Creating spells

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 186074

Montavilla47:

I think this is an extremely interesting question, but I haven't had
the energy in the last week or so to dig up what I came up with
when I tackled it in a Snape-fic.

This is a conversation I had between Dumbledore and a 14-year-old
Snape after Snape has demonstrated a spell that he accidentally 
created:

Dumbledore: 
There is a theory that all spells exist at all times. The difficulty we have is
that we don't know how to cast them. So, if you were to set a hundred 
wizards with a hundred wands, waving them and shouting out words at 
random, eventually you'd discover every bit of magic in the universe. But it 
would take an infinite amount of time.

Snape:
So, I just happened to do the right movement with the right words?

Dumbedore:
Possibly. There's another theory that we are born with the infinite knowledge 
and that we're simply limited by language and consciousness so that we only 
manage to master a miniscule part of it. In a dream state--such as you 
experienced with your father's memories, your mind was less limited. So, you 
instinctively chose the right words and movement to conjure the spell. But the 
spell was always out there, waiting to be used.

Snape:
So--anything the mind can think about, magic could possibly do?

Dumbledore:
Possibly--although even my mind runs up against some severe limitations.

Snape:
Like what?

Dumbledore:
The obvious one comes to mind. We can't bring back the dead.

****

Beyond that, I remember wondering about the language issue.
For some reason, "Langlock" struck me as more Anglo-Saxon
than Latin.

"Avada Kadavra" is not Latin, so I don't think spells are 
limited to Latinesque phrasing--it may simply be that the Latin
is a universal spell language (at least in Europe).  

Then, there may be some spells are more regional, or with 
regional variants that are invoked using the language of that
region.  Elphias Dodge mentions that he and Dumbledore were
supposed to go on a Grand Tour together--as was the custom 
at the time.  Why go on a tour if not to see the regional
differences in magical practices?

I had a lot of fun in a Harry/Draco story imagining them on a 
world tour, trekking to ancient magical cities in Africa, 
visiting India (where the glamor charms are amazing), learning
a bit about weather magic in the Phillipines (where they are 
sternly warned against experimenting as a small rain shower
in one part of the globe can cause a hurricane in another area),
and stopping in America to watch a test drive of new, cutting-edge
broomstick technology.