======The Age Line======
=====Spell Information=====
  * **Incantation:** Unknown. The line is created through a powerful [[Charm]].
  * **Wand Movement:** Unknown.
  * **Light:** A thin, golden line.
  * **Effect:** Creates a magical barrier that prevents anyone below a specified age from crossing it. Those who are too young and attempt to do so are repelled, often with a humorous but harmless side-effect, such as being aged up rapidly and sprouting a long white beard.
  * **Type:** [[Charm]].
=====History and Known Uses=====
The only known instance of an [[Age Line]] was during the 1994-1995 [[school year]] at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]]. [[Albus Dumbledore]] cast the charm to form a perimeter around the [[Goblet of Fire]] after it was placed in the [[Great Hall]]. The line's explicit purpose was to enforce a new rule for the [[Triwizard Tournament]], which stated that only students aged seventeen or older were eligible to enter their names.
[[Dumbledore]] referred to the [[Age Line]] as a "measure of safety" designed to protect younger students from the notoriously dangerous tasks of the [[Tournament]]. The enchantment manifested as a simple, thin, golden line on the stone floor, encircling the stool upon which the [[Goblet of Fire]] rested.
Several underage students attempted to circumvent the line to enter the [[Tournament]]:
  * [[Fred Weasley]] and [[George Weasley]] each took a dose of an [[Ageing Potion]], believing it would fool the line into thinking they were seventeen. While they managed to cross the golden line and place their names into the [[Goblet]], they were immediately and forcefully ejected, landing several feet away and instantly growing identical long, white beards. [[Hermione Granger]] had previously warned them that such a simple potion was unlikely to outsmart a powerful enchantment cast by [[Dumbledore]].
  * A student from [[Beauxbatons Academy of Magic]] and another from [[Durmstrang Institute]] also made unsuccessful attempts to cross the line.
The [[Age Line]] proved effective in preventing any underage student from entering their name legitimately. However, it did not prevent [[Barty Crouch Jr.]], while disguised as [[Alastor Moody]], from putting [[Harry Potter]]'s name into the [[Goblet of Fire]] by using a powerful [[Confundus Charm]] on the [[Goblet]] itself. The line was presumably removed after the three [[Triwizard Champion]]s (and [[Harry Potter]]) were chosen.
=====Learning and Counter-Spells=====
Casting an [[Age Line]] appears to be a piece of highly advanced and powerful [[magic]], as demonstrated by its resilience to countermeasures. As it was cast by [[Albus Dumbledore]], it possessed immense strength and sophistication. [[Hermione Granger]]'s correct theory that a simple [[Ageing Potion]] would fail against it implies that the charm is complex enough to detect magical trickery and not just the physical age of the person crossing.
There are no known counter-spells or methods to disable an [[Age Line]], other than the original caster presumably removing the enchantment.
=====Etymology=====
The name **Age Line** is purely descriptive. **Age** refers to the criterion it uses to filter individuals, and **Line** refers to its physical manifestation as a line drawn upon a surface.
=====Behind the Scenes=====
  * In the film adaptation of //Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire//, the [[Age Line]] is visually different from its description in the novel. Instead of a thin golden line on the floor, it is depicted as a large, translucent, shimmering blue dome of magical energy that encircles the [[Goblet of Fire]]. The effect of being rejected is also more spectacular; [[Fred Weasley|Fred]] and [[George Weasley]] are launched high into the air across the [[Great Hall]] before their beards appear. (film)