Human to ferret spell

Human to ferret
Type	Transfiguration
Hand movement	Point wand at target
Light	Orange
Effect	Transformed humans into ferrets

"Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing."

— Draco Malfoy having been transformed into a ferret by Bartemius Crouch Junior (disguised as Alastor Moody)

This spell (incantation unknown) was a Transforming spell that transfigured a human into a ferret.

History

Malfoy having been transfigured into a ferret

Barty Crouch Jnr (disguised as Mad-Eye Moody) used this spell on Draco Malfoy in the 1994 when he tried to cast a dark charm at Harry Potter behind his back at the Marble Staircase, in front of many students, including Vincent Crabbe who tried to pick the ferret up, only to be scolded by Moody. Minerva McGonagall later performed the appropriate untransfiguration, and scolded him for using transfiguration as punishment. This event left Malfoy highly embarrassed, as he had been transformed in front of many students.

During the Calamity in the 2010s which affected the wizarding world, a curse Confoundable transfigured an unnamed Slytherin student into a ferret. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to cast the General Counter-Spell to return the student to their original form and send them back to Hogwarts.

Behind the scenes

• In September 1994, when Draco Malfoy was transfigured into a ferret, he tried to get to the dungeons. Complete transfiguration into an animal makes a human think like the animal, except Animagus transfigurations. This suggests that the attempted escape had nothing to do with him wanting to get to his common room and was coincidental.
• The animation on the Transfiguration Spell card in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened shows Draco being transfigured into a ferret.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Draco was in the courtyard when turned into a ferret, and not the Marble Staircase as in the book. Additionally, in the film Draco was turned into a ferret after Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, but in the book it was before.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Appears in the spell book)

See also

• Human to polecat spell
• Ferret to human spell
• Teapot to ferret spell