Magical objects in Harry Potter
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In the Harry Potter series, many magical objects exist for the use of the characters.
[edit] Letters and signs
[edit] The Dark Mark
The Dark Mark is Lord Voldemort's symbol, and at the height of his power, it was sent up in the air when any one of his followers murdered someone. The Mark is also magically imprinted onto the Death Eaters' left forearms. It consists of a skull with a serpent emerging from its mouth. According to Snape, the Dark Mark can be triggered by Voldemort to glow and burn (by using the Protean Charm, as we saw Hermione use on the DA coins in book 5); this is intended to serve as a summons for the Death Eaters. The version Dark Mark that is sent up in the air is cast by pointing one's wand in the air, and incanting the word "morsmordre"; it is unknown how the tattoo or summoning is done.
[edit] Letters
Witches and wizards can write words in the air with their wands.
Dumbledore writes the lyrics to the Hogwarts school song in the air in the first novel. Tom Riddle, at the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, does this to show that I am Lord Voldemort is an anagram of Tom Marvolo Riddle. It is possible that this is an unspoken form of the Flagrate spell that Hermione uses to mark doors in the Department of Mysteries in the fifth book.
[edit] Potions
[edit] Prank objects
[edit] Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
[edit] Other
- Dungbomb
- Explodes into a large and extremely smelly mess.
- Fanged Frisbees
- Literally frisbees with fangs. First seen in Half Blood Prince. It whirled around the room changing course with a mind of its own, taking a bite out of a curtain, after Ron Weasley threw one in the Gryffindor common room. May be capable of causing damage.
- Pygmy Puffs
- Miniature puffskeins.
- Screaming yo-yos
- Presumably screams loudly when worked.
- Stink Pellets
- Used to distract prefects and teachers, and gives an unpleasant smell.
- Ever-bashing boomerangs
- Presumably hit their target repeatedly after being thrown. They are banned at Hogwarts.
[edit] Transportation
It should be noted that a major form of transportation in the Harry Potter universe is apparation and disapparation, which is a spell that does not involve artifacts of any kind.
[edit] Broomsticks
Broomsticks are used for transportation by wizards and witches of all ages and for the game of Quidditch. Their use is similar to flying carpets, although those are banned in England.
Broomsticks are treated as a major consumer product in the wizard world. There are numerous brands and models of brooms, that all vary in their capabilities (see Broomsticks in Harry Potter). These range from expensive high-performance models that come out every year, to toy broomsticks for young children which only fly a few feet off the ground. The cultural significance of broomsticks is similar to that of cars.
As Harry Potter plays Quidditch, he receives several brooms as gifts over the course of the books. These are usually state-of-the-art broomsticks, including a Nimbus 2000 and a Firebolt.
[edit] Floo powder
Floo powder is a glittering powder used by wizards to travel and communicate using fireplaces. It was invented by Ignatia Wildsmith (1227-1320) and named after the passageway which leads from a fireplace to the chimney so hot gases can escape, or flue (which did not exist at the supposed time of invention).
Floo powder can be used with any fireplace connected to the Floo Network. To transport from one fireplace to another, the traveller throws a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace (if a fire is lit, it will turn green), states the intended destination in a clear voice, then steps into the fire. Alternatively, the traveller can stand in the fireplace, then throw the powder at their feet. Floo Powder can also be used for communication, a wizard or witch can kneel in front of the fire and stick their head in, which will appear in the fire at another fireplace.
In the second book the Weasleys travelled to Diagon Alley by Floo powder. Harry did not say "Diagon Alley" clearly, so he was instead sent to Borgin and Burkes shop, in Knockturn Alley. In the fourth book, Arthur Weasley uses his position at the Ministry of Magic to have the Dursleys' fireplace temporarily connected to the Floo network, unaware that the fireplace had been bricked up. Sirius Black uses the network to communicate with Harry in the same book. In the fifth book, Harry puts himself in considerable risk using Dolores Umbridge's fireplace to communicate with Sirius Black, because Umbridge is monitoring all other lines of communication in and out of Hogwarts.
[edit] Flying carpets
Flying carpets are an alternative wizarding type of transportation, possibly around the world, but illegal in Europe (or at least in England). Usually they are a thick rug, frequently highly patterned and often manufactured in the Middle East. The obvious advantage of the carpet over the broomstick is that they can seat a number of people, and are probably more comfortable to ride.
