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"He groped behind him and she forced the bundle of slippery cloth into his free hand. With difficulty he dragged it over himself, murmured, 'Nox,' extinguishing his wand light, and continued on his hands and knees, as silently as possible..."
— Harry extinguishing his wand whilst crawling through the tunnel into the Whomping Willow[src]

The Wand-Extinguishing Charm (Nox) was a charm[1] that caused the light at the end of the caster's wand to be extinguished, thus acting as the counter-charm to the Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos).[3]

History[]

NoxHM

This charm extinguishing wand-light

The Wand-Extinguishing Charm was invented by the same witch who invented the Wand-Lighting Charm, Levina Monkstanley. She invented the Wand-Lighting charm in the 18th century and invented the Wand-Extinguishing Charm around that time too, otherwise her wand would remain lighted indefinitely.[3]

This spell was taught to first-year students in Charms class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1984–1985 school year by Professor Filius Flitwick.[4] It was also detailed in The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection[1] and Book of Spells.[3]

Known uses[]

Caster(s) Date Notes
Harry Potter 6 June 1994 He used it when trying to gain entry to the upstairs of the Shrieking Shack unobserved.[5] Also used when Harry was in the passage beneath the Whomping Willow which leads to the Shrieking Shack.[6]
August 1997 Harry used this spell while the Trio was hiding in 12 Grimmauld Place during August after the fall of the ministry.[7]
September 1997 Harry used this in the forest while the Trio was on their hunt for Horcruxes, after infiltrating the ministry.[8]
Hermione Granger 6 June 1994 She used it when trying to gain entry to the upstairs of the Shrieking Shack unobserved.[5] Also used when Harry was in the passage beneath the Whomping Willow which leads to the Shrieking Shack.[6]

Known practitioners[]

Etymology[]

In Latin, "nox" means "night". Nox is also the name of the Roman Goddess of night derived from Nyx (Greek goddess of darkness and night).

Behind the scenes[]

  • In most of the Harry Potter video games, the Wand-Lighting Charm is extinguished by itself after some time, not requiring this spell. In Hogwarts Legacy, the player is able to extinguish the light at any time without using the spell.
  • On any Android phone (on Lollipop or better), if a user types Nox in the search bar on the Google app, the torch will turn off. Respectively, Lumos turns it on. On iPhones, Siri can do the same.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Pottermore
  2. 2.0 2.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), Chapter 17 (Who's There?)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Wonderbook: Book of Spells
  4. 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 1, Chapter 6 (A Curious Corridor) - Charms Lesson "Nox"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 17 (Cat, Rat and Dog)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 32 (The Elder Wand)
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10 (Kreacher's Tale)
  8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19 (The Silver Doe)
Charms (class)
PS Wingardium Leviosa feather
Charm-book writers and developers
Blagdon Blay · Daisy Pennifold · Delfina Crimp · Miranda Goshawk · Jarleth Hobart · Basil Horton · Helixa Hyslop · Syna Hyslop · Randolph Keitch · Levina Monkstanley · Orabella Nuttley · Mnemone Radford · Scarpin · Elliot Smethwyck · Felix Summerbee · Violeta Stitch
Professors Fortinbras · Filius Flitwick · Abraham Ronen · Unidentified male professor · Unidentified medieval professor
Textbooks Achievements in Charming · Extreme Incantations · Quintessence: A Quest · The Standard Book of Spells
Charms studied at Hogwarts
Anti-Alohomora Charm · Ascension Charm (Ascendio) · Banishing Charm (Depulso) · Blackboard Writing Spell · Blue sparks · Bombardment Spell (Bombarda) · Box Blasting Charm (Cistem Aperio) · Bubble-Head Charm · Cheering Charm · Cleaning Charm · Colour Change Charm (Colovaria) · Confundus Charm (Confundo) · Counter-charm for hiccoughs · Dancing Feet Spell (Tarantallegra) · Descendo · Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) · Disillusionment Charm · Drought Charm · Entrancing Enchantments (theoretically) · Eradication Spell (Deletrius) · Engorgement Charm (Engorgio) · Extinguishing Spell · Fire-Making Spell (Incendio) · Freezing Charm (Immobulus) · Freezing Spell (Glacius) · Full Body-Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus) · General Counter-Spell (Finite Incantatem) · Gouging Spell (Defodio) · Growth Charm · Ice Jinx · Impervius Charm (Impervius) · Knitting Charm · Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) · Leg-Locker Curse (Locomotor Mortis) · Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa) · Locking Spell (Colloportus) · Locomotion Charm (Locomotor) · Lumos Solem Spell (Lumos Solem) · Mending Charm (Reparo) · Memory Charm (Obliviate) · Muffliato Charm (Muffliato) · Nonverbal spells · Pack Charm (Pack) · Red Sparks (Vermillious) · Reductor Curse (Reducto) · Scouring Charm (Scourgify) · Seize and pull charm (Carpe Retractum) · Severing Charm (Diffindo) · Shrinking Charm (Reducio) · Silencing Charm (Silencio) · Slowing Charm (Arresto Momentum) · Skurge Charm (Skurge) · Softening Charm (Spongify) · Spell for growing legs · Substantive Charm · Summoning Charm (Accio) · Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) · Unlocking Charm (Alohomora) · Vinegar to wine spell · Wand-Extinguishing Charm (Nox) · Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos) · Lumos Maxima · Water-Making Spell (Aguamenti)
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