Vanishing Spell

Vanishing Spell
Incantation	Evanesco (ev-an-ES-ko)
Type	Transfiguration
Hand movement
Light	None
Effect	Made objects vanish

"The contents of Harry's potion vanished; he was left standing foolishly beside an empty cauldron."

— Snape vanishing Harry Potter's failed Draught of Peace

The Vanishing Spell (Evanesco) was a Transfiguration spell used to vanish both animate and inanimate objects "into non-being, which is to say, everything".

Nature

The Vanishing Spell was one of the most complicated spells taught at Ordinary Wizarding Level (A.K.A. OWL). It became more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be vanished; for instance, a snail, as an invertebrate, was rather simple, whereas the mouse, as a mammal, presented a great challenge. The greatest challenge, however, was the vanishment of a kitten, which Hermione Granger managed to do by mid-year.

Minerva McGonagall stated that Vanished objects went "into non-being, which was to say, everything". Certain objects could be enchanted to resist Vanishing Spells, such as fireworks. For example, Fred and George Weasley charmed their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes fireworks so that if anyone attempted to Vanish them, not only would they remain but would multiply by ten each time would so occurs.

History

Pre-1990s

In The Wizard and the Hopping Pot from The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the son of the original owner of the pot tried to vanish the pot, but the spell had no effect. Also in the story Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump in the same book, the witch Babbitty Rabbitty successfully vanished a hat.

During the 1987–1988 school year, Professor McGonagall taught this spell was taught to fourth-years in Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

1990s

On 23 June 1991, Harry Potter may have used this spell unintentionally to make the glass at the zoo disappear. At the start of the 1992–1993 school year, after being forced to take a photo with Gilderoy Lockhart for Colin Creevey and then asked to sign it, Harry wished he knew a good Vanishing Spell to escape the embarrassment. In May 1993, Neville Longbottom may have used this spell unintentionally during a Transfiguration lesson, in which Professor McGonagall stated that all students would still be having their end of year exams in one week, despite the attacks on students and the suspension of Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid. Neville's wand slipped and one of the legs on his desk vanished after hearing the announcement.

During the 1995–1996 school year, Professor Minerva McGonagall introduced this spell in her very first Transfiguration class with the fifth-year students, giving them a lecture and then setting them on vanishing snails. This spell was referred to by McGonagall in its plural form when she introduced it, along with Conjuring Spells. When none of the students except Hermione Granger could perform the spell properly, Professor McGonagall told the students to practise the spell overnight, for a fresh start the next day. In their second lesson, the students were given questions on the Vanishing Spell for homework. On 6 September, however, the students were given a break from this spell and instead were given a long and difficult essay on the Inanimatus Conjurus Spell. Later on in the year, Professor McGonagall returned the class to Vanishing Spells, this time working to make mice disappear. However, in the week leading up to the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, she abstained from giving them homework so that the Gryffindor Quidditch team could practise.

2000s

Before 1 September in 2008, the Warrington sisters Ivy and Winifred both got Hogwarts acceptance letters, but their father didn't want Winifred to go, which angered her and resulted in her casting the Vanishing Spell on Ivy's trunk, but the spell rebounded and landed on herself.

During the 2008–2009 school year, after Cassandra Vole verbally bullied Daniel Page, Ivy chased her down and attempted to Vanish her wand, but missed and Vanished a suit of armour instead. Professor Neville Longbottom gave Ivy and her friends detention, during which they had to polish every suit of armour without magic.

Known uses

"Bill took out his wand, muttered “Evanesco!” and the scrolls vanished."

— Bill Weasley vanishing old scrolls with this spell

Caster(s)	Date	Notes
Bill Weasley	August 1995	Bill used this spell to make a stack of plans on parchment disappear while cleaning up after a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix just after Harry's arrival at 12 Grimmauld Place.
Severus Snape	1995	Snape used this spell to get rid of Harry's less-than-perfect first attempt at a Draught of Peace.
Harry Potter	June 1996	Harry vanished the whole of an iguana during his practical Transfiguration O.W.L.
Fifth-years		One task on the practical Transfiguration O.W.L. was Vanishment.
Winifred Warrington	2008	Aimed at her sister Ivy's trunk, but the spell rebounded and hit herself.
Ivy Warrington	2008–2009 school year	Aimed at Cassandra Vole's wand, but missed and Vanished a suit of armour.

Known practitioners

Severus Snape

Minerva McGonagall

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Bill Weasley

Lee Jordan

Jacob's sibling

Ivy Warrington

Winifred Warrington

Babbitty Rabbity (fictional)

• Fifth-year students

Etymology

The incantation "Evanesco" is a Latin word meaning "vanish" or "disappear".

Behind the scenes

Evanesco's icon in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells

• The spell Evanesce featured in the Harry Potter Trading Card Game is almost certainly a misspelling of Evanesco, the incantation for this spell, as both the spells are shown to have the same effect (Vanishment).
• As the Vanishing Spell is very hard to be successfully cast on cats, let alone humans, it is very unlikely that the appearance of the spell in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is canonical.
  • It is possible that since the Warrington sisters' grandmother taught them the spell, she may have found another way to cast the spell more easily on complicated objects, or that she was simply more proficient in the spell than most witches and wizards.
  • Although there is no reference in canon to a method of bringing back into being what has entered non-being, nor is there any depiction of what has entered non-being coming back into being, Winifred was, for unknown reasons, at least 'being' rather than non-being in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, Year 3, Main Story, Chapter VII: Most Important Person. It is therefore doubtful that the spell really Vanished Winifred.
  • The Vanishing Spell, when used by Ivy during card battle, can vanish almost everything and everyone besides other players and boss creatures. However, it is important to understand that depiction of spells in the gameplay can include non-canonical ones simply to entertain players.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Possible appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Possible appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First mentioned) (Possible appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game (Possible appearance)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)

External links

• Evanesco at the Hogwarts Legacy Wiki