Magical objects in Harry Potter

Contents

The following is a list of magical objects in Harry Potter. These objects exist for the use of the characters in the series by J. K. Rowling.

Communication

Enchanted Coins

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione Granger creates fake, enchanted Galleons that are used for communication between members of Dumbledore's Army. Like real Galleons, the coins have numerals around the edge; on normal Galleons these serial numbers indicate which goblin cast the coin, but on the enchanted coins, the numbers represent the time and date of the next meeting, and change automatically to match whatever numbers Harry Potter sets on his coin. The coins become hot when the numbers change to alert the members to look at their coins. These Enchanted Coins were created using Protean Charms.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Draco Malfoy uses a pair of enchanted coins to bypass the communication limits then placed around Hogwarts, thus managing to keep in contact with Madam Rosmerta, whom he had placed under the Imperius Curse. Draco reveals he got the idea from Hermione's DA coins, which were themselves inspired by Lord Voldemort's use of the Dark Mark to communicate with his Death Eaters.

Howler

A Howler is a blood red letter sent to signify extreme anger or to convey a message loudly and in public. On opening it, the sender's voice, magically magnified to a deafening volume, will bellow a message at the recipient and then destroy itself. If it is not opened or there is a delay in opening it, the letter will start smouldering, explode violently, and shout the message out even louder than normal.[HP2] In the film version, the Howler folds itself into an origami-style set of lips, shouts the message out and then shreds itself into scraps of paper.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron Weasley receives a Howler from his mother, Molly Weasley, after he steals his father's enchanted car and flies it to Hogwarts with Harry. Neville Longbottom confessed that he once got a howler from his grandma. He said he ignored it, and said the result was horrible. Neville Longbottom receives another Howler from his grandmother after Sirius Black uses his list of passwords to enter the Gryffindor Common Room in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Hermione receives one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire after Rita Skeeter publishes an article in which she makes up a relationship between Hermione and Harry. However, in the film of the fourth Harry Potter movie, it does not show or say anything about it. Albus 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. Also, in this same movie, Harry receives a grey coloured howler from the Ministry of Magic.

Concealers

Invisibility Cloaks

See also: Harry's Cloak of Invisibility

Within the Harry Potter universe, an invisibility cloak is used to make the wearer invisible. There are a number of different types of invisibility cloaks. All are very rare and expensive, and they may be spun from pelts of the Demiguise, magical herbivores that are found in the Far East. They can be ordinary cloaks as well with a Disillusionment Charm or a Bedazzlement Hex placed on them. Over time, these cloaks will lose their invisibility ability, eventually becoming opaque and vulnerable to being penetrated by various spells. However, Harry's cloak, being a Deathly Hallow, is a true cloak of invisibility, and can remain invisible for ages, passed down from father and son. It is also apparently resistant to the Summoning Charm [1]

Invisibility cloaks hide the presence of the wearer by visual detection only, meaning that it does not stop people from being solid. Alastor Moody's magically charmed eye, however, is able to penetrate them. Creatures such as cats (Mrs. Norris) and snakes (Nagini) rely more heavily on other senses unaffected by visibility (smell, hearing), so the cloaks are less effective in hiding from them. The Dementors in the books have no sense of sight and instead sense human despair, a sense unhindered by the use of an invisibility cloak.

Apart from Harry's cloak, Moody is known to possess two. One of these was borrowed by Sturgis Podmore in the course of work for the Order of the Phoenix. Barty Crouch Senior possessed one as well, as he used it to hide his son.

Deluminator (Put-Outer)

Dumbledore is using his Deluminator in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Deluminator is a device invented by Albus Dumbledore that looks like a standard cigarette lighter. It is used to remove or absorb and later return the light from a light source to provide secrecy to the user. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore uses the Deluminator to darken Privet Drive, where the Dursley family household is located. It was next seen in Order of the Phoenix where Dumbledore loans the Deluminator to Moody, who uses it when transporting Harry from the Dursleys' home to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore uses the Deluminator again to darken Privet Drive before collecting Harry.

Finally in Deathly Hallows, it is first referred to as the Deluminator. It is bequeathed to Ron by Dumbledore. After Ron had left his friends in anger, the Deluminator demonstrated the additional capability of a homing device. Ron hears the voice of Hermione through the device when she says his name and, when he clicks it, the emitted light enters his body and allows him to locate and Apparate to the vicinity of Harry and Hermione's camp. Rowling stated that Dumbledore left it to Ron because he believed he might have needed a little more guidance than Harry and Hermione.[2]

Dark objects

Hand of Glory

The Hand of Glory is described as a large shrivelled hand displayed on a cushion in Borgin and Burkes. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry puts his hand in one, he had difficulty removing it. When a candle is placed in the hand, it gives light only to the person wielding it. It was first seen in Chamber of Secrets, when Draco and his father, Lucius Malfoy, visited Borgin & Burkes, a Dark Arts shop in Knockturn Alley. Lucius denied Draco's request to buy it, saying it was a tool for a common thief. In the sixth book, Draco uses it when leaving the Room of Requirement, escaping from Ron and a few Dumbledore's Army members after using the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

Horcruxes

Main article: Horcrux

Other Dark Items

Forbidden Books include:

Unnamed items known to be found at Borgin & Burkes:

Items known to be found in Knockturn Alley:

Items which can be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place:

Deathly Hallows

The sign of the Deathly Hallows represents all three objects symbolically: the Wand, the Stone, and the Cloak.

The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects that are the focus of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The form, function, and purpose of each of the Hallows are revealed as the plot of the novel progresses. In the course of their investigation into Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione speak with Xenophilius Lovegood who explains that the search for the legendary Hallows is referred to as the Quest. Also, very few actually believe this story, though many, like Viktor Krum, believe the sign of the Deathly Hallows to be the mark of Gellert Grindelwald.

