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Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery & Harry Potter: Magic Awakened & Hogwarts Legacy. |
- "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[src]
The Engorgement Charm[2] (Engorgio)[1], also known as Growing Charm,[3] 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.[1]
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.[1]
A variation of this spell was Engorgio Skullus, which made the head of a person bigger.[4]
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.[2] She also wrote about it in Book of Spells alongside the Shrinking Charm, which could be used to counteract this charm.[1]
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.[5]
This spell was covered in second-year Charms class during the 1985–1986 school year.[3]
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.[6]
Effect[]
It appeared as a circle of icy blue light emanating from the tip of the wand, much like a torch.[1] Anything within this circle would grow exponentially, bouncing and shivering.[1]
Known uses[]
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.[7] |
Merula Snyde | 1985–1986 school year | Used this charm to increase the size of the Christmas cake at the Winter Wonderland party.[8] |
Used this charm to increase the size of the Niffler Sebastian to distract Jacob's sibling and Ben Copper with returning him to normal size.[9] | ||
Jacob's sibling | Jacob's sibling used an Engorgement Charm alongside the Shrinking Charm to sneak into another House common room.[10] | |
Jacob's sibling used this charm to restore the Niffler Lorelei to her normal size after having been shrunk with the Shrinking Charm by Ben Copper.[9] | ||
1986–1987 school year | Used the charm to enlarge themselves to full size after shrinking themselves in Argus Filch's office.[11] | |
Used the charm to temporarily enlarge a Glow Bug so they could more easily examine whether anything was physically wrong with it.[12] | ||
1987–1988 school year | Used the charm to enlarge Bill Weasley's and Tulip Karasu's Butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks Inn.[13] | |
Used it to enlarge their's and Bill Weasley Butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks Inn.[14] | ||
Used it to enlarge the Butterbeers belonging to their friends in the Three Broomsticks Inn.[15] | ||
1989–1990 school year | Used it to enlarge the tribute items for the Merpeople in the Great Lake.[16] | |
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.[17] |
Rubeus Hagrid | 1992–1993 school year | Hermione suspected that Hagrid has used an Engorgement Charm on his pumpkins.[18][19] |
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.[20] |
Kevin | The little wizard boy in the World Cup was casting an Engorgement Spell (or something very similar) on a slug.[21] | |
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.[22] |
Harry Potter | December, 1997 | Harry cast this on a spider to practise with the blackthorn wand.[23] |
Robyn Thistlethwaite | September, 2008 | Robyn used this spell on a copy of The Monster Book of Monsters to get a better look at it.[24] |
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.[25] |
Scorpius Malfoy |
Known practitioners[]
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
- Harry Potter (website)
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
- Hogwarts Legacy
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Wonderbook: Book of Spells (see this)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pottermore - The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, Chapter 1 (Year Two Begins) - Charms Lesson "Engorgio"
- ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (see this image)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 23 (The Yule Ball)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Tales of Beedle the Bard, "The Fountain of Fair Fortune"
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, Side Quest "HOLIDAYS AT HOGWARTS"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, Side Quest "The Treasure Hunt"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, Chapter 2 (Growing and Shrinking)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 3, Chapter 4 (Filching from Filch)
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 3, Side Quest "Just Glow With It"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 4 (Curse-Breakers)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 7 (Beast, Beings, and Creatures)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 13 (The Centaur's Arrow)
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 6, Chapter 42 (The Final Vault)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, "Magical Creatures Everywhere" Achievement - Part 3, Side Quest "Creature Problems"
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 7 (Mudbloods And Murmurs)
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Harry Potter Trading Card Game
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 4 (Back to The Burrow)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 7 (Bagman and Crouch)
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14 (The Unforgivable Curses)
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 20 (Xenophilius Lovegood)
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act Two, Scene Twenty
The Standard Book of Spells | |||||
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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) |