Flying Carpets were once an accepted form of travel for the magical community, but they are now banned due to being defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. It is therefore now against wizarding law to charm carpets or fly them in Britain, although they are still legal in other countries. Arthur Weasley was very much involved in the introduction of this legislation due to his position in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. It is known that the ban was relatively recent, not only from Arthur's involvement, but also from the fact that Barty Crouch Senior's grandfather owned a 12-seater Axminster back in the days before they were prohibited.
A merchant by the name of Ali Bashir is very keen to export flying carpets to Britain and is very upset that local laws are preventing him from doing so. He regularly berates Arthur about the subject but it is very unlikely that the law will be changed.
[edit] Hogwarts Express
The Hogwarts Express is ridden by students between London and Hogsmeade. The train starts from King's Cross railway station platform 9¾, which is invisible to Muggle eyes and is reached through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.
[edit] Knight Bus
The Knight Bus is a heavily enchanted, violently purple, triple-decker bus which transports magical folk.
The bus functions as public transportation for the wizard or witch in need everywhere in England, Scotland and Wales, bringing passengers to the destinations of their choice with seemingly no set route. It bolts through the streets, entirely invisible to Muggles and causing other objects to dodge it (rather than dodging the objects) to cover short distances. For long ones, the Knight Bus makes hundred-mile (160 km) leaps accompanied by a great bang and jolt, possibly similar to Apparating. The interior of the bus changes or is changed depending on the time of day, having chairs by day and beds by night. Its only limit in travelling is that it can't enter water.
The Knight Bus is generally used only by those who can't or won't choose another means of transportation. The jolts make travelling a severely uncomfortable experience. While the bus is lightning-fast by Muggle standards, still faster are near-instananeous Floo powder and Apparating. It charges for the service; Harry was charged 11 Sickles to travel from Little Whinging to Diagon Alley.
The conductor of the Knight Bus is Stan Shunpike, and its driver is Ernie Prang. The bus makes its début along with its staff in the third book as Harry Potter unwittingly "hails" the Knight Bus by holding his wand out in front of him as he is standing on Magnolia Crescent. Harry also rides on the Knight Bus with a number of his friends in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film, Stan and Ernie are accompanied by a talking shrunken head voiced by Lenny Henry.
Stan and Ernie are the Christian names of Rowling's grandfathers. A shunpike is a back road used to avoid tolls on a turnpike (or a person who habitually uses them), while "prang" is British slang for crashing a car or other form of transport (a word much used by RAF pilots in World War II).
[edit] Portkeys
Portkeys are first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Once created by using the Portus spell, a portkey can be set to transport anybody who touches it to a designated location, or to become active at a pre-determined time and transport to that location anybody who happens to be touching it at the moment.
According to Harry it causes a jerk in one's navel. Then the user is thrown upon the ground, however experienced wizards can land on their feet (such as Cedric Diggory, Arthur Weasley, and Amos Diggory all who are of age when Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione landed on their backs or stomachs).
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Jr., who was impersonating Alastor Moody, made the Triwizard Tournament cup a portkey so it would transport anybody who touched it straight to the hands of Voldemort, expecting it would be Harry Potter. However, Harry took the cup together with Cedric Diggory, so Voldemort had Cedric murdered with Avada Kedavra.
It has been noted by some fans that the simplicity with which Portkeys are created in the beginning of the fourth book (as a method for transportation to the Quidditch World Cup) and in the fifth book causes a possible plot hole in the fourth book: Crouch, posing as Moody, could have turned, say, a book, into a Portkey, called Harry into his office, and said, "Here, take this." This would have eliminated the need for Moody's entering Harry in the Triwizard tournament and guiding Harry through it, and the majority of the fourth book.
However, several reasonable assumptions can explain this. Since Hogwarts has an anti-apparition enchantment, it would make sense for the creation of Portkeys on the grounds to be restricted. Moody would still be able to make the Triwizard Cup a portkey, if it was supposed to be a Portkey anyway, to transport the winner out of the maze. This would explain why the portkey took Harry back to Hogwarts and out of the maze when he touched the Cup the second time instead of back into the maze at Hogwarts. The creation of portkeys may be highly restricted in general; although Dumbledore is able to set up an "Unauthorised Portkey" in the fifth book, it is treated as a serious crime; Fudge is upset that Dumbledore would create one in front of him, and at one point Lupin says "...it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorised Portkey."
