Love

• Incantation: None. This form of magic is enacted through a specific, selfless action rather than a spoken incantation.
• Pronunciation: Not applicable.
• Wand Movement: Not applicable.
• Light: None inherently associated, though its interaction with other spells can be spectacular. When Lily Potter's protection met Lord Voldemort's Killing Curse, it resulted in a blinding flash of green light as the curse rebounded.
• Effect: Provides profound and enduring magical protection for the loved one against the attacker. This “sacrificial protection” can cause curses to rebound, prevent physical contact by the attacker, and shield others from harm. It can also be used to expel a possessing dark entity from one's body.
• Type: Ancient Magic, Sacrificial Protection, Protective Enchantment.

Love is described by Albus Dumbledore as the deepest and most powerful form of magic, one that is poorly understood and consistently underestimated by those who traffic in the Dark Arts, particularly Lord Voldemort. Its most significant applications in the series revolve around acts of selfless sacrifice.

• Lily Potter's Sacrifice: The most famous instance of this magic. When Lord Voldemort attacked the Potters in Godric's Hollow, he offered Lily the choice to step aside and save herself, a choice he made at the behest of Severus Snape. Lily refused and deliberately placed herself between Voldemort and her infant son, Harry Potter. This willing sacrifice invoked an ancient magical protection over Harry.
  • The magic caused Voldemort's Killing Curse to rebound, destroying his physical body and leaving a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead.
  • The protection lingered in Harry's very skin, causing excruciating pain to Professor Quirrell (who was sharing his body with Voldemort's soul fragment) upon physical contact.
• The Bond of Blood Charm: Albus Dumbledore extended and strengthened Lily's protection by creating the Bond of Blood charm. By placing Harry with his only living relative who shared Lily's blood, his aunt Petunia Dursley, Dumbledore ensured Harry's safety. As long as Harry could call Number 4, Privet Drive home, Lord Voldemort could not touch or harm him there. This protection was set to expire upon Harry's seventeenth birthday or when he no longer considered the house his home.
• Expelling Lord Voldemort from Harry's Mind: During the duel in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort attempted to possess Harry. The overwhelming grief and love Harry felt for his recently deceased godfather, Sirius Black, filled him with such intense emotion that Voldemort could not bear to inhabit his body, finding the presence of such pure love to be agonizing.
• Harry Potter's Sacrifice: Mirroring his mother's sacrifice, Harry willingly walked to his death in the Forbidden Forest to allow Lord Voldemort to kill him. He did this to save the defenders of Hogwarts. This act of sacrificial love placed a protective enchantment over every person fighting against Voldemort. After Harry's apparent death, Voldemort's spells (such as a Silencing Charm) failed to work properly on the defenders, allowing Neville Longbottom to defy him and continue the fight.

Love as a form of magic cannot be learned or taught in a conventional sense, as it is not a spell that can be mastered with practice. It is an emotion-driven, instinctual magic that arises under very specific and dire circumstances. Albus Dumbledore considered it a power that Lord Voldemort could never grasp due to his inability to understand or feel love. There is no known counter-spell for sacrificial protection. However, its effects can be circumvented. Lord Voldemort managed this by using Harry's own blood—which contained Lily's magical protection—in the regeneration potion that restored his body. This act incorporated the protection into Voldemort himself, allowing him to touch Harry without pain. Unknowingly, this also tethered Harry's life to Voldemort's, preventing Harry from being truly killed by Voldemort as long as the Dark Lord lived.

The English word “love” originates from the Old English lufu, meaning “love, affection, friendship.” Its roots are common in Germanic languages. In the context of the wizarding world, its use for the most powerful form of magic highlights the theme that fundamental human emotions hold a power that can surpass any complex spell or dark curse.

• (J.K. Rowling interview) J.K. Rowling has stated on numerous occasions that love is the central and most important theme of the *Harry Potter* series, calling it “the most powerful magic of all.”
• The series draws a sharp distinction between true love and magically-induced infatuation. As Horace Slughorn explains while teaching about Amortentia, the world's most powerful Love Potion, it is impossible to manufacture or imitate genuine love.
• Albus Dumbledore theorized that Tom Riddle's inability to feel or understand love stemmed from his conception under the influence of a Love Potion, as his mother, Merope Gaunt, had used one to trick his father, Tom Riddle Sr., into their relationship.