In Harry Potter, you have to pronounce (or think) a string of sounds to cast a spell.
For example:
Stupefy!
That always seemed very strange to me. So I would like to know:
- Are the words really necessary, or is the intention enough?
- If so, why are nearly all incantations in broken Latin?
- Do e.g. Japanese wizards have to use Latin incantations too?
- We saw with sectumsempra that a spell has its standard effect even when you don't know what it is, proving that the incantation does contain information. Does that mean that some words are magical? Were they always like that, did they evolve naturally, or was the word enchanted at the creation of the spell?
To sum up: what is the link between an incantation and a spell?