It should also be noted that Voldemort may initially have intended to make his return public (Sirius points out that his comeback 'didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to', although quite how he could know this is unexplained), and has a predilection for overcomplex plots (as Wormtail noted, he could have used the blood of any enemy and returned at the beginning of the book). It is possible that he intended to cause maximum chaos to the wizarding world by murdering Harry and returning to his former position in as spectacular a manner as possible.
[edit] Time-Turners
A Time-Turner is a device in the magical world of Harry Potter, that allows for time travel.
Hermione Granger received a Time-Turner from Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so she could attend more classes than time would normally allow. Hermione is ordered to keep it a secret from everyone, including Harry and Ron, although they do notice the impossibility of her schedule, and several bizarre disappearances and reappearances. Hermione lets Harry in on the secret near the end of the book, where she and Harry use the Time-Turner to save Sirius Black and Buckbeak.
Hermione's Time-Turner resembled an hourglass pendant on a necklace. The hourglass pendant would be twisted to move through time, and the number of turns on the hourglass corresponded to the number of hours one travelled back in time. It would appear that traveller is transported back to the general area where he or she was at the moment in time they arrive at. (Note: in the film, Hermione uses three turns just before midnight, and she and Harry are 'transported' back to approximately 7:30pm; this indicates that each turn of the Time-Turner translates to about 90 minutes.)
A large supply of Time-Turners is kept at the Ministry of Magic, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the entire supply of Time-Turners is destroyed by Harry Potter and the Death Eaters during the fight for the prophecy.
The possibility of time travel may seem to bring up many plot holes, but it is mostly used for trivial tasks that have no real effect on time as a whole. In the one notable use of the Time-Turner within canon (to save Buckbeak and Sirius), nothing was 'changed': rather, the events (such as the saving of Buckbeak, the intervention of the Patronus) had occurred even before the use of the Time Turner, which merely provided the means for Harry and Hermione to accomplish the actions. This theory of time-travel (ie "Nothing can be changed because anything a traveller does merely produces the circumstances they had noted before travelling") is strongly fatalistic, and is based upon the same general lines as Rowling's employment of Prophecy (i.e. the notion of self-fulfillment), especially the Second Prophecy - although, it should be noted that the Prophecies within canon are noted as relevant only to the degree that relevance is placed upon them, and can be avoided (it is noted in canon that Harry and Voldemort 'could' walk away and void the Prophecy if they chose to - but they instead believe in it, and cause it to be genuine), whereas the same cannot be said for Time-travel (there is no suggestion that one can change events by not acting, for example). It has not been revealed in the series if any major events (within the books plot or the Harry Potter universe as a whole) have been related to misuse of time turners.
[edit] Vanishing Cabinet
At the end of the sixth book, Hogwarts is invaded despite its magical defences against transportation spells by means of a Vanishing Cabinet. This transfers objects which go into one Cabinet to a second paired Cabinet where they emerge. One broken Cabinet was already in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. This was repaired by Draco Malfoy. At the start of book 6 he is seen in Borgin and Burkes shop in Knockturn Alley purchasing an item, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione are unable to see what it is, because he is standing behind a Cabinet. He also requests Borgin's help to repair some object. It is likely that the Vanishing Cabinet was broken in the second book, when Peeves drops it over Filch's office as a diversion.
The Vanishing Cabinet is mentioned several times in the earlier books, such as when Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington convinces Peeves to drop it (and perhaps breaking it) over Argus Filch's office in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in order to help Harry escape detention for "befouling of the castle" (tracking in mud). It was also used in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Fred and George Weasley, when they forced Montague, the Slytherin Quidditch captain and member of the Inquisitorial Squad into it when he tried to take house points from Gryffindor. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince reveals that Montague's experience led Draco Malfoy to recognize that a pair of Vanishing Cabinets could be used as a magical passage. Malfoy later uses this artifact to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. The Vanishing Cabinets have yet to appear prominently in the films; in a deleted scene (available on DVD) in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry hides in a cupboard in Borgin and Burke's.
[edit] Other magical objects
[edit] Magical sweets
A multitude of sweets are produced in the stories; many have a violent or bizarre side-effect.
