This summer, we’re challenging parents and children alike to wrap their heads around the fantastical lexicon of the Harry Potter books. From Latin-inspired spells to eccentric character names, you might end up a little tongue-tied when reading the stories for the first time! And admittedly, we still stumble over a few particular things on a couple of re-reads!

According to a recent study, two-thirds of parents love to use the Harry Potter glossary as a stimulus for their young ones’ imaginations, which can help improve dialect and phonetics skills as they break the words down. So even if it may sound like a bunch of gobbledegook, there’s a real science to helping young minds get a handle on complex words – even if we don’t use them in our Muggle world so much.

Why not get started with some of our favourites? Some of them may surprise you!

Accio

That double ‘c’ sound can be rather tricky to get right. Is it a soft C, like “access” or a hard C, like “accord”? Not ideal if you're trying to use the Summoning Charm in a situation like – oh, let’s say... calling over your broom to avoid the flames of a nesting dragon? You know, ordinary things. Anyway, to avoid the risk of charred eyebrows, you would pronounce it like so: AH-key-oh. Think of it like that feeling when you’ve just found your keys that you thought you’d lost. “AH-key-oh!”

Amortentia

This Potion might induce confusing feelings of love, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the correct pronunciation left you feeling confused too… Luckily, we can tell you the correct way to say the name of this love potion: AM-or-tensh-uh.

Animagus

The ability to turn yourself into an animal at will is very cool and one we love to be masters of. It also comes with a very col name but one that could be open to interpretation. To clear up any confusion, it’s ANNIE-may-guss.

Animagi

But what if you want to refer to more than one Animagus? Like the Marauders for instance, what would you say then? Well, the plural of Animagus is Animagi and is pronounced ANNIE-may-jye.

Beauxbatons

This French wizarding school has a name you would be forgiven for stumbling over. But in future, if you want to impress your friends with your impeccable French accent, Beauxbatons is said like BO-bat-awh.

Cruciatus

This Unforgivable Curse is a horrid, ugly spell that causes agonising pain for those who are unfortunate enough to be on its receiving end. Rather fittingly, this spell has a rather horrid pronunciation too: KROO-see-AHT-uhss. And the incantation is “KROO-see-oh" - not that you’d ever be using it yourself, of course.

Expecto Patronum

Want to get rid of a Dementor? Well, think of your happiest memory and say EX-PEC-toe Puh-TROE-num and not only will you send it skittering off into the distance, but you might just discover your Patronus’ form too.

Imperius or Imperio

Another of the Unforgivable Curses. If you cast the Imperius or Im-PEER-ee-uhss Curse on someone, you will have total control over their mind and actions. The incantation “Imperio” just requires you to add an O at the end.

Fun fact: parents found this spell the easiest Harry Potter incantation to teach their young ones about!

Legilimency

Those with this ability might be able to see into other people’s minds… but it doesn’t take a mind reader to know that this word is rather tricky to say. We’ll happily make it easier for you: Luh-JILL-ee-men-see.

Pensieve

This rare magical artefact was one that was used to store and review memories. A play on the word pensive, it’s pronounced similarly – PEN-sivv.

Pigwidgeon

When Ron’s pet rat Scabbers left the Weasleys in... troubling circumstances, it left a space for a brand-new pet to join the family. Enter Pigwidgeon, the tiny, cute and (according to Ron) slightly annoying owl. While Ron might have shortened his name to a simple ‘Pig’, we think he deserves to go by his full name, Pig-WIDGE-uhn.

Riddikulus

This Boggart-Banishing Charm might look very similar to the word ridiculous but is it pronounced the same too? It is very close. Banish a Boggart by pronouncing it as Rih-DIH-KUL-lus. and you won't look, well, ridiculous.

Skele-gro

This potion might be rather unpleasant, but it is also rather useful – especially when an overzealous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher vanishes all the bones in your arm. If you need to regrow any parts of your skeleton, just ask for a bottle of SKELL-ee-grow and you’ll be sorted.

Veritaserum

Just a couple of drops of this truth potion and you’ll be spilling your darkest secrets to all and sundry. But let us let you in on a secret, we’ve often found ourselves saying this word incorrectly. However, the truthful way of saying this word is VERY-tuh-see-rum.

Voldemort

‘Why have you included Voldemort on this list?’ we hear you cry. ‘Surely his name is simple enough to say?’ Well, you might be surprised to learn that most of us have probably been pronouncing the Dark Lord’s name wrong for years. Voldemort has its roots in French and contains a silent ‘t’. Yes, that’s right! You don’t say the ‘t’ at all. So let us introduce you to Lord VOLL-de-mawh.

Wizengamot

The wizarding high court and parliament had an extremely important role in the magical world and counted a whole host of highly influential witches and wizards amongst its ranks (Albus Dumbledore was Chief Warlock don’t you know). We think an organisation with such gravitas deserves to be pronounced currently and here it is… WIZZ-en-GAMM-uht.

So there you have it, just a few handy wizarding words to help you out in your enthusiastic Harry Potter conversations!

And remember, you can always visit our For Kids hub to learn more about the wonderful wizardry of the stories.