The Untold Spells: Harry Potter’s Lack of Magic in the First Movie

We all remember how impressive it was when we first saw harry potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The moving stairs, Ollivanders wand, the dark prologue, the potions classes given by Snape and, of course, the first spell Harry cast. Yes, that spell. Because, I mean…Harry cast spells, right?

Harry Potter and the Uncast Spells

The truth is that the Boy Who Lived did not double as the Boy Who Bewitched: throughout the first movie he fails to cast a spell correctly. He only tries it with a Wingardium Leviosa that comes out regular (because, remember, it says “Leviosa”, not “Leviosá”), in fact. The rest of the magical moments on the tape do not require a spell (lifting the broom, speaking Parseltongue with the snake, making the wrong wands) or, directly, they are done by his friends, such as Oculus Reparo or Alohomora.

In fact, the first spell out of the wizard boy’s wand doesn’t come until a showdown with Draco well advanced the footage of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And no, he is not an Expeliarmus, but a Rictusempra, which, after the blow he hits Malfoy, he does not use again in the entire saga. Are you sure we’re talking about the most powerful wizard at Hogwarts?

Interestingly, it is not a film license: in the book, Harry doesn’t cast a single spell either, not even a Lumos. Yes, he comments that he has to practice them as homework, but we never see him do it. A strange decision that I wish would have carried until the seventh book. Harry Potter: the gifted boy… who never cast a single power from his wand.