Acid Pops are a type of wizarding sweet available at Honeydukes. They are magical lollipops that can burn a hole through your tongue.
Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans are a famous type of wizard sweet. They are jelly beans that come in literally every flavour. The flavours described in the book as normal are: - caramel - chocolate - coffee - marmalade - peppermint - strawberry - toffee
The ones with the "unusual" flavours are: - baked beans - bogey - curry - earwax - grass - liver - pepper - sardine - spinach - sprouts - tripe - vomit
Jelly Belly candy company produces real Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They have produced odd flavours in and out of the market since (--). Some of the "unusual" examples are: bacon - black pepper - bogey - dirt - earthworm - ear wax - grass - rotten egg - soap - sardine - spinach - vomit
Chocolate Frogs are found in the Harry Potter universe. They are frogs made of chocolate. Chocolate Frogs are each packaged with a magical collectible card giving a brief biography of a famous (in the Harry Potter universe and sometimes in other magical worlds) witch or wizard. The cards named by the Harry Potter books include:
- Agrippa
- Ptolemy
- Albus Dumbledore
- Nicolas Flamel
- Morgana
- Hengist of Woodcroft
- Alberic Grunnion
- Circe
- Paracelsus
- Merlin
- Druidess Cliodna
- Crospin Conk
- Bertie Bott
- Felix Summerbee
- Cassandra Vablatskey
Additionally, J.K. Rowling designed four Wizard Cards for the four Hogwarts founders.
We are first introduced to Chocolate Frogs in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when Harry is on the Hogwarts Express heading to Hogwarts. Having just met Ron Weasley, Harry buys a large amount of food and sweets for the two of them to share. Some of this is a pile of Chocolate Frogs. Harry opens one, to discover that the card inside is Albus Dumbledore. The films depict these chocolates as moving - this does not appear to be canonically supported.
Chocolate Frogs appear throughout the series. Some fans had speculated that members of the Order of the Phoenix used the cards found with the Frogs to communicate. J.K. Rowling has denied this. Chocolate Frogs of a sort are also available through the Cap Candy Company, though availability is limited in summer months due to the risk of them melting in transport. They each come with one holographic lenticular collector card.
Drooble's Best Blowing Gum A bubblegum that fills a room with bluebell bubbles that refuse to pop for days.
Fizzing Whizbees. A type of wizarding sweet available at Honeydukes: they make you levitate a little when you eat them. It is rumoured to contain dried Billywig stings.
Licorice Snap. Offered to Harry by Dumbledore in the movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire", licorice snap resembles a small black licorice snail shell that, when picked up, attacks a person's fingers with many sharp teeth.
Pepper Imps. A type of wizarding sweet available at Honeydukes: tiny and black, they make you breathe fire.
Peppermint Toad A peppermint cream in the shape of the toad that, once eaten, gives off the sensation that it is hopping in the stomach.
Toothflossing Stringmint An odd, splintery mint sweet that presumably cleans and flosses your teeth as you chew it.
Ice Mice A mouse-shaped candy that makes your teeth squeak and chatter.
Levitating Sherbet Balls Exactly what it sounds like.
Sugar Quills Popular among students, as they can be eaten during class.
[edit] Two-way mirrors
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gives Harry a mirror he originally used to communicate with James in detention. It is activated by holding one of them and saying the name of the other possessor, their face appears on your mirror and vice-versa. Harry forgets about it, and only remembers it upon Sirius's death, by which point it is no longer functional although it would have by far been an easier method to check if Sirius was alive. Rowling says the mirror "may have helped more than you think".
[edit] Foe-glass
A Dark detector A mirror that shows its owner's enemies in or out of focus, depending on how close they are, though, like all Dark detectors, they can be fooled, as mentioned by Harry in the fifth book at the beginning of the first D.A. meeting.
[edit] The Goblet of Fire
The Goblet of Fire is used solely to choose the school champions on the occasion of a Triwizard Tournament, in [HP4], serving as an "impartial judge" and is apparently of the possession of Albus Dumbledore. It is not known whether it has any other magical ability, though Alastor Moody (the impostor) stated once that the Goblet of Fire was "a very powerful magical object" and it is very difficult to be hoodwinked, unless if someone uses an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm.