According to The Tale of the Three Brothers, the Peverell brothers found Death. Death gave them a choice of anything they wanted; the first brother chose a wand that could not be defeated in battle, the second asked for a way to bring back someone from death, and the third selected a cloak that made the wearer invisible to hide from Death himself. According to Rowling, the story about how these objects came into existence is based upon Geoffrey Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale.[3]

Elder Wand

The Elder Wand, known throughout history as the Deathstick and the Wand of Destiny, is an extremely powerful wand made of elder wood with a core of Thestral tail hair.[4] It is supposedly the most powerful wand in existence, and when used by its true master, he or she cannot be defeated in a duel; though according to Dumbledore, this is false, for he had beaten the Elder Wand in his epic battle with the legendary dark wizard, Grindelwald.[5] It also appears, as the wand is somewhat sentient (as are all wands), that it will not allow itself to cause real harm to its true master. As stated by Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker, the wand will never fully work for the new user unless he or she directly disarms, stuns or kills (even in Muggle fashion) the previous master. Rowling has stated that the wand is brutal in its choice of master, and that, whilst most wands have some allegiance to their own masters, the Elder Wand only responds to power. If a master dies naturally without ever being defeated, the wand's power will die for any following owner, since it was never won from the former.

The power of the Elder Wand was first shown in the story, as Antioch, the first and oldest brother, had a duel with an enemy he had long wanted to defeat. He won, and left his enemy dead on the floor.

After boasting of his unbeatable wand, Antioch Peverell was murdered in his sleep by a rival wanting to claim the wand. Ever since, power-hungry wizards have sought the wand. It eventually came to the possession of Gregorovitch, a Bulgarian wandmaker. Gregorovitch boasted about possessing the Elder Wand, believing it would boost his popularity, and he tried to reverse engineer its secrets as he faced competition from Ollivander. It subsequently fell to Gellert Grindelwald, who stole it from Gregorovitch. Ultimately Grindelwald was defeated by Dumbledore, who then assumed control of the wand, it being the "only hallow [he] was fit to possess, not to boast of it or kill with it, but to tame it."

When Dumbledore arranged his own death with Severus Snape, he meant for Snape to "end up with the Elder Wand". Because his death would not have been the result of his defeat, Dumbledore hoped this might break the wand's power. However, since Draco Malfoy had disarmed Dumbledore, the plan failed and Draco unwittingly became the wand's new master. After Dumbledore's death, the wand was placed inside his tomb.

In the final book, Voldemort learns about the wand and goes on a search for it, and eventually knows that Dumbledore possessed the wand. He opens Dumbledore's tomb and claims the wand as his own. Only later does he learn that he cannot be the master of the wand, as he did not gain the ownership from its previous owner. Assuming Snape is its current master, Voldemort slays Snape, not realizing that the wand's allegiance was to Draco (even though Draco never had the Elder Wand physically in his possession); furthermore, Harry later took Draco's wand (although that was not the Elder Wand), and thus the Elder Wand's allegiance changed to Harry, before Voldemort took physical possession of the wand. In the Battle of Hogwarts, the Elder Wand recognizes Harry as its true master, and when confronted with Harry's Expelliarmus charm, the wand causes Voldemort's final Killing Curse to rebound and kill him. After repairing his damaged holly and phoenix feather wand with the Elder Wand, Harry intends to return it to Dumbledore's tomb, in the hope of fulfilling Dumbledore's original plan: for the reigning owner of the Elder Wand to die a natural death, thus ending its bloody trail of violence.

Rowling revealed in an interview that the first working title for Deathly Hallows was Harry Potter and the Elder Wand.[6]

Resurrection Stone

The Resurrection Stone allows the holder to communicate with the dead. According to the fairy tale concerning the origin of the Deathly Hallows, using the Resurrection Stone drove its original owner, Cadmus Peverell, to commit suicide after seeing his deceased fiancée but being unable to be truly with her. By the time the stone was seen in Marvolo Gaunt's possession, it had been set into a ring that bore the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, which Gaunt believed to be the Peverell coat of arms. Both Dumbledore and Grindelwald desired the stone, but for different reasons. While Dumbledore wanted it to communicate with his dead family, Grindelwald intended to use it to create an army of Inferi. Voldemort turned the ring into a Horcrux, not knowing its magical nature.

Dumbledore recovered the ring from Marvolo's estate, recognizing it as both a Horcrux and one of the Deathly Hallows. Forgetting that it was a Horcrux, and that Voldemort likely cursed it when he turned it into one, and motivated by personal desire, Dumbledore attempted to use the Resurrection Stone to talk to his deceased family. However, the curse destroyed his hand and began to spread throughout his body. Though the spreading was partly contained in the destroyed and blackened hand by Snape, Dumbledore was doomed, having at most a year to live.

The stone was later passed to Harry through Dumbledore's will, hidden inside the Snitch that Harry caught in his first-ever Quidditch match with his mouth, nearly swallowing it. The Snitch revealed the message "I open at the close" when touched by Harry's lips. Harry is unable to open the Snitch until he is about to die, and he realizes that "the close" means the end, or his death. Harry uses the stone to summon his parents, Sirius, and Remus Lupin to comfort him before he meets Voldemort. The stone slips through Harry's numb fingers in the Forbidden Forest. He and Dumbledore's portrait later agreed that Harry would neither search for it nor tell others where it is. In a 2007 interview, Rowling said she would like to believe that a centaur's hoof pushed it into the ground, burying it forever.[3]

Cloak of Invisibility

According to the legend, the Cloak of Invisibility has the power to shield the wearer from being seen by Death. It is a true invisibility cloak, in the sense of being able to completely shield the wearer from sight, and cannot be worn out by time or spells. In Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that Harry's cloak is in fact one of the Deathly Hallows. It originally belonged to Ignotus Peverell. After his death, the cloak was passed down from father to son through Peverell's descendants to James Potter.[7] The cloak was not in James's possession the night he was murdered; he had previously lent it to Dumbledore, who was greatly interested in the Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore returned the cloak to Harry several years later as a Christmas present during his first year at Hogwarts. Harry uses the cloak throughout the series in order to sneak around the school on various adventures. In Book 7, Xenophilius Lovegood describes the Third Hallow as being a "true" cloak of invisibility: other cloaks will lose their ability to conceal the wearer over time or become worn out, but the Hallow cloak will never fade or become damaged. It is large enough for Ron and Hermione to accompany him, and they frequently do, although this becomes increasingly difficult as they grow up throughout the series. At the end of Book 7, Dumbledore explains to Harry that the Cloak's true magic is that it can shield and protect others as well as its owner. This is apparent when it does not respond to a Death Eater's Summoning Charm while concealing Harry, Ron and Hermione in Book 7.

