Reparo

Even in the wizarding world, things get broken – cups, pots, wands – but with this handy little spell, almost nothing is unfixable. Well, except wands. But a wand’s engineering is way more complicated than a cup’s, so we guess that’s to be expected.

Anyway, wands aside, Reparo is surely the answer to any accident-prone witch or wizard’s prayers. Dropped a plate? Reparo! Smashed a glass? Reparo! Spotted a crack in the family china? Reparo! Had your glasses snapped off your face by a rogue Bludger? Reparo! Dropped your phone in the sink? We’ll get back to you on that one; not sure a spell would work on Muggle technology.

Still, there’s no doubt this is an incredibly useful spell, so we think it’s time to give Reparo its due. Yes, it’s not glamorous; no, you probably wouldn’t have cause to use it in a duel, but Reparo is the kind of bread-and-butter spell that would make life so much easier. And it’d probably save you money. Your equipment would always be in the best condition and you’d never have to replace anything, ever again. Well, unless you found yourself in possession of a broken wand.

Scourgify

Tonks may once have referred to Scourgify a little dismissively as one of those 'householdy sort of spells' but we hate to break it to you, Tonks – cleaning is a fact of life. And some of us would love to speed up the household cleaning process with a bit of magic. Just imagine if you had Scourgify at your disposal. You could wipe down the kitchen counter, clean the floor, empty out your pet’s litter tray and vacuum up those crumbs with nothing but a flick of a wand. Much better for the environment, too. You wouldn’t need chemical sprays or bleach if you could just Scourgify away that mess.

Now, again, Scourgify is not some glamorous, potentially life-changing spell. It’s not going to provide epic entertainment, protect you against harm (well, apart from germs) or let you peek inside someone else’s mind. But it gets those necessary jobs done, without anyone having to get their hands dirty. On second thoughts, that actually does sound potentially life-changing. Give us all the domestic spells now, please.

Locomotor

This spell was once used by Tonks to move Harry’s trunk – or, to be precise, to make Harry’s trunk move itself – as well as by Professor Flitwick, when he helped escort Professor Trelawney and her luggage back to the tower from which she had been unceremoniously evicted by Umbridge. Imagine how useful it would be to have such a spell in your travelling arsenal. No more bumping heavy suitcases along platforms – just point your wand at the thing and have it float along in front of you, like a herald announcing your arrival. You’d never have to pack light again. What luxury.

And despite its name, Locomotor has many potential uses outside of travel. Let’s face it, being able to make inanimate objects move has endless possibilities in everyday life, particularly – again – when it comes to tedious cleaning chores. Stacking dishwashers, tidying desks, putting the bins out. Put this together with Scourgify and you’d never need to do housework ever again. Sign us up, right now!

Geminio

Geminio is a very advantageous spell that can replicate objects – not to be confused with the similarly-named curse, Gemino, which makes an object replicate if you touch it. Harry, Ron and Hermione encountered the latter while wading through Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault, where the treasure had been cursed to replicate and overwhelm any unwelcome visitors.

But the Geminio spell is actually super-useful. Hermione used it to create a handy double of Salazar Slytherin’s locket to protect the original, for example. You could use it for more mundane purposes like… replicating more spoons if you happen to be running out. We’re sure you can think of something more exciting. Also, this spell would surely be very economically sensible, in general? Why have one thing when you could have two? Or three, or four? We’re surprised more characters in the books aren’t using this spell all the time! Although, as Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration tells us, you can’t use this magic to replicate food, sadly.

You can learn more about the rules of magic here.

The Four-Point Spell

We discover this incredibly nifty piece of magic in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which effectively transforms your wand into a compass, pointing due north if you ever get lost. For Harry, this was a crucial spell required for the Maze Task in the Triwizard Tournament, but could indeed be useful for pretty much any situation where you find yourself in need of some directional assistance. And it makes your wand spin around merrily on the palm of your hand – way more fun than an actual compass!

Reducio

You know of Engorgio, the spell that makes objects and living things bigger, but Reducio does the opposite, making things smaller. Can you imagine how helpful this spell would be when you’re going on holiday, desperately jumping on your suitcase to make everything fit? With Reducio, you could quite literally bring your kitchen sink on your travels. As we saw with a particularly memorable Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, where “Moody” performed the spell on a spider, you can also use this spell on living things. So, if you’ve ever wanted to take your cat with you when you go to work, you could theoretically have a mini version of them in your pocket. Just remember to Engorgio them back to size, eventually.

So, which one of these spells would you choose if you could only pick one? You can learn more about obscure magic with our handy A-Z guide.