[edit] Gubraithian fire
Gubraithian fire is first mentioned in chapter twenty of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Hagrid and Madame Maxime gave a branch of Gubraithian fire to the giant leader (Gurg) in his journey. Gubraithian fire will never die out, and it is said that only extremely skilled wizards and witches can conjure it.
The name of Gubraithian Fire is evidently taken from the Scottish Gaelic phrase "gu bràth" which means "forever" [1]. The phrase also appears in the Oil Thigh song of Queen's University (Kingston Ontario).
In addition, it is possible that Gubraithian Fire is a reference to greek fire, a type of flammable liquid used as a weapon by the Byzantine empire. Once lit, Greek fire would remain burning for long periods of time, even if doused in water (this actually made it hotter if not used sufficiently, as it would merely spread the liquid).
[edit] Horcruxes
[edit] Howler
A Howler is a bright red letter usually signifying displeasure and/or anger from the sender directed at the recipient. When it is opened, the sender's voice will bellow at the recipient with the voice magically magnified to deafening volumes before self-destructing. If it is never opened, it will explode violently and the message will be heard anyway. In the film version, the Howler folds itself into a stylized set of lips before dissolving into scraps of paper.
In Chamber of Secrets, Ron receives a Howler from his mother, Mrs Weasley after he steals his father's enchanted car and flies it to Hogwarts with Harry.
Neville Longbottom received one from his grandmother after Sirius Black used his list of passwords to enter Gryffindor Common Room in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Dumbledore sends Petunia Dursley a Howler in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to remind her of the agreement to allow Harry to live at Privet Drive when Harry's Uncle Vernon attempts to throw him out after the Dementor attack.
[edit] Invisibility Cloak
An Invisibility Cloak makes its wearer invisible. Harry Potter inherited one from his father, who had left it in the care of Albus Dumbledore and uses it throughout the books in order to sneak around the school. The Cloak is large enough for Ron and Hermione to accompany him underneath it, although this becomes more difficult as they grow throughout the series.
Invisibility Cloaks are very rare and expensive, and they are spun from the pelts of Demiguises, magical herbivores that are found in the Far East.
- Known owners
- Mad-Eye Moody (who is known to possess two; one of these is borrowed by Sturgis Podmore in the course of work for the Order of the Phoenix); he can see through them with his magical eye.
- Harry Potter; the original owner of this Cloak was his father James Potter.
- Barty Crouch Senior, who used it to hide his son.
Invisibility Cloaks can be seen through by certain people and creatures, such as Alastor Moody (because of his magical eye), and also apparently Albus Dumbledore and Mrs Norris, feline pet of Filch, caretaker of Hogwarts. Dementors, who are blind, and who sense rather than see humans, are unaffected by Cloaks.
Rowling has stated that there is an important reason for James Potter's Cloak being in the care of Albus Dumbledore.
[edit] The Marauder's Map
The Marauder's Map was created by Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter (the Marauders) as an aid in mischief-making. They gained extensive knowledge of the Hogwarts grounds from their frequent night-time adventures while transformed as animals (Black, Pettigrew and Potter being Animagi and Lupin a werewolf). They used this knowledge to create the Marauder's Map. The Map bears the names of its creators by the nicknames they used amongst themselves (which are derived from the animal they transform into): Moony (Lupin, a werewolf), Wormtail (Pettigrew, a rat), Padfoot (Black, a dog), and Prongs (Potter, a stag).
At first glance, the Map is simply a piece of blank parchment; but when the user says, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," ink lines stretch across it, revealing a map of Hogwarts (including secret passageways) and the location of everyone within the grounds. The Map also gives information on how to open secret passageways. The only place that the Marauder's Map does not show is the Room of Requirement. This was discovered by Harry when he was looking for Draco Malfoy, only to find him not in the Map. Possibly the four friends did not have know of it, or it was unplottable. The words "Mischief managed!" return the map to its original blank state.
The Map is given to Harry by Fred and George Weasley, who find it while unattended in Filch's office. It makes its first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban, and has featured in all subsequent novels.
In Prisoner of Azkaban, Professor Snape finds the Map in Harry's possession and tries to force it to reveal its secrets; the Map responds by insulting him. Professor Lupin arrives, says that he will investigate, and takes it with him. He later gives it back to Harry. The Map retains an echo of its creators' personalities, much like the Sorting Hat remembers the thoughts and opinions of the school founders. Snape, however, continues to insist that the Map contains Dark Magic.
