Engorgement Charm

Engorgement Charm
Incantation	Engorgio (en-GOR-gee-oh)
Type	Charm
Hand movement
Light	Icy blue
Effect	Causes 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, is a charm that causes the target to swell immensely. It is the counter-charm for the Shrinking Charm, causing shrunken objects to return to their original size.

If the caster attempts to engorge the target beyond a certain point it will violently explode. Although this spell is safe to use on animals, its use is not recommended until the counter-charm has been perfected.

A variation of this spell is Engorgio Skullus, which makes 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 can be used to counteract this charm.

This spell was covered in second year charm 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 appears as a circle of icy blue light emanating from the tip of the wand, much like a torch. Anything within this circle will 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.
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 alternate reality)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Appears in alternate reality)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened