Unsupported flight

Unsupported flight
Type	Magical transportation
Effect	Allowed a witch or wizard to fly without any support
Creator	Lord Voldemort

"And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again —"

—Lord Voldemort flying unsupported

This form of flight (incantation unknown) was a spell that allowed a witch or wizard to fly without the use of a broomstick or other form of support.

History

Early attempts

"No spell yet devised enables wizards to fly unaided in human form… Leviathan is commonplace, but our ancestors were not content with hovering five feet from the ground. They wanted more. They wanted to fly like birds, but without the inconvenience of growing feathers."

—Kennilworthy Whisp, Quidditch Through the Ages

Attempts to fly unaided had been made by wizards since ancient times. Leviathan had been possible at least since the invention of the Levitation Spell in ancient England.

A rare example of a wizard flying unaided happened in 1926, when the Obscurial Credence Barebone unleashed his pent-up abilities, transforming into his Obscurus form and flying around New York. However, for obvious reasons, this was far from the secret sought by wizards, since it was impossible to control by the wizard himself and an incomparable symptom of a deadly condition.

Discovery

Sometime prior to 1997, Lord Voldemort succeeded where most other wizards had failed and managed true flight. He first publicly demonstrated this ability during the Battle of the Seven Potters, using the spell to great effect and almost managing to defeat Harry Potter while he was fighting him from the sky. It was likely that he would have killed Harry if not for an odd reaction involving their wands.

Later uses

Following his discovery, Voldemort taught this spell to his servant Severus Snape, who used it to safely escape from Hogwarts shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts. While forced to share Quirinus Quirrell's body in 1991-1992, Voldemort had also apparently taught the secret to Quirrell, likely for his own convenience.

After his death, Voldemort's daughter, Delphini, mastered the use of this ability as well, although how she did so without him to help her is unknown.

Nature

Unsupported flight was different from levitation, which only allowed objects to fly a few feet off the ground and did not work on humans. Unsupported flight was specifically designed for human use, giving one the ability to fly far up without the aid of an object. It is unknown how long a person could stay in the air or of it worked over vast distances.

Known practitioners

Lord Voldemort

Severus Snape

Delphini Diggory.jpg

Delphini

Quirinus Quirrell

Behind the scenes

• In the Harry Potter films, Apparition is often depicted as similar to flight, with those using it even able to cast spells, physically fight, and affect the stability of the Millennium Bridge while flying closely around its support cables, causing them to break off telekinetically. In this form, characters are shown to be able to impact and collide with each other hard enough to launch humans several yards or even break through wooden or stone walls. The characters that do so, namely Death Eaters or Order of the Phoenix members, can turn into pillars of black or white smoke that rushes through the air. As it is portrayed in the books, however, this sort of application of Apparition would be impossible, and thus this cannot be considered canon. Also, in every film with the Dark Mark in the sky, Death Eaters are shown Apparating inside of its mouth in smoke form. This allows them to fly out of it and appear wherever it is cast, allowing them to use it as a sort of portal.
• Also in the films, Voldemort can turn into black smoke, especially from his cloak, allowing him to levitate, float, and shoot through the air, even while partially transformed into it, while his version of flight in the books did not involve any smoke effects.
• Many of the Death Eaters during the film version of the Battle of the Seven Potters also were using brooms, despite seemingly all of them demonstrating the ability in flying in smoke, as well as demonstrating being able to use magic while flying.
• In the films, Dementors also appear to possess the ability of unsupported flight, which differs from the books, where they are described to merely glide over the ground.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Quirinus Quirrell was shown flying without any visible support on several occasions. He flew through the air to tackle Harry in the last of the seven Underground Chambers, was levitating and gliding along the ground while consuming the blood of a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest, and Harry encountered, before flying off into the sky when escaping from Firenze. It is likely that for his own convenience, Voldemort himself, who was sharing Quirrell's body at the time, had taught him the secret (which is consistent with his having done so for Severus Snape and Quirrell being described as a very bright wizard by Hagrid).
• It is unknown how Delphini learned the skill of unsupported flight and whether it was biologically inherited, passed down through writing, or learned independently.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (film) (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter for Kinect