Point wand at target
Summons an object from a distance
- "And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling towards him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in mid-air beside him, waiting for him to mount."
- —The Firebolt, under influence of this spell.[src]
Casting and effects
The Summoning Charm could not be used on buildings. In addition, it did not work on most living things, and those few on which it did were generally not considered worth Summoning, such as flobberworms.
The farther the desired object was from the caster, the harder it was to Summon. However, there was apparently some controversy over this claim, as Hermione Granger stated that it did not matter how far away the object was — so long as the caster had it clearly in mind, they should be able to Summon it with ease.
There were counterspells that could be placed on objects to keep them from being Summoned. Most wizarding goods sold as of the 20th century and early 21st century came pre-enchanted with anti-theft spells to keep them from being Summoned by anyone but their rightful owners.
|Molly Weasley||1994||Molly Weasley used several Summoning Charms to find many different magical sweets Fred and George Weasley were trying to sneak out of the house to the Quidditch World Cup in 1994.|
|1994||Hermione Granger taught the charm to Harry Potter, who later used it in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament to Summon his broom to him to outmaneuver the Hungarian Horntail.|
|Barty Crouch Jr.|
(disguised as Alastor Moody)
|1995||Barty Crouch Jr. used the Summoning Charm to take the Marauders Map away from Severus Snape before he could read it.|
|Harry Potter||24 June, 1995||Harry Potter used this charm to Summon the Triwizard Cup, which had been made a Portkey, in order to escape Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters in 1995.|
|1996||During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries Hermione Granger used it to retrieve wands, and Ron Weasley Summoned a brain in a tank to himself while under the effects of a disorienting curse.|
|Death Eaters||1996||During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Death Eaters attempting to pull the prophecy sphere from Harry's hands.|
|Harry Potter||1997||Harry Potter Summoned Madam Rosmerta's brooms to himself and Albus Dumbledore to get back to Hogwarts in 1997.|
|Hermione Granger||1997||Hermione Granger Summoned books about Horcruxes from the Headmaster's office in 1997.|
|Harry Potter||31 July, 1997|
|Fred Weasley||August 1997||Fred Summoned hairs from a Muggle boy in Ottery St. Catchpole in order to help Harry disguise himself for the wedding using Polyjuice Potion.|
|Harry Potter||1997||Harry Potter attempts to Summon his wand back after his wand was knocked off by Nagini.|
|Harry Potter||1994||Harry Potter tried to cast the charm while Hermione Granger was teaching him how to use it in preparation for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.|
|Harry Potter||Summer of 1995||Harry Potter tried to cast the charm wandlessly to retrieve his wand after Dudley hit him when they were attacked in 1995 by two Dementors sent by Dolores Umbridge.|
|Death Eaters||1996||The Death Eaters tried to cast the charm on the prophecy during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, but Harry managed to hold on to it.|
|Harry Potter||1996||Harry Potter tried to cast the charm nonverbally and wandlessly to retrieve his wand after Draco Malfoy hit him with a Full Body-Bind Curse in 1996.|
|Harry Potter||1997||Harry Potter tried the Charm to Summon Salazar Slytherin's fake locket in the Horcrux cave in 1997.|
|Harry Potter||27 July, 1997||He tried it to Summon Hedwig and Rubeus Hagrid during the Battle of the Seven Potters.|
|1997||Hermione Granger tried the Summoning Charm to Summon Salazar Slytherin's Locket in Regulus Black's bedroom at 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry also tried Summoning the locket while he was in Dolores Umbridge's office while they were infiltrating the Ministry of Magic.|
|Harry Potter||24 December, 1997||Harry tried to Summon his wand after it had been knocked out of his hand during his fight with Nagini at Godric's Hollow.|
|Harry Potter||1 May, 1998||Harry tried to Summon Helga Hufflepuff's Cup when he was in the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank during the break-in, but he was unsuccessful because the vault was bewitched.|
|Hermione Granger||1998||Hermione Granger tried to use a Summoning Charm to Summon Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup in the Lestrange Vault, but the protections on the Horcruxes made this impossible.|
|A Death Eater||1998||A Death Eater tried the charm to Summon Harry's Cloak of Invisibility.|
The Latin word accio means "I call" or "I summon". In the Hungarian translation, the spell is called "Invito", possibly from the word "to invite".
Behind the scenes
- In the 2006 short film The Queen's Handbag, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley both use the charm in an attempt to retrieve Queen Elizabeth II's handbag, which has been lost. They are unsuccessful and Hermione suggests they're too far away from it, suggesting the charm may have a maximum range. However, in Goblet of Fire, Hermione stated that distance didn't matter, as long as the caster was concentrating hard enough. Also, the short film's canonicity is uncertain, so it is unlikely this applies to mainstream continuity.
- In the console and PC versions of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, it can be bought at Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment in Diagon Alley.
- In the handheld versions of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Accio can move an object in any direction, not just towards the caster. In some cases, it moves an object directly away from the caster, working more like its opposite.
- When Hermione Summoned Secrets of the Darkest Art from Dumbledore's office, she simply said "Accio Horcrux books", instead of the specific book name, meaning that this spell can function even when the item's description is not detailed.
- According to Wonderbook, the hand motion is thus:
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- The Queen's Handbag
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Harry Potter Trading Card Game
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 See this video.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wonderbook: Book of Spells
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 20
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 26
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
|Professors: Filius Flitwick|
|Textbooks: The Standard Book of Spells · Achievements in Charming · Quintessence: A Quest|
|Charmbook writers and charm developers: Miranda Goshawk · Scarpin · Felix Summerbee · Randolph Keitch · Basil Horton · Mnemone Radford · Elliot Smethwyck · Jarleth Hobart · Delfina Crimp · Orabella Nuttley · Levina Monkstanley · Fred Weasley · George Weasley|
|Charms studied at Hogwarts: Levitation Charm · Fire-Making Charm · Softening Charm · Skurge · Aresto Momentum · Cheering Charm · Freezing Spell · Seize and Pull Charm · Summoning Charm · Banishing Charm · Silencing Charm · Mending Charm · Reductor Curse · Colour Change Charm · Growth Charm · Water-Making Spell · Locomotion Charm · Vinegar into Wine · Bird-Conjuring Charm|