In the book the Map is a piece of parchment; in the films, the Map appears with a cover that unfolds in two with many other folds inside each other. All the lines in the Map are made up of what at first glance are just random letters, but closer are Latin words.
In the books, there is no mention of Harry recovering the Map from the office of 'Professor Moody'; when asked, Rowling answered that Harry had indeed sneaked into the office and recovered it in the days following the Third Task. She also commented that she had intended to include a scene or mention to that effect.
[edit] The Mirror of Erised
The Mirror of Erised is a mystical mirror discovered by Harry in a back corridor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. On it is inscribed, erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi — which, when reversed, reads I show not your face but your heart's desire ("Erised" reversed is "Desire"). According to Dumbledore, the Mirror "shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts"; Harry, upon encountering the Mirror, can see his parents, as well as what appears to be a crowd of relatives; Ron sees himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain holding the Quidditch Cup (thus revealing his wish to be acknowledged in the shadow of his highly successful older brothers). Dumbledore, one of the only other characters to face the Mirror in the novel, claims to see himself holding a pair of socks, telling Harry that "...one can never have enough socks." , also lamenting that he did not receive any for Christmas. If the claim was true, it might suggest that Dumbledore is, indeed, fully content. On the other hand, as Harry suspects, he might merely have not wished to tell Harry.
The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore hid the Mirror and hid the Stone inside it. He cast a spell that made it so only a person who wanted to find the Stone, but not to use it, would be able to obtain the stone. Anyone else would see himself making an Elixir of Life or turning things to gold, rather than actually see himself find the Stone, as Professor Quirrell claimed to have seen.
[edit] Pensieve
A Pensieve is a stone receptacle in which to store memories. Covered in mystic runes, it has liquid or gas within its basin. A witch or wizard can extract their own memories or someone else's and store them in the Pensieve and review them later. It also relieves the mind when it becomes flooded with information. Anyone can examine the memories in the Pensieve, which also allows viewers to fully immerse themselves in the memories stored within, much like a magical form of virtual reality. Tom Riddle's diary seems to have this same form of virtual reality. Oddly, users of these devices view the memories from a third person view, providing a near-omniscient perspective of the events preserved. This of course, raises questions of how they are able to see things beyond what they have remembered. Rowling answered this question in an interview, confirming that memories in the pensieve allow one to view details of things that happened even if they did not notice or remember them, and stated that "that's the magic of the Pensieve, what brings it alive" [2]. The contents of a Pensieve, as mentioned in the book, look neither like smoke nor like water. The "memory" has the appearance of silver threads. Memories that have been heavily manipulated or tampered with to alter perspectives (such as Horace Slughorn's) may appear thick and jelly-like and offer obscured viewing. Memories are not limited to just those of humans, since at least one house-elf provided Dumbledore with one as well.
Pensieve is a pun: it is a sieve in that it is a device used for sifting out thoughts, and pensive means thoughtful, or full of thoughts.
Dumbledore's Pensieve first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and plays a pivotal role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
[edit] Photographs
See Portrait (Harry Potter): Photographs.
[edit] Portraits
[edit] Put-Outer
The Put-Outer is a device used by Albus Dumbledore to turn off the streetlights along a street at night. It looks like a standard cigarette lighter. It never officially receives the name "Put-Outer"; after a description of what it is and what it does, the narrator dubs it a Put-Outer. The Put-Outer makes three appearances:
- In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore uses the Put-Outer to darken Privet Drive, where the Dursley household is located. Dumbledore is expecting Rubeus Hagrid to transport the infant Harry to Privet Drive, where Dumbledore will leave him at the Dursley household. Dumbledore's Put-Outer allows Hagrid to arrive with added secrecy, which is necessary because Harry's parents have been murdered the night before. This makes the Put-Outer the first piece of magic to be shown in the novels.
- In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore loans the Put-Outer to Mad-Eye Moody, who uses it when transporting Harry from the Dursleys' home to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at 12 Grimmauld Place. The Order is a highly secret society which aims to thwart Lord Voldemort. Again the Put-Outer provides secrecy to keep Harry and the headquarters safe.
- In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore uses it again to darken Privet Drive before collecting Harry.
