Every Harry Potter fan has daydreamed about getting their own letter by owl… but it’s not just for the joy of receiving owl post, or even being able to see Hogwarts themselves, it’s about learning all those spells that would be oh so useful in real life.
There are plenty of spells in Harry Potter that are more impressive than the ones below, of course. There are those that are far more powerful - that are so intense they are unforgivable. That allow for people to do incredible things, like create a horcrux or produce a patronus, or to slash an enemy with a single word… but for most of us, those would only be helpful if the Dark Lord were to rise again. The following spells, however, are some of the most useful ones in the series - and these are the ones that every fan wishes they had the ability to use.
Muffliato
Muffliato is a simple spell, but one that creates a bubble of silence around you and your friends so that no one can overhear what is being said. Harry, Ron, and Hermione use this spell in order to talk about their plans to defeat the Dark Lord, and to protect themselves while on the run. However, Muffliato would have several more prosaic applications, too. Imagine being able to talk about anything, without a single person able to overhear. Busy restaurants would become private spaces. And no one would ever have to put up with hearing someone’s music on public transport, or in the park - just throw up some Muffliato before pressing play. Noise bylaws would disappear, as every bar and club casts the spell around itself before cranking up the volume late at night.
Extendable Charm
There are several spells used throughout the series that enable witches and wizards to pack with far more ease than anyone who has wrestled with a suitcase or a set of packing cubes. The simplest of these spells is ‘pack’, which simply packs everything into a trunk with a wave of the wand. However, there’s no need to think small. Pack can be combined with ‘Reducio’, which shrinks items. Make everything smaller, then pack it into a smaller case. Hand luggage has never been so roomy…
Or, for those truly wishing to reach for the stars, combine these two with an extendable charm, a la Hermione and her beaded bag. Shrink everything you need, extend the smallest bag you want to carry, and then ‘pack’ them all in. Moving day suddenly becomes a matter of carrying a single bag from a to z.
Wingardium Leviosa
More moving day possibilities, thanks to Wingardium Leviosa. This little charm is useful for so much more than floating feathers and correcting classmates on pronunciation - when applied properly, it can float pretty much anything.
Imagine cleaning the house, while able to simply float the furniture up to sweep under it. Imagine moving house without having to lift any boxes, but while able to simply float them all (and that sofa, and the heavy wardrobe) out to the moving truck? Amazing.
Lumos/Nox
Lumos and Nox are two spells that counteract each other - ’lumos’ creates a light at the end of a witch or wizard’s wand, and ’nox’ puts it out again. This may not seem any more impressive than a flashlight app on a smartphone, but think how useful it could be…
No more digging through dark corners of a closet, no more getting stuck at night without being able to see… and no more stress if the power goes out! Just lumos yourself to a lovely little personal light, even when there is no electricity.
Impervius
Hermione uses this nifty little spell to help Harry in a Quidditch match, when his glasses are getting so wet that he’s finding it impossible to see the Snitch, let alone catch it. She casts it on his glasses, so that they repel water, which would definitely be a boon to glasses-wearers in the rain.
However, there is so much more that this charm could do. Cast it on a dog, and avoid that wet-dog smell, or having them shake all over the apartment. Cast it on shoes, and never track in mud again. Cast it on yourself, and suddenly there is no need to worry about bringing an umbrella.
Episkey
Episkey is definitely one of the most useful spells in the Harry Potter universe, because it allows the caster to heal minor injuries - split lip, a broken nose, that kind of thing. Imagine how much easier life could be if the bangs and bruises of minor injuries could be healed with the flick of a wand? Not just in cities, either, but in more remote areas, where a doctor isn’t easily found nearby, or when dealing with extreme sports. No more healing time, just a quick flick, and everything is better again. Medical spells are definitely some of the most useful in the Harry Potter universe.
Reparo
Reparo is definitely one of those spells that is useful on a day to day basis -, especially for clumsy witches and wizards. Reparo simply fixes most broken objects, including Harry Potter’s glasses. This is definitely the spell to have around after a party, after accidentally knocking something over, or while dealing with a particularly spiteful cat in the house…
Scourgify/Tergeo
Of all the spells in Harry Potter, this is definitely one of the most helpful - because it does the cleaning! Both scourgify and tergeo are cleaning spells, although there are some differences between them. Scourgify is more of a general-purpose cleaning spell, while tergeo is used to siphon liquids off (or out of) things - making it the perfect way to deal with spills.
Between the two of them, it’s possible to clean up pretty much any mess with just the flick of a wand, and that’s the kind of housework that anyone would love to be able to do! Imagine never having to scrub out a bathroom, or deal with the pots and pans by hand again…
Alohamora
Harry, Ron, and Hermione use this spell to open any lock for some fairly high-stakes reasons, but there are plenty of ways that this would be helpful in day to day life as well. True, this would be extremely helpful for thieving, but it would also be helpful for anyone who has ever locked their keys in the car, or locked themselves out of the house. Imagine never having to call a locksmith, because you can open any lock. Admittedly, if everyone had this ability, this would also make locks in general fairly pointless, but they seem pretty prevalent in the wizarding world anyway.
Accio
Yes, it may be difficult to argue that a simple summoning charm is more useful than spells to clean the house, open locks, pack an entire life into a handbag, or heal injuries… but if Harry Potter could use it to defeat a literal dragon, that proves that with a little imagination, accio can be used for almost anything.
Lazy people can use it to grab the remote, and forgetful people can use it to find the thing in the first place. Never worry about getting out of bed to get something again… which means that for bedridden people, or those with mobility issues, life just got exponentially easier. Short people don’t have to get a chair when something is on a shelf too high. Tall people don’t have to bend double to pick something up. In terms of day to day usefulness, Accio is definitely the charm that we would be using the most.