While making the wearer invisible to Muggles and wizards, some creatures are able to sense people hidden under it. Snakes, for example, cannot see through the Cloak of Invisibility, but they can sense movement and heat, and therefore can detect people under it. Mrs. Norris, the cat, also seems to see Harry when he wears the cloak. Wearers can also be detected by the "Homenum Revelio" spell.[3] In Goblet of Fire, Moody's magical eye could sense Harry under the cloak. In the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore warns that the Dementors' perception of humans is unhindered by invisibility cloaks, as they sense people through emotions.[8]

Detectors

Foe-glass

A Foe-glass is a mirror that detects and shows its owner's enemies in or out of focus, depending on how close they are. However, like all Dark detectors, it can be fooled, as mentioned by Harry in the fifth book at the beginning of the first D.A. meeting. Moody, actually Barty Crouch Jr in disguise, claimed that when the figures are most focused, they are nearest.The Foe-Glass is hanging in the room of requirement in the 5th book when Harry uses the room of requirement for D.A. meetings.

Probity Probe

A Probity Probe detects spells of concealment and hidden magical objects. The detector made its first appearance in Order of the Phoenix as thin and golden in colour. After Voldemort's return, Probes are used as part of the increased security at Gringotts. They are last seen when Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrive at Gringotts in "The Deathly Hallows" to rob the vault of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Remembrall

A Remembrall is a small, clear orb, containing smoke that turns red when detecting that the user has forgotten something. Unfortunately, it does not tell the user what he/she has forgotten which makes it somewhat worthless. The very forgetful Neville Longbottom is sent a Remembrall by his grandmother in Philosopher's Stone. In Harry's first year, Draco Malfoy steals and throws it during flying lessons, causing Harry to pursue it on his broomstick and catch it "inches from the ground." This first example of Harry's prowess on a broomstick earns him the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch squad. Remembralls are forbidden from being used during the O.W.L. exams, because students can tell if they have written a wrong answer.

The DVD of Philosopher's Stone contains a software approximation of a Remembrall.

Revealer

A Revealer is a bright red eraser, used to make invisible ink appear. It made its first appearance in Chamber of Secrets when Hermione tried to make something appear in Tom Riddle's diary.

Secrecy Sensor

The Secrecy Sensor is a dark detector 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 it is, "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 (actually Barty Crouch Jr. using Polyjuice Potion).

In Order of the Phoenix, it is shown that Secrecy Sensors are used at the Atrium Desk in the Ministry of Magic upon visitors to the government locale. Later in the book, Harry mentions that they can be easily fooled like its other dark-detecting counterparts. In Half-Blood Prince, due to Hogwarts's new stringent security measures, Argus Filch is assigned to run every student entering the castle with Secrecy Sensors. All the owls flying into Hogwarts, too, are placed under this measure to detect that no Dark object enters the castle through mail. Later, Hermione explains that though Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, they cannot detect love potions, as they are not dark.

Sneakoscope

A Sneakoscope serves as a Dark Arts detector. The device 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 introduced in Prisoner of Azkaban when Harry receives a pocket-sized version from Ron for his 13th birthday. 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 is present each time the Sneakoscope is spinning, is actually a traitorous Animagus named Peter Pettigrew. In Goblet of Fire, the somewhat paranoid Moody has several sneakoscopes that he somehow disabled (possibly related to a crack it was described as having), claiming, "It wouldn't stop whistling." However, it was later revealed that Mad-Eye was really Barty Crouch Jr under the effects of the Polyjuice Potion, thus explaining the constant alerts in his presence. Finally in Deathly Hallows, Hermione gives Harry a Sneakoscope for his seventeenth birthday which they later use to help as a lookout while in hiding.

Weasley family clock

The Weasleys have a special 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, Quidditch, and Mortal Peril. The Weasleys are the only family mentioned in the series to own such a clock. Dumbledore calls the clock "wonderful" and seems impressed by it, suggesting that it is an extremely powerful object.

The location mortal peril is situated on the round clock where the numeral 12 would normally be. Throughout the first five books, the hands change to reflect the varying statuses of the family members, but by the sixth book, all nine hands point to mortal peril at all times, except when someone is travelling. Mrs Weasley takes this to mean that, with Voldemort having returned, everyone is always in mortal peril, but she cannot verify this, because she does not know anyone else who has a clock like hers.[HP6]

Games

Gobstones

Gobstones is one of the many magical games played by young wizards in the books, along with Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap. Gobstones is similar to the real games of marbles and pétanque, except that in Gobstones, the balls spit, or gob, a foul smelling liquid in the face of the opposing player when they lose a point. Hogwarts students are seen playing Gobstones throughout the books, and there is even a Gobstones Club at the school. It is also noted in the Harry Potter series that Eileen Prince (Severus Snape's mother) was captain of Hogwart's Gobstone club, as a student, at age 15.

Quidditch equipment

Quidditch Equipment includes a quaffle, which the chasers need to get through the 3 hoops on the field, 2 bludgers which fly around attempting to disturb and knock people off their brooms (the beaters have bats to hit the bludgers away from team mates and themselves), and the golden snitch, a very fast and near impossible to see golden orb the size of a walnut with wings, which the seeker on each team chases to finish the game and gain 150 points.The Quidditch players wear gloves and some protection equipment also.

