Scouring Charm

Scouring Charm
Incantation	Scourgify (SKUR-ji-fy)
Type	Charm
Hand movement
Light	None
Effect	Cleaned objects Caused human mouths to fill with soap

"She pointed her wand at Hedwig's cage. 'Scourgify.' A few feathers and droppings vanished."

— Nymphadora Tonks's using this charm to clean Hedwig's cage

The Scouring Charm (Scourgify) was a cleaning charm used for washing things. It could also be used to clean out smaller bundimun infestations. This spell was listed in the third chapter of Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk. Many wizarding families used this spell, both for cleaning and punishing people who swore, as the spell caused human mouths to be filled with soap. This spell was also one of the few methods of effectively cleaning the teeth of a Leucrotta, as they disliked having their teeth touched with a brush.

History

James Potter used this charm to bully Severus Snape on the Hogwarts grounds, causing soap to fill his mouth.

In the 1987–1988 school year, this charm was taught to the fourth-years in Charms class by Professor Filius Flitwick. Jacob's sibling later used the Scouring Charm to clean up Bundimun Secretion in Rubeus Hagrid's hut and used it the following year to help clean the teeth of a Leucrotta they had befriended.

Hermione Granger taught Neville Longbottom the Scouring Charm to clean frog guts out from under his fingernails in their fourth year.

The Scouring Charm was used by Nymphadora Tonks when attempting to clean Hedwig's cage during their liberation of Harry Potter from 4 Privet Drive in 1995. The spell had only a minimal effect and Tonks admitted that she had never quite gotten the hang of "household-y" spells of this type. It was later used by Ginevra Weasley on 1 September that year on the Hogwarts Express to clear Stinksap that had squirted from Neville's Mimbulus mimbletonia.

During the Calamity in the late 2010s or early 2020s, Gethsemane Prickle "visited" a Calamity Investigator working for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force and was so offended that their cauldron failed to meet Ministry cleanliness guidelines that she spent the next forty-two minutes forcing them to practise the Scouring Charm while relentlessly lecturing them. To the investigator's chagrin, these cleaning methods reduced the brewing time for all of their potions.

Known practitioners

Filius Flitwick

Jacob's sibling

James Potter

Nymphadora Tonks

Hermione Granger

Ginny Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Gethsemane Prickle

• Mathilda Grimblehawk's partner
• Calamity Investigator in the Statute of Secrecy Task Force

Etymology

Perhaps related to English scour, "clean". -ify is a common English suffix meaning "to make ...". Therefore scourgify likely means "to make clean".

Behind the scenes

• The Skurge Charm, which is used to clean up Ectoplasm, may be a variant of this spell.
• In Wonderbook: Book of Spells, the hand gesture is "a smooth, sinuous motion, like a letter 'S".
• The Scholastic Official Site lists this as the Vanishing Spell.
• In Spanish, this spell is known as "Fregotego".
• In Hebrew, this spell is known as "התקרצף" ("Hit-kar-tzef"), which means "scrub yourself".

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• HarryPotter.com (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)