Finestra spell

Finestra
Incantation	Finestra
Type	Charm
Hand movement	Flick wand in front of the target
Light	Blue
Effect	Shatters the glass of the target window into dust

Finestra was the incantation of the spell which shatters the glass of the target window into dust, allowing people to walk over the shattered pieces without damage.

Newt Scamander shattered the front window of the Voclain & Co. jewellery store in New York using this spell to try and recapture his escaped niffler when he saw it loose inside the store stealing things. Albus Dumbledore may have used this spell, or a similar spell, to protect Harry Potter and himself from Lord Voldemort in the film adaptation of Duel in the Ministry Atrium.

Etymology

The word finestra means "window" in Italian, Catalan and Sicilian. Given Rowling's use of puns in the construction of other incantations (e.g. Orchideous and Aguamenti), it is also possible that finestra is a sort of double entendre - a humorous blend of fine or finis, the Italian and Latin words for "end", and finestra for window. Taken together, this could allude to the spell's ironic capacity to destroy windows in the creation of an opening or "window".

Behind the scenes

• Bellatrix Lestrange is shown nonverbally casting this or a similar spell in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, to shatter the windows of the Great Hall in a fit of joy following Albus Dumbledore's death.

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)

See also

• Open Sesame
• Portaberto