Colloportus Spell: What does it do?
The Colloportus spell is a defensive spell that can be used to magically enchant a door or lock. You can find the spell in Miranda Goshawk: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, which every first year student of Hogwards owns. Colloportus is the counterspell to Alohomora.
What is the origin of Colloportus?
The origin of the name could be explained, for example, by the compound words: kollao (Greek: glued together, bound with mortar) or collo-, derived from the Latin colligo, meaning to bind together, and porta (Latin: gate).
How to use Colloportus?
In order to perform the sealing spell, one must stand directly in front of the doorway to be sealed. It may even be necessary to touch the door with the wand. A strange cracking sound from the door signals that the spell has been cast.
What is the counterspell for Colloportus?
Whether or not an Alohomora can open a door magically sealed with the Colloportus spell is ambiguous according to the accounts: on the one hand, Lucius Malfoy can once open a Colloportus-sealed door with an Alohomora during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, though not as spontaneously and quickly as usual. On the other hand, Harry Potter and the other members of the Dumbledore’s Army seal the doors behind them with a Colloportus, thus achieving in all other cases that their pursuers then have to run to other doors.
What are the known uses of Colloportus?
The Colloportus spell finds application primarily in the fifth Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) in the battle in the Department of Mysteries. There Hermione Granger sealed a door with the spell in the chapter Beyond the Veil:
“Colloportus!” gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.
– Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Other known uses:
| Caster(s) | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hermione Granger | 18 June, 1996 | Many members of Dumbledore’s army used this spell against the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. |
| Harry Potter | ||
| Luna Lovegood | ||
| Neville Longbottom | ||
| Severus Snape | July, 1996 | To keep Peter Pettigrew from overhearing his chat with Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange in 1996, Severus Snape used this charm non-verbally to close and lock the unusually small door behind his bookcase. |
| 2020 | Severus Snape used this spell to lock the entrance to his classroom in the alternate reality established by Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. | |
| Rufus Scrimgeour | Summer 1996 | He used this charm to non-verbally lock the door to the Muggle Prime Minister’s office, allowing him and Cornelius Fudge to have a private conversation with the Prime Minister. |
| Delphini | 1981 | To lock the doors of St Jerome’s Church, cast this spell wandlessly while dueling Harry Potter. |