Self-Shuffling Playing Cards

In Chamber of Secrets, a pack of Self-Shuffling cards is mentioned as one of the objects littering the floor of Ron's room.[9]

Wizard's Chess

Wizard's chess is played with pieces and a board like real chess, except that the pieces are animated and they destroy each other if they land on an opponent's square.[10] The players simply tell the pieces to move using algebraic chess notation, and the pieces obey. The pieces attack each other in cases where an opposing player's piece would be taken, usually by knocking the captured piece out and dragging it off the board. Ron has a set left to him by his grandfather and Harry first plays with pieces borrowed from Seamus Finnigan, (it is said that the pieces kept shouting him advice because they did not trust him).[HP1] Harry later gets a set of his own in one of his wizard crackers during his first Christmas at Hogwarts. During the climactic chapters of Philosopher's Stone Harry, Ron and Hermione become human chess pieces, in a life-sized game of wizard's chess, thus risking their lives. Ron responds to the first move by using the Scandinavian Defence to verify that the chess pieces are enchanted and can smash each other. Later in the game, Ron sacrifices himself leading to Harry successfully checkmating the opposing King.[11]

Recently, the company Deagostini released a magazine series called Harry Potter Chess, which is based on the life-sized game near the end of the film version of Philosopher's Stone and each piece is specially animated. The chess pieces that come with it are based on the life-sized pieces in the film. Arco Toys and others also have a Wizards Chess Set.[12]

Exploding Snap

Exploding Snap is a wizarding card game in which the cards spontaneously explode during games. The game is popular with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students. Harry and Ron are held back from investigating why spiders were fleeing Hogwarts because the twins Fred and George Weasley delayed them with such a game. Ron Weasley singed his eyebrows while building a card house with Exploding Snap cards. In the Order of the Phoenix, Lee Jordan is punished by Dolores Umbridge for saying that she cannot tell them off for playing this game as one of her Educational Decrees states that teachers can only talk about subjects they are paid to teach.

Legendary magical artefacts

Goblet of Fire

The Goblet as seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Goblet of Fire is a goblet made of wood and is used at the beginning of every Triwizard Tournament. It is used solely to choose the participating school champions, serving as an "impartial judge".[HP4] Slips of paper with the names of potential candidates are placed in the Goblet and, at the designated time, a representative from each school is chosen when the slip of paper containing their name spouts forth from the Goblet in a fountain of magical fire. The fake Moody stated once that the Goblet of Fire was "an exceptionally powerful magical object" and it is very difficult to be hoodwinked, unless someone uses an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm.

During its use in Goblet of Fire, it is placed in the entrance hall and surrounded by an "age line," a charm placed by Dumbledore to prevent under-age wizards from entering the tournament. When not in use, the goblet is kept in a jewelled casket.

Godric Gryffindor's Sword

Gryffindor's sword is a goblin-made sword adorned with large rubies on the pommel. It was once owned by Godric Gryffindor, one of the medieval founders of Hogwarts. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry draws the Sword out of the Sorting Hat to kill a basilisk. The sword also plays a role in Deathly Hallows, where it is revealed to have been imbued with basilisk venom (as the Sword absorbs anything that would make it stronger), and is used to destroy three of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Because the Sword was goblin-forged, it is indestructible and according to Griphook the goblin, the Sword was originally forged by the goblin Ragnuk the First and "stolen" (purchased) by Gryffindor. The Sword was stolen (or retrieved, as goblins would say) by Griphook when the Sword fell from Harry's grasp during the raid on Bellatrix Lestrange's vault in book seven. However, it again returned to human hands later in the book, when Neville pulled it out of the Sorting Hat and used it to decapitate Nagini, Voldemort's snake. This shows that apparently, no matter where the sword happened to be at the time, it would reappear in the hat when a true member of Gryffindor house is in need of it.

Rowling has confirmed in her webchat that Gryffindor did not steal the sword from Ragnuk and that this belief is merely part of Griphook's goblin mistrust and prejudice against wizards.[13]

Philosopher's Stone

Based upon the ancient alchemical idea of the Philosopher's stone, the Philosopher's Stone (renamed the Sorcerer's Stone in the American version) is a stone, owned by Nicolas Flamel. The stone is legendary in that it changes all metals to gold, and can be used to brew an elixir that can make the drinker immortal. The Philosopher's Stone is seen only in the first book. It was destroyed at the end of the book by Dumbledore with Flamel's agreement.

Sorting Hat

The Sorting Hat is a sapient artefact used at Hogwarts, which magically determines to which of the four schoolhouses - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin - each new student is to be assigned. During the opening banquet at the beginning of the school year, the hat is placed on every First-Year student's head. The hat will announce its choice aloud, and the student joins the selected house. Judging from Harry's own account of his Sorting, and a brief comment made by Hermione in the 5th book (where she says that the hat almost sent her to Ravenclaw), the hat speaks to the student while they're being sorted and is willing to take the student's preferences into account when it makes its decision. However, sometimes, he does not have the need to do so: for instance, the hat barely touched Draco Malfoy's head before sending him to Slytherin. The Sorting Hat had a difficult time placing Harry, almost placing him into Slytherin house before he requested specifically and emphatically not to be. The Hat instead placed him into Gryffindor, the house of his father. Rowling has stated that the reason for the hat's indecision as to which house to place him into was because it sensed the part of Voldemort's soul within Harry. The Sorting Hat originally belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. Due to its age, it appears "patched and frayed and extremely dirty." Before sorting the students each year, the hat recites a new introductory song. These songs occasionally warn of danger to come, as in Order of the Phoenix. The Sorting Hat's songs vary in length and content, but always include a brief description of each house.

