The worldbuilding of the Harry Potter universe is expansive, and there are so many aspects of the wizarding world that are only briefly touched on in the story. Harry meets a wide variety of different wizards throughout his adventures, some of whom have special powers that are outside of the norm for wizards. There are wizards with unique inherited powers, as well as those who work to perfect specialized forms of magic. What exactly are these sub-groups of wizards, and which characters from the Harry Potter series practice these alternative types of sorcery?

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Seer

Professor Trelawney Harry Potter

Seers are witches and wizards who are born with the innate ability to see the future, whether that's through visions, dreams, or magical tools like crystal balls or tea leaves. Seers could predict prophecies, and these prophecies would be stored at the Ministry of Magic in the Hall of Prophecy. Some Seers are able to control their future sight, while for others, it is involuntary and could come on at any moment. One of the most notable Seers from the Harry Potter series is Professor Sybil Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.

Metamorphmagi

harry potter tonks

A Metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard who is able to change their physical appearance at will. Most other wizards need to use spells or potions to change the way they look, but for Metamorphmagi, it's an innate ability that they are born with. Metamorphmagi can change their appearance in a number of ways, including appearing as a different age or gender, or even just something as small as changing their eye color or nose shape. Nymphadora Tonks is probably the most famous Metamorphmagi in Harry Potter, and her son Teddy inherited the ability as well.

Parselmouths

harry potter parseltongue

One hyper-specific wizard ability in the world of Harry Potter is the ability to understand and speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Being a Parselmouth was extremely rare, and was almost always hereditary; pretty much every known Parselmouth was descended from Salazar Slytherin. The ability was usually associated with Dark wizards, which made people suspicious of Parselmouths. Lord Voldemort was able to speak Parseltongue, and Harry Potter himself acquired this ability when part of Voldemort's soul bonded with him on the night that Voldemort attempted to kill Harry as a baby.

Maledictuses

harry potter nagini

Being a Maledictus is less of an ability and more of a curse. A Maledictus was a female individual who inherited a blood curse that would eventually permanently turn her into a specific creature (the creature depended on the specific curse used). The curse was acquired at birth, as it was passed on from mother to daughter. Unlike Animagi, who could transform into animals at will with no consequences, a Maledictus would lose their ability to stay human over time as they continued to transform. The first time that a Maledictus was mentioned in the Harry Potter universe was in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, where it was revealed that Nagini, Lord Voldemort's snake companion, was actually a Maledictus.

Animagi

harry potter mcgonagall cat

Unlike the curse of the Maledictus, Animagi are witches and wizards who voluntarily learn how to transform into various animals. This is a learned skill, and it requires a long and complicated process to obtain the power. Because this ritual was so complex, not many people undertook the effort to become Animagus. An Animagi Registry was created in order to keep track of how many individuals were, in fact, Animagi, but despite that, not every Animagus was registered. Known Animagi in Harry Potter include Professor McGonagall, Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Rita Skeeter.

Legilimens

harry potter snape

Legilimency is the practice of navigating the layers of a person's mind - essentially, mind-reading (though most Legilimens dislike the use of that term). Snape describes the practice of Legilimency to Harry:

The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader...Legilimens are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly.

More advanced Legilimens could perform their craft wordlessly and without a wand, but less experienced wizards have to use the incantation "Legilimens" to start the spell. Legilimens can use their powers to parse through others' thoughts and memories, as well as determine if they're lying. Leglimens in the Harry Potter series include Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Snape.

Occlumens

harry potter

The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency. Occlumency is essentially a defense against Legilimency, and individuals who practice it are able to protect their minds from invasion by a Legilimens. Occlumens are able to stop a Legilimens from entering their mind, seeing their thoughts or memories, or controlling them in any way. In its basic form, Occlumency involves making one's mind blank in order to prevent a Legilimens from seeing anything, while more advanced Occlumens could select specific thoughts to hide from Legilimens to make them come to a specific conclusion. Known Occlumens include Dumbledore, Horance Slughorn, Snape, and Gellert Grindelwald.

Obscurials

credence barebone obscurus

An Obscurial is another type of witch or wizard with an involuntary type of magic. When a young witch or wizard suppresses their magic for long enough (usually because of abuse), they can develop a parasitical magical force called an Obscurus. When the individual reaches a breaking point, their Obscurus gets released as a destructive force, and in very extreme cases, they might even transform into the Obscurus. Most Obscurials who release their Obscurus die shortly after, as the Obscurus fully overtakes them. The two main Obscurials from Harry Potter were Ariana Dumbledore and Credence Barebone from the Fantastic Beasts series.

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Harry Potter

When Harry Potter learns that he is a wizard, he enters a world beyond belief. Aside from continuing his studies at Hogwarts with best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry must also face Voldemort and his dark wizarding forces. The Harry Potter franchise is a worldwide phenomenon, spanning seven books, eight movies, three spinoff movies, a stage play, and numerous video games.

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