Incantations vs. spells

[Arya]

No: HPFGUIDX 97319

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...> 
wrote:
> I've recently noticed several people using the term "incantation" as
> synonymous with "spell." My perception is that an incantation is not a
> one- or two-word command like "lumos!" or "wingardium leviosa!" but a
> chant that's spoken or sung as a kind of ritual, often but not always
> as part of the making of a complex potion. The classic example is the
> "double, double, toil and trouble" scene with the Three Witches in
> "Macbeth." The Barrow Wight in "Fellowship of the Ring" also chants an
> incantation "Cold be hand and heart and bone. . . ." The closest thing
> in HP to an incantation by this definition is the words Wormtail
> speaks as he tosses body parts and blood into the cauldron to restore
> Voldemort's body, not a full-fledged chant, but at least longish
> phrases with a parallel structure: "Flesh of the servant, w-willingly
> given," for example, though I don't think the potion maker is supposed
> to stammer.
> 
> Does anyone else agree with me that this is the proper sense of the
> word "incantation" and that everything else we've seen so far, from
> Reparo to Avada Kedavra, is just a spell (regardless of whether it's a
> charm, a jinx, a hex, or a curse)? And can anyone point to a passage
> where the word "incantation" is actually used in the HP books? I can't
> recall whether it's used in the graveyard scene or not. If not, the
> absence might simply reflect Harry's unfamiliarity with the term. (I
> know he's not the narrator, but the POV is his.) 
> 
> And are there any other examples of actual incantations that I'm
> overlooking? (Possibly Snape has to recite one when he makes the
> wolfbane potion. We don't hear him doing it, but that doesn't mean an
> incantation isn't involved. In my view, it would at least fit with the
> complexity of that particular potion.)
--------------------------
Arya now:
I disagree--the incantation is indeed the words spoken to cast the spell.  
Avada Kedavra is the incantation for the Killing Curse.  The spells' names are 
things like "Cruiciatius Curse", "Full-Body Bind", and "Silencing Charm".  The 
incantations are then "Crucio", "Petrificus Totalus", and "Silencio".  You'll 
notice in the books, the incantations are italicized to note the fact they're a 
foreign word not standardized to the normal english speech.  They are 
indeed incantations.  Snape even refers to them dismissively in PS when he 
says, "...no foolish wand wand waving, no silly incantations..."   We also read, 
in OotP Ch 31, "...Pavarti was practicing incantations under her breath while 
the salt cellar in front of her twitched..."

Now, if you were to ask if an incantation is NEEDED to cast a spell, then I 
think the answer is no--the incantation is a way to hel pmemorisation and 
focus.  Dolohov shows that he can indeed cast without shouting out a curse.  
We here Snape mutter his incantations all the time and we see several 
porofessors tap their wands to set off a spell without any words at all.  

Arya