[edit] Quick Quotes Quill
A stenographic tool of sorts employed by Rita Skeeter which spins the words of her subjects into a form more fitting to its owner.
Rita Skeeter uses the quill to interview Harry (Inside a Hogwarts broomstick cupboard.) about his participation in the Triwizard Tournament in the movie, "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" for her column "Me myself and I" in the Harry Potter series fictitious newspaper, "The Daily Prophet". Harry continually tries to correct the inaccuracy of the quill to Rita.
This quill would also seem to be acid green and needs to be licked on the tip before it can be used.
[edit] Quidditch equipment
There are several enchanted objects needed to play Quidditch, the most obvious being flying broomsticks. All the balls in the game are enchanted in some way. The Golden Snitch is enchanted to fly around, mimicking the flight patterns of the Golden Snidget, and also to not leave the playing field. The Bludger is enchanted to fly around and try to knock players off their broomsticks. A Bludger does not focus on one player unless it has been tampered with, as was the case in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The Quaffle may appear an exception, but it is also enchanted to make it easy to grip, and to fall more slowly than normal.
[edit] Remembrall
A Remembrall is a small, clear orb that turns red if its user has forgotten something. Unfortunately, it does not tell the user what he/she has forgotten. The very forgetful Neville Longbottom is given a Remembrall in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but loses it soon after. They are forbidden to use during OWL exams.
The DVD of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone contains a software approximation of a remembrall.
[edit] Revealer
Used in Chamber of Secrets when Hermione Granger tries to make something appear in Tom Riddle's diary, this object appears to be a bright red eraser but its purpose is to make invisible ink appear.
[edit] Secrecy Sensor
In Goblet of Fire, this magical object was mentioned when Harry went into Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody's office. It is described as "An object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial." It vibrates when it detects concealment and lies. Moody mentions that its, "No use here of course, too much interference-students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework." However, it may be that this was due to the sinister intentions of Moody. Eric (the Atrium desk wizard) also uses a Secrecy Sensor on visitors to the Ministry of Magic. Secrecy Sensors, like all other Dark Detectors, can be fooled, as mentioned by Harry in the fifth book at the beginning of the first D.A. meeting. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due to Hogwart's new stringent security measures, Argus Filch is assigned to run every student entering the entrance hall of the castle with Secrecy Sensors and all the owls flying into Hogwarts, too, to detect any Dark object within the castle. Later, Hermione explains that though Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, but cannot detect love potions.
[edit] Self-Shuffling playing cards
In Chamber of Secrets, a pack of these cards is mentioned as one of the objects littering the floor of Ron's room. They are probably used to play Exploding Snap.
[edit] Sneakoscope
A Sneakoscope is a magical device which serves as a Dark Arts detector, and is described as a miniature glass spinning top that emits shrill noises in the presence of deception: for instance, when an untrustworthy person is near or when a deceitful event takes place nearby.
Sneakoscopes are first introduced in the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Ron Weasley gives Harry Potter one of the devices as a present for his 13th birthday. Bill Weasley claimed that the sneakoscope was faulty, because it howled continuously for no apparent reason once while the Weasley family were eating dinner together in Egypt, but Bill didn't realise that Fred and George had put beetles in his soup. The sneakoscope appears again on the Hogwarts Express, and again up in Harry and Ron's dormitory. Harry later discovers that Scabbers, Ron's rat, who was present each time the Sneakoscope was spinning, is actually a traitorous animagus named Peter Pettigrew.
In book four, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the somewhat paranoid Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody has several sneakoscopes that he somehow disabled (possibly related to a crack it was described as having), "It wouldn't stop whistling." However, it may have been because Mad-Eye was really Barty Crouch Jr.
[edit] The Sorting Hat
The Sorting Hat is a sentient artifact used at Hogwarts, which magically determines to which of the four school houses — Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin — each new student is to be assigned. During the opening banquet at the beginning of the school year, the First-Year students are lined up and their names read aloud alphabetically; each then takes a seat on a stool and the hat is placed on their head. After a moment of consideration, the hat announces its choice aloud for all to hear, and the student joins the selected house. The moment of consideration varies in length, from nearly a minute to less than a second. Judging from Harry's own account of his Sorting, and a brief comment made by Hermione, the hat speaks to the student while they're being Sorted.
The Sorting Hat originally belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts.
