Abraxan (Winged Horse) - giant and powerful palominos which are about the size of elephants. A dozen of this breed pull the huge Beauxbatons carriage.

Abyssinian shrivelfig (Plant) - peeled shrivelfigs are one of the ingredients in Shrinking Solution.

Accio (Spell) - a spell which calls the desired object to the wizard.

Aconite (Plant) - a poisonous plant and an important ingredient in Wolfsbane potion, also known as monkshood and wolfsbane. The shape of the flowers inspired the name of monkshood.

Acromantula - huge, carniverous, dangerous spider with eight eyes, originally from the jungles of Borneo. This monster has thick black hair all over its body, an adult legspan of up to fifteen feet, and great pincers that make a clicking sound to accompany the creature's state of excitement/anger, and is able to produce a poisonous secretion. This giant spider's webs are dome-shaped and spun upon the ground, like a tent for the forest-dwelling arachnid.

It is believed the acromantula was wizard-bred, most likely created to guard possessions and/or dwellings.

Aeromancy - a system of Divination where the weather is the forecaster. Anything to do with weather, such as halos around the sun or moon, thunder and/or lightning, wind direction and strength, cloud shapes, etc, were interpreted as omens to reveal the future. This is one of the oldest forms of divination, practiced by the priests of Babylonia, for instance.

Aethonan (Winged Horse) - chestnut breed popular in Britain and Ireland.

Aguamenti (Spell) - a charm which conjures a stream of clear water from the wand of the caster.

Albus - Latin for "white", and the first name of Headmaster Dumbledore.

Alchemy - a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry, alchemy was the practice of either turning base metals into gold and/or trying to create a potion which would give one immortality.
see Flamel, Nicholas

Alectromancy -a rooster was the active agent in alectromancy (alektor is rooster in Greek). The letters of the alphabet were written in a large circle, and grains of wheat were placed on the letters. Then the rooster was freed to peck at the food. The literal "pecking order" of the rooster spelled out the message, but if the words made no sense, a diviner had to interpret the message. The grains were replaced as soon as they were eaten so that any letter could be repeated, if necessary. See Divination

Aleuromancy - An ancient form of Divination that used flour. Sentences were written on pieces of paper, and each piece was rolled up in a little ball of flour. After the flour balls were thoroughly mixed up nine times, they were handed out to the seekers of fortunes. Apollo, who supposedly presided over this kind of divination, was surnamed Aleuromantis.

Alihotsy (Plant) - the leaves of this plant, if eaten, cause one to be hysterical.

Alohomora (Spell) - cast to open locks.

Alomancy - salt might be considered common now, but in many parts of the world, it was once held to have magical properties. This form of Divination required a handful of salt to be tossed onto a surface. The resulting pattern would be interpreted.

Amortentia - a love potion reputed to be the most popular one in the world, recognizable by its mother-of-pearl glow and the steam rising in spirals from it as it brews. It smells unique to each individual, depending on what they find attractive.

Amulet - from Latin, amuletum, meaning "a method of defense."

The amulet is an object believed to magically protect its owner from harm. Amulets can be any size, shape, or material: pendants, rings, and pouches of herbs (worn around the neck as a disease-preventative), statues, and wall hangings. These items can protect a person, a family, a building or an entire village. In the so-called modern world, some Americans still hang lucky horseshoes over their doors to ward off misfortune and unwelcome visitors.

Anapneo (Spell) - the spell which clears one's airway, thus preventing choking.

Animagus - a wizard who has the ability to transform into an animal. This is not a common ability in the wizarding world and the Ministry of Magic keeps a registry of such wizards. Professor McGonagall is not only the Transfigurations teacher but she is an animagus who can turn into a cat. It usually takes years of practice to master this kind of magic. The animal a wizard turns into is linked to their personality.

Anti-gravity Mist (Spell) - stepping into this mist produces the startling affect of turning the world upside down and making one feel as if they are suspended from the ground over the vast sky.

Antipodean Opaleye (Dragons) - from New Zealand and Australia, this valley-dweller is a medium sized dragon between two to three tons in weight. They have scales resembling iridescent mother-of-pearl and eyes without pupils. They breathe a scarlet flame and have pale gray eggs which are often mistaken for fossils by muggles. They like to feast on sheep.

Apantomancy (Divination) - a chance encounter with an animal was once considered an omen. Interpretations of similar encounters vary; a famous example is that of the black cat crossing one's path: Americans generally consider it an ill omen while the British can think it's a lucky happening.

Aparecium (Spell) - from Latin "appareo" meaning to appear, a spell which makes invisible ink visible.

Apparate (Spell) - a spell of teleportation/transportation from one place to another.

Arithmancy (Divination) - also called numerology, arithmancy (from the Greek arithmo, meaning "number," and mancy, meaning "prophecy"), is based on foretelling the future by using names and numbers. This practice is over two thousand years old, and its rules are specific, employing mathematical calculations as part of the formula of this practice.

Ashwinder - a thin, pale ash-gray snake found all over the world, created if a magical fire is allowed to burn untended for too long. It has red eyes bright like fire. The serpent arises from embers to slither into the shadows, where it spends its brief hour-long lifespan laying eggs. Then it turns to dust. The glowing red eggs are very hot. They must be found quickly and frozen with the right spell, or they will start fires. The frozen eggs are used in love potions and eaten whole to cure ague (chills and fever).

Asphodel (Plant) - an important ingredient in the Draught of Living Death and having a traditional connection to the underworld and the afterlife.

Astragalomancy - from astragalos, a Greek word refering to the knucklebone or vertebra of an animal, from which dice were originally made. This is Divination by throwing dice, dating back to ancient Egypt.

Astrology: see Horoscope - a form of Divination based upon positions of the planets, sun and moon. Both astronomy and astrology share the Greek root, astron, which means "star." Astronomy is defined as the scientific study of the heavens, while astrology means to interpret the influence of the heavens on our earthly existence.

Ancient Babylonia (modern-day Iraq) gave rise to both astrology and astronomy more than 7,000 years ago. They began keeping accurate records of the movements of the stars, and discovered the planets this way, since these so-called "wandering stars" did not keep relative positions to each other, just as the sun and moon also "wandered." Ancient societies believed these planets to be the homes of the gods, and they called the band of sky where these homes travelled the "zodiac." "Planet" means "wanderer" in Greek.

Augury - a promising portent of the future, and the general art of Divination, applying to several kinds of it, but relating mostly to fortune-casting based on signs and omens related to the appearance and behavior of animals (known as Zoomancy).

For wizards, an augury (also called the Irish phoenix) is a bird native to Ireland and Britain, and sometimes found in Northern Europe. A greenish black bird, looking a bit like a malnourished vulture, the augury is shy and stays within the tear-shaped nest it builds in bramble and thorn bushes when it's not hunting insects or fairies. A few unique characteristics: its feathers repel ink, making them useless as quills; it only flies in heavy rain; it has a low, mournful, throbbing cry which heralds the approach of rain. Wizards mistakenly believed in the past that its cry was a portent of death.

Auror - a specially-trained wizard or witch, one who seeks to capture dark wizards and bring them to justice in the magical world. Aurors usually receive three further years of schooling once they leave Hogwarts or one of the other wizarding academies.

Austromancy (Divination) - A sub-branch of Aeromancy which interpretats the winds, based upon intensity and direction.

Avada Kedavra (Spell) - the third of the three Unforgivable Curses, also known as the Killing Curse.

Avis (Spell) - to conjure a flock of small birds.