Lumos Solem Spell

Lumos Solem Spell
Incantation	Lumos Solem (LOO-mos SO-lem)
Type	Charm
Hand movement	Point wand at target
Light	White
Effect	Produced blinding flash of sunlight

"Today's class will be sure to brighten your day. We'll be learning Lumos Solem, a spell that creates a blinding flash of sunlight! So be sure to have sunglasses at the ready. It's for your own protection. I have prepared a lecture on Lumos Solem. I hope you find it illuminating!"

— Professor Flitwick to his seventh-year students

The Lumos Solem Spell (Lumos Solem) was a charm used to produce a blinding flash of sunlight. As Devil's Snare hated sunlight and heat, this particular light-creation spell was very effective towards subduing it. Wearing sunglasses was advised when practising this spell to protect one's eyes from the blinding light of the spell. Specific wrist motions could modulate the volume of light the spell produced.

History

During the 1990–1991 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Filius Flitwick taught his seventh-year students how to cast this charm in Charms class.

This charm was also covered in first-year Herbology classes at Hogwarts, in order to teach students how to basically defend themselves against the Devil's Snare.

During the Calamity in the late 2010s or early 2020s, Minister for Magic Hermione Granger hosted a practical class on localised casting of this charm, which was attended by a Calamity Investigator working for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force. As part of the class, Hermione demonstrated that the volume of light produced could be modulated with specific wrist motions, which the Calamity Investigator used to improve their use of the Greenhouse Charm.

Known practitioners

Filius Flitwick

Jacob's sibling

Hermione Granger

Etymology

Derived from two words; the Latin lumen, meaning "light", and the Latin solis, meaning "of the sun", indicating that this spell produces "light of the sun".

Behind the scenes

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. It's deadly fun... but will sulk in the sun! That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight! Lumos Solem!"

— Hermione Granger on the weakness of Devil's Snare

Hermione Granger using the spell to free Ron Weasley from the Devil's Snare

• Hermione Granger uses this spell to free Ron Weasley from the Devil's Snare in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The spell is not used in the book, in which she instead frees Harry and Ron with Bluebell Flames. This is highly unusual in that Hermione used a spell that was six years ahead of year. That being said, the movie came first--making it such an advanced spell seems to have been an afterthought. It could also be that Flitwick is teaching a more advanced version of the spell.
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, this spell, as well as its use against Devil's Snare, is taught in a first-year Herbology class. While the book states that Professor Sprout only discussed Devil's Snare in class but not practically handled it, there is nothing to say that this spell is not taught as part of the first-year Herbology curriculum. A possibility is that it was taught to first-years so that they would be well practised and prepared by the time that they were allowed to handle the Devil's Snare.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (First appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (First identified as Lumos Solem Spell)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
• Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)

See also

• Wand-Lighting Charm
• Lumos Duo
• Lumos Maxima