Dance might not be the first thing you’d associate with the Harry Potter franchise, but with a number of high-octane and carefully staged wand battles required for Order of the Phoenix, director David Yates brought expert choreographer Paul Harris on board. Harris, having worked across film and TV before (he choreographed the laser scene in Entrapment) seemed like the perfect choice to develop each spell-casting move.

Total film caught up with Harris at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour for a quick lesson in wand technique, and gave us the top 10 ingredients for the perfect wand battle.

Step one - a flair for dance.....

“It’s a dance battle” explains Harris as he talks Total Film through the different moves he developed for the Harry Potter franchise’s duelling scenes. Harris was brought in to create a wholly new universal wand-technique with elements of ballet, salsa and perhaps just a little bit of kung fu. Any witch or wizard worth their salt would need to be able to swivel those hips to let the magic happen.