The Sorting Hat has shown the ability to conjure the sword of Gryffindor from under its brim on two instances; in Chamber of Secrets, it provides the sword to Harry, and in Deathly Hallows, it delivers the sword to Neville. Dumbledore makes it clear in Chamber of Secrets that only a true Gryffindor can summon the sword in this fashion. In Deathly Hallows the Sorting Hat is set on fire by Voldemort, although it appears the hat was not destroyed, as Neville was able to draw the Sword of Gryffindor from it immediately after. In the epilogue at the end of Deathly Hallows, the Hat's survival is confirmed, as Harry tells his youngest son that, if he really did not want to be sorted into Slytherin the Hat would take his preference into consideration.

In the first two Harry Potter films, the hat is voiced by actor Leslie Phillips. Its songs are not heard in the films, and it has folds and tears that make it appear to have "eyes" and a "mouth".

Mirrors

The Mirror of Erised

The Mirror of Erised is a mystical mirror discovered by Harry in a back corridor of Hogwarts in Philosopher's Stone. On it is inscribed, erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi - which, when mirrored and correctly spaced, reads I show not your face but your heart's desire. Also erised reversed is desire, so it is the mirror of desire. 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 out of the shadow of his highly successful older brothers, as well as his more popular friend, Harry). Dumbledore cautions Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth and that men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they see.

Dumbledore, one of the few 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", and lamenting that he did not receive any for Christmas, since people will insist on giving him books. However, it is suggested in Deathly Hallows that what he really sees is his entire family alive and well and happy together again.[14]

The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to the Philosopher's Stone in the first book. Dumbledore hid the Mirror and hid the Stone inside it, knowing that only a person who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to obtain the stone. Anyone else would see him or herself making an Elixir of Life or turning things to gold, rather than actually finding the Stone.

Two-way mirrors

In Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gives Harry a mirror he originally used to communicate with James in detention. That mirror is a part of a set of Two-way Mirrors that are activated by holding one of them and saying the name of the other possessor, causing his or her face to appear on the caller's mirror and vice versa. Harry receives this mirror from Sirius in a package after spending his Christmas holiday at Grimmauld Place. Harry, at first, chooses not to open the package, although he does discover the mirror after Sirius's death, by which point it is no longer functional. It makes its second appearance in Half-Blood Prince when Mundungus Fletcher loots Grimmauld Place and sells Sirius's mirror to Aberforth Dumbledore, who uses it to watch out for Harry in Deathly Hallows. When Harry desperately cries for help to a shard of the magical mirror (which broke in the bottom of his trunk), a brilliant blue eye belonging to Aberforth (which Harry, however, mistakes for Albus's eye), appears and he sends Dobby, who arrives to help Harry escape from Malfoy Manor to Shell Cottage.

Photographs and portraits

Main article: Magical portrait (Harry Potter)

Potions

Amortentia

Amortentia is also known as love potion and it gives the drinker a powerful obsession and infatuation with the "giver" of the potion. It is usually either forced upon someone or covertly given. Its effects grow stronger the longer it awaits consumption, as seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when Ron mistakenly eats a box of Chocolate Cauldrons spiked with the intense love potion intended for Harry. The potion's aroma is unique to each person who consumes it, as it smells like whatever attracts each individual. It is the most powerful aphrodisiac of all. It can also be identified by its characteristic spirals of steam and its mother-of-pearl sheen.

Confusing Concoction

This potion will cause the drinker to become confused. During his third year potions exam, Harry has to brew this potion but cannot manage to thicken it. Harry sees Snape scribble something on a clipboard that "looks suspiciously like a zero".

Draught of Living Death

The Draught of Living Death is a potion that will place the drinker in such a deep sleep that they appear to be dead, hence the name. It is made from powdered root of asphodel which is added to an infusion of wormwood, and was first in mentioned in Harry's first potions lesson with Snape, in the "Philosophers Stone" and again in his first ever Potions lesson with Horace Slughorn in "The Half-Blood Prince", Harry receives top marks in Horace Slughorn's first NEWT Potions class for brewing this potion so well, having used the handwritten advice in the Half-Blood Prince's (Snape's) book. He is then awarded a small bottle of the potion Felix Felicis as a prize.

Draught of Peace

The Draught of Peace is a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. In Order of the Phoenix, Snape makes Harry and his class make it. It is a very difficult potion to make as the ingredients have to be added in exactly the right order, the mixture has to be stirred exactly the right number of times and the heat of the flames on which it is simmering has to be lowered to exactly the right level for the right number of minutes before the final ingredient is added.

Felix Felicis

Felix Felicis, also called "liquid luck," is a potion that grants whoever drinks it unusually good luck. The time span depends on how much is imbibed. It is banned in all sporting events, competitions and examinations. It looks like gold in fluid form. According to Horace Slughorn, excessive consumption results in side effects that include giddiness and overzealousness, among other effects related to overconfidence. In Half-Blood Prince, Harry pretends to give some to Ron so that he will do well at Quidditch. Ron's luck turns for the better, with the confidence working as a placebo. Harry uses most of it in order to extract memories from Slughorn about Tom Riddle and Horcruxes, and the rest is shared between Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny the night Death Eaters break into Hogwarts.

Pepperup Potion

Pepperup Potion is a potion to relieve coughs and colds; it has the side effect of causing steam to dribble from the patient's ears for several hours afterward.

Polyjuice Potion

The Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to assume the appearance of another person for one hour. Its ingredients include fluxweed, knotgrass, lacewing flies, leeches, powdered Bicorn horn, shredded Boomslang skin, and, most importantly including a bit of the person that the drinker wishes to turn into, e.g. a strand of hair. Its taste and appearance seem to depend on the person, for example being golden for Harry but grey and clumpy for Crabbe and Goyle. It is first used in Chamber of Secrets to allow Harry and Ron to transform into Crabbe and Goyle so they can question Draco. In Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch, Jr. uses it to disguise himself as Mad-Eye Moody all year long, keeping a flask full of the potion handy so he can dose himself every hour. In Half-Blood Prince, Crabbe and Goyle use the potion to disguise themselves as young girls while guarding the Room of Requirement. In Deathly Hallows, it is first used to transform members of the Order into Harry look-alikes, creating decoys for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Later, Harry first uses it to disguise himself at Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding as a fictional "Barny Weasley." Also, Harry, Ron and Hermione use it to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, by disguising themselves as Ministry officials. Later he and Hermione disguise themselves as a middle-aged Muggle couple while exploring Godric's Hollow, and finally Hermione disguises herself as Bellatrix in order to break into her vault at Gringotts.

