Arcus

• Incantation: Arcus (Often cast non-verbally)
• Pronunciation: AR-kuss
• Wand Movement: A circular, stirring motion with the wand. (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald)
• Light: A trail of golden, glowing light.
• Effect: A tracking spell that reveals the recent magical history or past events in a specific location. It creates ghostly, golden apparitions of the people and actions that occurred.
• Type: Charm

This spell's only known use occurs in 1927. While investigating the Lestrange Mausoleum in Paris with Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein, Leta Lestrange cast this spell. She wanted to determine if Credence Barebone had visited the tomb and found the Lestrange family records. (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) The spell successfully conjured a golden, re-enactment of the past, showing Credence and the Maledictus (Nagini) finding the records, and the subsequent arrival and duel between Yusuf Kama and Jacob Kowalski. (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald)

There is no known information regarding the difficulty of learning this spell or any potential counter-spells or defensive measures against it.

The incantation Arcus is Latin for “bow,” “arch,” or “arc.” This likely refers to the arc of golden light the spell creates as it traces and reveals past events.

The spell Arcus does not appear in the original seven *Harry Potter* novels. Its creation and only appearance to date is in the film * The Crimes of Grindelwald*. The published screenplay for the film describes the effect as “a golden arc of light” that “paints a picture of what happened here.” This spell serves as a narrative device to visually convey past events to the characters and audience, similar in function to viewing a memory in a Pensieve.