The Sorting Hat's songs vary in length and content. Before sorting the students each year, the hat recites a new introductory song. These songs occasionally warn of danger to come, as in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the hat plays a critical role in the climax of the story by coming to Harry's aid in the Chamber and providing him with Godric Gryffindor's sword. The sword and hat together make up the two known relics of that Founder.
In the movie versions of the novels, the hat is voiced by Leslie Phillips. The French translation of Sorting Hat is 'Choixpeau'.
J.K. Rowling said on her official website that the Sorting Hat is not a Horcrux.
[edit] Spellotape
Spellotape is magical adhesive tape; it is a spoof of the real life product sellotape.
Spellotape is referenced in all of the Harry Potter books, apart from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and is featured in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
[edit] Tom Riddle's diary
See: Tom Riddle's diary and horcrux.
[edit] Umbridge's quill
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry has detention with Professor Umbridge on several occasions. During these detentions, he is required to write lines (I must not tell lies), and is not released from this until Umbridges believes "the message has sunk in". Rather than use a regular quill, Umbridge makes Harry use her own quill, which is unusually sharp with a black nib. When the user writes something, the quill cuts painfully into the back of the user's hand and uses their blood as ink. When carried out repeatedly over a period of time, this can lead to permanent scarring, as shown by Harry to Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Other victims of this form of detention include Lee Jordan.
[edit] Wand
To perform feats of magic a wand is usually used. Without a wand magic is possible, but this seems to be very difficult. A wand is personal for a wizard, although other wizards' wands can be used. When Harry Potter was selecting his wand, he had to try out many wands until he found a wand that created sparks as he waved it. A wand is usually made of wood and has a core of an organic, magical object or substance. Such cores mentioned include phoenix tail feathers, unicorn tail hairs, dragon heartstrings and veela hair. Wands with cores from the same source give strange effects (Priori Incantatem) when forced to fight each other, as is the case with Harry Potter's and Lord Voldemort's wands in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Each of their wands contains a tail feather from Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Albus Dumbledore. The only named wand shop is Ollivander's owned by Ollivander. However, Ollivander briefly mentions that Viktor Krum's wand was a Gregorovitch creation and unusually thick and that Fleur Delacour's wand core (a hair from her veela grandmother) was not a core he used for it created "temperamental" wands.
See also: List of wands in Harry Potter.
[edit] Weasley Clock
The Weasley family has a clock in their home, the Burrow, with nine hands, one for every member of the family. Instead of telling the time, the clock reveals the location or status of each family member. The known locations are:
- Home
- School
- Work
- Travelling
- Lost
- Hospital
- Prison
- Mortal Peril
Only the location of "mortal peril" is known (it is situated where the numeral 12 would normally be). Throughout the first five books, the hands changed to reflect the varying statuses of the family members, but by Book Six, all nine hands had taken to pointing to "mortal peril" at all times, except when someone was travelling. Mrs Weasley took this to mean that, with Lord Voldemort having returned, everyone was technically in mortal peril.
The Weasleys are the only family mentioned to own such a clock.
[edit] Wizard's chess
Wizard's chess is a version of chess played with small pieces and a board like real chess, except that the pieces are animated. The players simply tell the pieces to move with the proper commands, which the pieces obey. The pieces attack each other in cases where an opposing player's piece would be taken, usually by breaking the opposing piece in half. Ron has a set left to him by his Uncle Bilius. Harry first plays with pieces borrowed from Seamus Finnigan, and later gets a set in one of his wizard crackers during his first Christmas at Hogwarts. During the climactic chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Harry, Ron and Hermione are involved in a life-size game of wizard's chess by becoming chess pieces in the game. They put their lives at risk because the pieces can destroy each other.
[edit] Hand of Glory
The Hand of Glory is an unpleasant instrument used by Draco Malfoy in The Half-Blood Prince, although it is never directly mentioned that Borgin and Burkes sold it to him (Draco asks his father to purchase it; Mr Malfoy comments that he is already buying Draco a broom, and comments that he is selling, not buying). It is a large shrivelled hand, often displayed on a cushion in the shop. When it is given a candle, it gives light only to the one holding the hand although it has been stated that the candle only lasts a short amount of time.
In the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Hand appears in Borgin and Burkes. When Harry examines it, it attempts to break his wrist.
[edit] External links
- Magical objects on the Harry Potter Wiki
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