Books

The World Has Voted On The Best Harry Potter Spell

by Emma Oulton

The muggles have cast their vote (as have the no-majs, and whatever else us non-magical folk are called around the world) on the best Harry Potter spell, and the decision is final: Expecto Patronum. Bloomsbury Children's Books, the original publishers of Harry Potter in the U.K., launched the survey as part of its Harry Potter Book Night celebrations, and muggles answered from all across the world. And it turns out, even more than flying or levitating things or conjuring up never-ending doughnuts, the magical power we want most of all is to conjure up our very own animal spirit guardians to protect us from bad guys.

Second on the list was Accio, the spell used to summon objects towards you, which would definitely be useful for Netflix and chill days ("Accio remote" perhaps?). And third on the list was my personal favorite; the many days we all spent spent practicing at home ("it's Levi-OH-sa not Levi-oh-SA") have cemented Wingardium Leviosa firmly in muggles' hearts.

A little worryingly, Avada Kedavra was also pretty high up the list at No. 7, despite the fact it's literally unforgivable. And it wasn't the only Dark Magic on the list; Snape's own invention Sectumsempra was close behind at No. 8. Here is the full list of the world's favorite Harry Potter spells:

  1. Expecto patronum
  2. Accio
  3. Wingardium Leviosa
  4. Expelliarmus
  5. Lumos
  6. Alohomora
  7. Avada Kedavra
  8. Sectumsempra
  9. Obliviate
  10. Riddikulus

Of course, with the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we're probably about to learn a ton of new incredible spells. Who knows what curses and enchantments we'll be practising this time next year...

Image: Warner Bros./YouTube