Yarrgh!'s DLP Spell list got me thinking; The classifications of magic that are used in most fics are pretty vague: Most people just lump everything together under Spells or Arcane Magic or Elemental Magic or Dark Magic or arbitrarily decide that a curse sounds cooler than a hex, so therefore every spell the create must be a curse or whatnot.

Granted, most people refuse to even go this far because they are stuck on the three Unforgivables, Stupefy, Expelliarmus , Diffindo, Reducto, and Stupefy (which they somehow manage to mangle... it's what, eight spells and you can't bother to even get them right? Idiots). To the best of my ability, this is what I have come up with as for classification of spells, mainly resorting to canon because of the lack of ingenuity and diversity in fanon. I would love to have your input into additions, or even ripping me where I am wrong.

Maybe if enough people start singing the same tune, the use of proper magic, not the retard cop-out eight, will spread and we will be provided with higher quality fics in the future.

Spell (Battle Spell) - cast to create an effect, usually some sort of combination summoning, conjugation, and transfiguration, and this effect is then applied to the victim. (ex: swords, shields, whips, animated creatures, elemental effects, etc that are first made and subsequently used on a target)

Charm - cast on the caster and maintained by the caster to produce an effect; usually begin in manner, most charms are directly manipulated by the caster. Objects that have a very low or no magical residue must be charmed, using the user's own magic to cause it to follow the desired effect; hence, you can summon, levitate, banish, or vanish most muggle objects and many things that have low residual magic, but it takes a great deal of effort to summon an enchanted object such as a broomstick, and is nigh impossible to merely summon a magical opponent using a charm in battle. (ex: partonus charm is the outward manifestation of inner happiness; the shield charm is used to deflect magic from directly around a user (cannot be cast on a remote target); books can be summoned from far away, but humans may merely be knocked aside one way or another using the same amount of magic; most kitchenware is enchanted for sharpness but charmed to cut up objects (if they were enchanted, the magic would always cause it to seek out and cut up an object); the tickling charm, however, is a begin jinx that people don't want the connotation of an attack, just that of harmless fun)

Hex - cast onto a victim and uses the victim's magic to produce an instantaneous effect; will wear off in due time when the the magic put into the caster's spell directing the victim's magic is exhausted. (ex: a boils hex directs the victim's magic to produce the boils that keep on returning)

Jinx- cast onto a victim and uses the caster's magic to produce an instantaneous effect; will wear off when the caster's magic directing the effect is exhausted. (ex: a tripping jinx causes a person to trip once, maybe twice before it is used up, or piercing jinx that causes a hole in an object; an anti apparation jinx briefly shorts the magical conduits that allow apparation)

Counterjinx - cast onto a victim to remove the effects of a jinx or hex instantaneously by removing a caster's specific piece of magic affecting a body. Note: this is technically a jinx, but constitutes such a large category that it is often referred to as such.

Curse - a combination of a hex and a jinx, it is cast on a victim to produce an instantaneous effect, rerouting the victim's own magic to power it as long as magic is provided, but requires a constant impetus from the caster. The negative connotation received from many curses (caused by their tendency to harm) often leads to enchanted objects with malicious intent being referred to as cursed. (ex: Crucio, AK, Imperio)

Enchantment - cast onto a victim or object, changing the way magic flows in the target permanently; requires more power to produce the same effect as a hex, but lasts as long as the target has magical residue. Some enchantments can draw from residual magic to keep themselves powered. (ex: portkey working between two destinations going back and forth until it no longer has enough residual magic to do so)

Ward - a designation of a type of enchantment that covers a large area and institutes a certain effect, be it instantaneous effects (turning flying bullets into flowers), blocking a method of transportation (anti-apparation, anti-portkey, or physical walls blocking paths), or preventing access through physically abusive means (repairing broken walls, gates, etc).

Ritual - a designation of a type of self-enchantment used to alter a being and/or their magic in a specific manner; the enchantment may target the caster, a nearby person, or someone or something in a different place or plane. Regardless, rituals permanently change the flow of magic in an object, be it living, dead, inanimate, or other-dimensionly (aka ghosts, souls, deities).

Arachne magic is the same as Ancient magic, and merely consists of magic that has in large been forgotten or requires too much skill and/or power for the population as a whole to cast.

 

I agree with your thoughts on charms and enchantments... I came to the conclusion that the difference between a Charmed object and an Enchanted one, is that the nature of an Enchantment is to provide a constant effect, wheras a Charm must be "activated" to create its' effect.

 

Transfiguration/Charm =/= Neutral intent. Intent is what the caster uses the magic for, so you can't classify two entire branches of magic as being neutral. If the caster wants to transfigure the bone marrow of someone into a volatile acid...that's not neutral.

So intent is dependant on the caster, and there is no such thing as a neutral magic. There is only Dark and Light, and any spell can be used in any circumstance, so classification by intent doesn't work at all.

