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"No matter where Harry went within the castle, the sole topic of conversation was Dumbledore's flight, and though some of the details may have gone awry in the retelling (Harry overheard one second-year girl assuring another that Fudge was now lying in St Mungo's with a pumpkin for a head) it was surprising how accurate the rest of their information was."
— The rumour that Minister Cornelius Fudge was the victim of this jinx[src]

The Pumpkin-Head Jinx[4] (Melofors), also known as the Melofors Jinx,[3] was a jinx that encased the victim's head in a pumpkin. To outsiders, it appeared that the victim's head was transformed into a pumpkin.[1][2]

History[]

Pumpkin Johnny was a mysterious Hallowe'en figure said to cast this jinx on Hogwarts students if he was summoned. He was supposedly a Hogwarts student who was bullied due to his fondness for pumpkins, and then had his head trapped in a pumpkin when a student cast this jinx on him on Hallowe'en. He then fled into the Forbidden Forest and was never seen again, and could be summoned on Hallowe'en if his name was said aloud thrice.[5]

Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger used this spell on various Erklings throughout the grounds of Hogwarts Castle during the 1994–1995 school year, overlooked by their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bartemius Crouch Jnr (who at the time was disguised as Alastor Moody).[2]

In the very next school year, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore managed to escape Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge and Percy Weasley after they came to arrest him, and the next day a rumour spread that Fudge was in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after having had this jinx used on him.[6]

Known practitioners[]

Etymology[]

See the page -fors suffix.

"Melo-" is likely deriving from the English word "melon" as pumpkins are a part of the melon family.

Behind the scenes[]

Melofors

The jinx as seen in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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