Hex, Jinx, Curse, Charm & Spells

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 120877


Chancie wrote:
>  
> OK Question.  Does anyone know what qualifies Spells as either, a  Hex
> Jinx, Curse, or Charm?  I can't seem to find any kind of defining 
trait, except of course a Curse is bad.  But it seems pretty much up
in  the air for the rest.  I'd really like to know if anyone else has
any  ideas on this.

Carol responds:
Okay, I'll take a stab at it (though I don't "know" the answer).
First, we have the distinction between a Charm, which changes the
properties of a thing without changing its nature (causing it to float
or fly, for example) or causes the thing to *do* something (e.g.,
appear or disappear). In contrast, Transfiguration changes one thing
into something else, usually an inanimate object into an animal (e.g.,
pincushion into hedgehog) but sometimes a human being into an animal
(with or without human sensibilities depending on the spell). If
Sirius had really been able to transform himself into a potted plant
as Hannah Abbott suggested, that would have been Transfiguration.

Since hexes, jinxes, and curses don't change the nature of the person
or object they're used on, I would argue (tentatively) that they are
all Charms. Curses and hexes seem to be used on people and jinxes on
objects, so (by this logic) Hermione jinxed the *parchment* to put a
hex on the *person* who snitched on the DA. Hexes, it appears, are
usually short-lived (poor Marietta's disfigurement seems to be an
exception to the rule). Curses are crueller and either fatal (Avada
Kedavra) or sustainable (semipermanent Imperius Curses like those the
Crouches were under or the sustained Crucios that led to the
Longbottoms' insanity).

"Spell" is simply a general term that encompasses all Charms
(including hexes, jinxes and" curses) and Transfiguration, erm,
spells. IMO, a spell is a one- or two-word phrase, as contrasted with
an incantation like the one Wormtail used to activate the potion
ingredients that restored Voldemort's body in GoF. ("Double, double,
toil and trouble. . . " is also an incantation, as is the second part
of the Barrow Wight's song in LOTR.) A powerful wizard can sometimes
perform a spell without speaking the spell out loud, accomplishing
what he wants (cleaning up a spill, writing words on the board) with a
wave of his wand. It appears that some spells, or at least curses
(whatever spell Dolohov performed on Hermione in the DoM) are more
powerful if spoken aloud. Whether deliberate wandless magic would also
be considered a spell I don't know and won't attempt to say.

Carol, noting that this post is only an attempt to answer your
question and by no means a definitive answer