Now, I agree almost entirely with Yojorocks, except for one thing:

I see hexes/curses/jinxes as being the same thing. I mean...there's no difference, they're all offensive, not defensive. Sure, if you want you could say that hex/jinx sounds less intimidating than 'curse', so it should be a weaker set of spells, but I don't really like that theory. The way I see it, a hex/jinx is just an offensive spell. The only difference that I draw between hexex/jinxes and curses is that hexes/jinxes are like inconveniences, while curses are more serious.

For instance, a trip jinx is irritating, and has use in pranks, etc. A Cutting Curse, however, is more serious.

So...spells that are immediately offensive and dangerous could be called 'curses'. More minor things that have effects that are more annoying than dangerous can be called hexes/jinxes.

A Jinx is something that's unlucky...so you can possibly call Jinxes prank-spells. A hex sounds a little more malicious, so you could call hexes stuff like the 'Furnunculus' curse, which makes boils sprout up on your face.

I've got a unique theory on Charms, but I'll wait to post that, as it appears in the upcoming chapter of Chimera. Once I've posted the chapter, I'll post my notes on it here.

 

A question. According to your wording, a Hex uses the victims magic to maintain and actually apply the effect. You gave an example of a boils hex taking the victims magic and re-routing it to form boils. What would happen if say Harry sent that hex at a muggle? Somebody with no magic to re-route.

 

I have two trains of thought on that, and am not honestly sure which would make more sense, nor which one is "correct"; take your pick.

The first is that you would have to use a boils jinx, and although it would be easier to cure from a magical standpoint as it is not self renewing, muggles have no innate residual magic in their system, and therefore would not be able to naturally "heal" the boils by fighting it off with their own magic. If the hex were used, it would merely fizzle out upon hitting the target.

The second thought, the one I subscribe to, is that muggles actually have a small amount of residual magic, but are missing the genetic "marker", if you will, that allows them to mentally reach it.

As nearly all (and I only limit it to that to prevent myself from rereading all the books to make sure; leave it as all that I can remember save flobberworms) magical beings have some sort of free will (even enslaved ones like House Elves can choose to bend their orders or interpret them differently); the ability to have magic is somehow linked to that choice, so therefore it is a marker; muggles, on the other hand, are more like a midstep in evolution: they have part of the genetic marker, but not enough of it to actually access their internal magic.

Merpeople, centuars, hippogriffs, unicorns, even magical spiders all seem reasonably intelligent: they form their own societies and are able to interact with other societies... So long and short of it is that muggles have some residual magic, not as much as a full witch or wizard, granted, but are unable to access it; in this way they can be affected by nearly any form of magic that requires residual magic in the victim, but are similarly unable to access it on their own.

 

I am of the same opinion as Yarrgh! Concerning Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses.

A jinx could be anything trivial that would be used to annoy people in ordinary situations (Ex. Jelly-Legs Jinx, Tripping Jinx, etc.). A hex, on the other hand, is a spell that has a bit of malicious intent behind it (Ex. Stinging Hex, Furnunculus, A hex that causes boils). A curse is the same as a hex since it would probably need a malicious intent behind it although it would have a more destructive streak. Another difference, I believe, would be that hexes don't really leave lasting damage when it wears out or when countered whereas a curse can leave a mark (Ex. Cutting Curse, Bone-breaking Curse, Killing).

When it comes to the levels of spells used I'd like to categorize them as follows:
Simple: Levitation Charm and a lot of other basic charms
Average: Protego, Reducto, Diffindo, a lot of transfiguration spells, etc.
Complex: Patronus Charm, Imperius Curse, Cruciatus Curse, Killing Curse and also a lot of other transfiguration spells and charms or a combination of both. It may also include silent casting of Simple or Average spells.
Ultimate: There are a few fics I've read where spells are tiered. A very high powered simple or average spell could result as an Ultimate spell. (Ex. Reducto Ultima, Bombarda Magnus, Etc.)
Arcane: I haven't got a lot of things to say about this except they're very powerful and only the most powerful of wizards could cast.

 

I agree with yojorocks Classification list for the most part, But I think that Surarrin's Addendium was only partially correct. As Yarrgh! said Intent is the main issue, but Surarrin did give us a basic outline for how the various spells are viewed by the general populous, and Wetnurse has given us an additional way to make sub-catagories within the purview of the main classifications.

My main disagreement however is the use of the term 'Arcane' I dunno how many of you have ever played a D&D based game, But basically any Archane spell is one that uses an Internal Power. Divine, Obviously comes from a Diety, Ect. With this argument any 'Spell' In the HP universe is Inherently Arcane.

I am also at a slight loss as to where to place the following subjects in the current system: Illusions, Potions, Necromacy/Soul Magic, and Alchemy.

All of these are used (And Abused) in fanfiction. Suggestions?

 

This is what J.K. has to say about spell definitions: http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=24