The potion only works correctly with human-to-human transfiguration, as Hermione discovers in Chamber of Secrets when she inadvertently takes a dose containing cat hair. This idea is further reinforced in Deathly Hallows when nobody checks Hagrid when looking for an imposter that betrayed the plan to move Harry out of Privet Drive, as Hagrid is half giant. In addition, the potion only causes a physical transformation of the drinker with respect to height, weight, voice, etc; clothing is not affected.

Skele-Gro

Skele-Gro is a medicinal potion that can regrow missing/removed bones, though it tastes terrible and the process is very slow and painful. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry has to take a dose and spend the night in the school infirmary after Gilderoy Lockhart accidentally removes all the bones from his broken arm while trying to heal it.

Veritaserum

Veritaserum is also known as the truth potion or truth serum. It is a magical version of the common non-magical truth serum or truth drug. Only three drops of this potion is needed to force anyone to tell the true answer to any question. An example of its use is when it is used on Barty Crouch Jr. in Goblet of Fire. In Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge tried to use it while interrogating students about their affiliation with Dumbledore's Army, but was actually using an ineffective potion supplied by Snape, and Harry pretended to drink it. In Half-Blood Prince, Harry considered using the potion to get Slughorn to reveal his memories about Voldemort, but thought better of it, and in Deathly Hallows Rita used the potion to extract the story of Dumbledore's childhood from Bathilda Bagshot. Rowling has revealed on her fansite that Veritaserum can be fooled using Occlumency and is not usually accepted in wizard courts.

Prank objects

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Prank objects from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are made and designed by the owners of the shop, Fred and George, who test their new creations on other Hogwarts students.

Zonko's Joke Shop

Zonko's Joke Shop was a favorite place for Hogwarts students to shop on Hogsmeade trips. It carried "jokes and tricks to fulfill even Fred and George's wildest dreams." Such products were Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and Nose-Biting Teacups.

Other

Other prank objects include Belch Powder,[15] Dungbombs (explodes and causes a large and extremely smelly mess), and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs (which hit their target repeatedly after being thrown and are banned at Hogwarts). Fanged Frisbees are literally Frisbees with fangs and are first mentioned in Goblet of Fire as one of Filch's newest restricted items at the beginning of term speech. However, they make their first appearance in Half-Blood Prince when Ron whirled one around the Gryffindor common room, it changed course with a mind of its own, and took a bite out of a tapestry.

More objects include Screaming Yo-Yos, which scream loudly when worked, and Stink Pellets, which are used to distract prefects and teachers, and give an unpleasant smell.[15]

Storage receptacles

Moody's Magical Trunk

Alastor Moody owns an especially bewitched magical trunk. It has seven locks on it, and the trunk opens to a different assortment of objects for each lock. Most notably, though, the seventh compartment is about 10 feet (3.0 m) deep (possibly because of the use of an Undetectable Extension Charm), and is where Barty Crouch Jr. imprisoned the real Moody. Other compartments contain spellbooks, Dark Detectors, and Moody's Invisibility Cloak.

Pensieve

The Pensieve as seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A Pensieve is a stone receptacle used to store and review memories. Covered in mystic runes, it contains memories that take physical form as a type of matter that is described as neither gas nor liquid. A witch or wizard can extract their own or another person’s memories, store them in the Pensieve, and review them later. It also relieves the mind when it becomes cluttered 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 real world virtual reality.

Users of these devices view the memories from a third-person-point-of-view, providing a near-omniscient perspective of the events preserved. Rowling confirmed 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".[16] The "memories" contained in the Pensieve have the appearance of silver threads. Memories that have been heavily manipulated or tampered with to alter perspectives, or are simply aged and gone-spoiled (such as Slughorn's), may appear thick and jelly-like and offer obscured viewing. Memories are not limited to just those of humans, since Hokey the house-elf provided Dumbledore with a memory as well. It makes a last appearance in Deathly Hallows when Harry uses it to uncover the truth about Snape.

Hermione's handbag

Hermione used an Undetectable Extension Charm on her handbag which lets the bag contain more than it looks like it can, making it infinitely larger than it looks. In the 7th book Hermione uses it to hold almost everything they need when they Disapparate from Bill and Fleur's wedding reception in Deathly Hallows.

Mokeskin pouch

Mokeskin pouches are a type of draw-string pouch that no one but the owner can open or take out the item inside it. Harry uses the one he received as his 17th birthday present from Hagrid to store several items of personal significance.

Transportation

Broomsticks

Broomsticks are used for transportation by witches and wizards of all ages, and for participating in the game of Quidditch. Their use is similar to that of flying carpets, although the latter are banned in Great Britain. However, they are uncomfortable for extended trips, even with the cushion charm.

Broomsticks are treated as a major consumer product in the Wizarding world. There are numerous brands and models of brooms, including Cleansweeps and Comets, all of which vary in their capabilities. These range from expensive high-performance models to toy broomsticks for young children that only fly a few feet off the ground to family-sized broomsticks that have room for an entire family and have a luggage compartment below the seating area.

Since Harry plays Quidditch, his brooms - a Nimbus 2000, and later a Firebolt - are prominent in the series. The Nimbus 2000 was given to him by special consent of Dumbledore via Minerva McGonagall, who had chosen him as Seeker.[HP1] The Firebolt was given to him by Sirius as a Christmas gift after his Nimbus was destroyed during a Quidditch match.[HP3] The Firebolt remains the fastest broom in the world, having surpassed the previous record holder, the Nimbus 2001, and its price is so grand that it is only available upon request.

