · Grade 7
Charms included in the series: Dancing Feet Spell (Tarantallegra) · Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) · Engorgement Charm (Engorgio) · Fire-Making Spell (Incendio) · Freezing Charm (Immobulus) · General Counter-Spell (Finite Incantatem) · Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa) · Locking Spell (Colloportus) · Memory Charm (Obliviate) · Mending Charm (Reparo) · Nonverbal spell · Severing Charm (Diffindo) · Skurge Charm (Skurge) · Softening Charm (Spongify) · Substantive Charm · Summoning Charm (Accio) · Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) · Unlocking Charm (Alohomora) · Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos)