Existem dois feitiços que controlam a memória: obliviate , que apaga memórias, e um charme de memória falsa , que cria novos. O encantamento e a mecânica do falso encanto da memória são desconhecidos, mas são claramente dois feitiços distintos. JKR abordou a diferença entre os dois no Live Chat Bloomsbury em 2007:
Laura Trego: Did Hermione really put a memory charm on her parents? She says she did but then about 50 pages later tells Ron she has never done a memory charm.
J.K. Rowling: They are two different charms. She has not wiped her parents' memories (as she later does to Dolohov and Rowle); she has bewitched them to make them believe that they are different people.