Mr. Weasley's car

Arthur Weasley owned a Ford Anglia that he had subsequently enchanted; consequently, the vehicle can fly, become invisible, and carry the entire Weasley family in spite of its formerly non-enchanted interior dimensions, among other abilities. The car is stolen by Fred, George and Ron, who use it to rescue Harry from the Dursleys' house. Ron and Harry steal the car in order to return to Hogwarts after the gate to Platform 9¾ is sealed by Dobby. After they arrive at school, landing in the Whomping Willow, the car flees into the Forbidden Forest. Mr Weasley is then put under inquiry at the Ministry of Magic, because seven Muggles saw the car flying across the countryside, and nearly loses his job.

The car reappears when Harry and Ron visit Aragog in the forest: when the great spider tells his colony of acromantula to eat Harry and Ron, the car attacks them and carries the boys to safety. Its current condition is undisclosed; Ron had commented that the enchanted vehicle had become "wild" and thus operated autonomously, like a living being.

Floo Powder

Floo Powder as seen in Chamber of Secrets

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 flue, which is the passageway that leads from a fireplace to the chimney so hot gases can escape. Floo powder can be used with any fireplace connected to the Floo Network. To transport from one to another, the fire at the point of departure must first be lit. The traveller throws a handful of Floo powder into the flames, turning them emerald green, then steps into the fireplace and states the intended destination in a clear and purposeful voice. Floo powder can also be used for communication; a wizard or witch can kneel in front of the fire and stick their head into the fire, which will appear in the fire at another fireplace, leaving the witch or wizard free to talk. It is also known that other body parts may be transported via Floo Powder, as Umbridge almost catches Sirius the second time he converses with Harry through the Floo network. People may also be summoned by Floo Powder, as is shown in Prisoner of Azkaban by Snape, who summons Lupin through his office's fireplace while interrogating Harry about the Marauder's Map.

In Chamber of Secrets, the Weasleys travelled to Diagon Alley by Floo Powder. Harry did not say "Diagon Alley" clearly, instead saying "diagonally", so he was sent to Borgin and Burkes. In the fourth book, Mr Weasley uses his position at the Ministry to have the Dursleys' fireplace temporarily connected to the Floo network, unaware that it had been blocked. Sirius uses the network to communicate with Harry in the same book. In the fifth book, Harry uses the Gryffindor fireplace and later Umbridge's fireplace to communicate with Sirius; he is forced to use the latter because Umbridge begins monitoring all other lines of communication in and out of Hogwarts. The Floo Network is controlled by the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry also has over 700 fireplaces in its headquarters so that officials and workers can go directly to/from work without the hustle and bustle of travelling on brooms or by Portkey.

Flying carpets

Flying carpets are usually thick rugs, frequently highly patterned and often manufactured in the Middle East that are enchanted with the ability to fly. Flying Carpets were once an accepted form of travel for the British magical community, but they are now banned due to being defined as a "Muggle Artefact" by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. It is therefore now against British wizarding law to charm carpets or fly them, although they are still legal in other countries. Mr. Weasley was very much involved in the introduction of this legislation due to his position in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. It is known that the ban was relatively recent, not only from Arthur's involvement, but also from the fact that Barty Crouch Sr's grandfather owned a 12-seater Axminster carpet before flying carpets were prohibited.

Hogwarts Express

Main article: Hogwarts Express

Knight Bus

The Knight Bus in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film crossing Lambeth Bridge, London.

The Knight Bus is a heavily enchanted, purple, triple-decker bus that transports witches and wizards. It makes its first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry unintentionally hails it by holding his wand arm out. Harry has a final ride on the Knight Bus with a number of his friends in Order of the Phoenix. The Knight Bus is faster than travelling by broomstick, but not as fast as near instantaneous Floo Powder and Apparating. The bus charges for the service; Harry is charged a base fare of 11 Sickles to travel from the town of Little Whinging to The Leaky Cauldron. Amenities such as hot-water bottles, toothbrushes, and hot chocolate are available for an extra fee.[HP3]

The bus functions as public transportation for the wizard or witch who cannot or will not choose another means of transportation. The riders are seemingly picked up by the bus from all over in-universe Great Britain, bringing passengers to the destinations of their choice with seemingly no set route. It bolts through the streets, entirely invisible to Muggles and causes other objects to dodge it (rather than dodging the objects) for travelling short distances. For longer distances, the Knight Bus makes 160 km (hundred-mile) leaps accompanied by a great bang and jolt. The interior of the bus changes depending on the time of day, having seats by day and beds by night. The only mentioned limitation in travelling is that it cannot enter water.

The conductor of the Knight Bus is Stan Shunpike, and its driver is Ernie Prang in the third book of the series. In the third film, Stan is accompanied by a talking shrunken head voiced by Lenny Henry.

The actual Knight Bus was built by grafting the top deck of a London AEC Regent III RT bus onto the top of another "RT" bus. Both buses were originally built for London Transport; the "RT" was the standard London diesel-powered double-decker bus of which approximately 4,000 were built from 1939 until the mid 1950s (and were used in daily service until 1979). The actual bus used was RT3882 (registration LLU681), with the additional top deck from former RT2240 (registration KGU169).[17]

Sirius Black's motorbike

Sirius owned a flying motorbike, which he lent to Hagrid the night Harry's parents died. It is first seen when Hagrid delivers the baby Harry to Number Four, Privet Drive in the first book, and then again when Hagrid uses it to help Harry get to the Order's headquarters in the seventh book. In Deathly Hallows various modifications have been made to the bike by Mr. Weasley, enabling it to cause a brick wall to erupt from the exhaust pipe, fire a net behind the bike and shoot dragon fire out of the exhaust, making the bike accelerate dramatically. The dragon fire feature is used to great effect by Hagrid and Harry when being chased by Voldemort; however, Mr. Weasley did warn that he was unsure of its safety and that they should only use it in an emergency. He was right to say this, as the sidecar of the motorbike dislodges after the dramatic acceleration, unaided by Hagrid's magical inexpertise.

