The Harry Potter Compendium
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" [...] he knelt over Malfoy, drew his wand and traced it over the deep wounds Harry's curse had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped the residue from Malfoy's face and repeated his spell. Now the wounds seemed to be knitting."
—Description[src]

Vulnera Sanentur[1] was the song-like incantation of a healing spell and counter-curse to the Sectumsempra Spell, which was invented by Severus Snape. While sectumsempra was invented by Snape, Vulnera Sanentur is often mistaken to be invented by him as well. We can see it was created before he was even born, as we can see the spell being performed by Gellert Grindelwald on a Qilin in Fantastic Beasts 3: the secrets of Dumbledore. [2]

Effect[]

For maximum effect of the spell, the incantation had to be repeated thrice; firstly slowing the flow of blood to prevent death by exsanguination; the second to clear residue and begin to heal the wounds; and the third to fully knit the wounds, although dittany had to be applied to prevent scarring[3].

Known uses[]

Etymology[]

Vulnera Sanentur derives from the Latin vulnus, "wound," (in which the roots of the English "vulnerable" may be seen) [5] and sanare, "to heal"; it is translated "may the wounds be healed."[6]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Body parts that had been completely removed with Sectumsempra could not be restored even using this spell[7].
  • In the book, Harry stayed in the bathroom after cursing Malfoy and witnessed Snape's use of the spell; in the film he ran straight to the common-room.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HBPF
  2. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore
  3. 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HBP24
  4. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GF20
  5. "Vulnus" on Wiktionary
  6. "Sanare" on Wiktionary
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Chapter 5 (The Fallen Warrior)
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