Charms, Spells, Enchantments and Incantations

[Heather Glude]

No: HPFGUIDX 29441

I've been wondering, having just reread the books what all the 
above-listed terms mean. Thaumaturgy seems to refer to spells, and it's 
a class separate from Charms. Then there's transfiguration. Is that a 
particularly hard type of spell that just needs its own class? Or is it 
a completely different kind of magic thing? And then there is Ron's 
chant to try to turn Scabbers yellow. We don't see any other long spells 
like that. Was that a spell, or had his brothers made it up? They also 
refer to some things (like broomsticks and golden snitches and flying 
cars) as enchanted. Does enchanted mean a whole set of lots of spells, 
or just anything with any sort of spell on it. Where do spells/charms 
come from? Are they made up by wizards, and is there a process that one 
has to go through to make a spell/charm? I know the books doesn't 
explain these things, but it gives clues, and I'm wondering what 
people's theories on this are. I wasn't able to find much on the web. If 
you know of some place that discusses this, I'd appreciate being pointed 
at it. Likewise, I'd just love to hear what you think. :)

Heather