The bike is severely damaged when Hagrid and Harry crash it into Ted and Andromeda Tonks's garden pond. Mr. Weasley covertly tells Harry that he plans to put the bike back together when "he has time", meaning when Mrs. Weasley is distracted or has forgotten about it. He hides it in the chicken coop.

Portkeys

The Portkeys are first mentioned in Goblet of Fire by Mr.Weasley: "For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time." 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 a location along with anybody who happens to be touching it at the moment of activation. They may also be set up for one-way, one-time use, or to transport the holder to and from a particular place in a round trip. The creation of Portkeys may be highly restricted in general: Cornelius 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."[HP5]

When a Portkey is activated, the user feels a pulling or jerking sensation behind the navel, and then suddenly appears at the destination.[HP4] With enough practice it is possible to achieve a graceful landing: after the Portkey trip to the Quidditch World Cup in the fourth film, Mr Weasley, Cedric and Amos Diggory land on their feet, while the lesser experienced teenagers, including Harry, fall on the ground.

Time-Turners

A Time Turner may be used for time travel. Hermione receives a Time-Turner from McGonagall in 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. The increased schedule does leave her strained towards the end of the year, however. Hermione lets Harry and Ron in on the secret near the end of the book, when she and Harry use the Time-Turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak.

A large supply of Time-Turners is kept at the Ministry, as seen in Order of the Phoenix; however, during the events of that book a glass-fronted cabinet containing Time-Turners is destroyed. Due to their time-affecting properties, the cabinet is seen to fall, shatter and repair itself repeatedly. In Half-Blood Prince, Hermione mentions an article in The Daily Prophet stating that "the entire stock of Ministry Time-Turners" was destroyed during that incident. The books do not discuss who else may be in possession of Time-Turners outside of the Ministry.

Hermione's Time-Turner resembles an hourglass pendant on a necklace; it is unclear if all of them do. The hourglass pendant is twisted to move through time, and the number of turns on the hourglass corresponds to the number of hours one travelled back in time. The travel ends as the traveller arrives to the point in time of which he went back in time (e.g. Hermione and Harry go back three hours; three hours after their arrival in the past, they return to the time period they turned back).[18] It appears that Time-Turners do not allow their possessors to alter the events that have already happened. In Prisoner of Azkaban, all of the events registered by Harry and Hermione were inadvertently recreated by them when they traveled through time later.

Vanishing Cabinet

The Vanishing Cabinet is a cabinet located in Hogwarts that is a part of a set of two; the other cabinet resides in Borgin and Burkes. One simply enters a cabinet at one location and exits the cabinet at the other location.

The Vanishing Cabinet is first seen in Chamber of Secrets when Harry is mistakenly transported to Borgin and Burkes and hides in it to elude the Malfoys. That cabinet's counterpart is mentioned in Chamber of Secrets when Nearly Headless Nick convinces Peeves to drop it (thus breaking it) over Filch's office in order to help Harry escape detention for tracking in mud. It was also used in Order of the Phoenix by Fred and George, 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. Draco then learns of Montague's experience, discovering that transportation is possible between the two cabinets and that the other is located in Borgin and Burkes. He later manages to fix the broken one at Hogwarts so as to transport the Death Eaters into the highly secured castle.

Though this set is the only mentioned in the book series, the film version of Half-Blood Prince reveals that they were popular when Voldemort was first coming to power. One only needed to slip inside one and be instantly transported somewhere else, thereby escaping Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Writing equipment

Anti-Cheating Quill

The Anti-Cheating Quill, a quill with an anti-cheating charm on it, first mentioned in Philosopher's Stone.[PS Ch.16] Although it is not mentioned in other books, it is presumably used for all the exams Harry takes at Hogwarts including OWLS.

Auto-Answer Quill

The Auto-Answer Quill is banned from the examination hall in the OWLs.[OP Ch.31] Although it is likely these are banned in all exams, they are not mentioned until Order of the Phoenix.

Blood Quill

The Blood Quill is used by Umbridge throughout Order of the Phoenix to carry out her perverse punishment of "cutting up" students. It is described as unusually sharp with a black nib. As the user writes, the quill magically (and painfully) cuts into the back of the user's hand and uses his or her blood for ink. In the fifth book, Harry has detention with Umbridge on several occasions, and is required to write lines (I must not tell lies), and is not released from this until Umbridge believes "the message has sunk in." When carried out repeatedly over a period, this can lead to permanent scarring, as shown by Harry to Scrimgeour in the last two books. Another victim of this form of detention is Lee Jordan. In the film interpretation, all members of Dumbledore's Army were punished using this method. Blood quills are considered to be illegal.

Quick Quotes Quill

A Quick Quotes Quill is a stenographic tool, acid green in colour, employed by Rita Skeeter to spin the words of her subjects into a more salacious or melodramatic form more to her liking. Rita uses the quill to interview Harry about his participation in the Triwizard Tournament in Goblet of Fire for her column in the newspaper, The Daily Prophet. Harry continually tries to correct the inaccuracy of the quill to Rita. However, she rudely ignores him. Additionally in Deathly Hallows, Rita mentions in her interview concerning Dumbledore's posthumous biography that the Quick Quotes Quill helped her to write the book so quickly after his death.

Spell-Checking Quill

The Spell-Checking Quill checks spelling. Sold at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop opened by Fred and George (Ron Weasley's brothers). In Half-Blood Prince it spells Ron's name as "Roonil Wazlib" when the charm wears off, and spells Dementors wrong too, along with a great deal of other words, which Hermione fixes using magic.

Other uncategorized objects

These objects remain uncategorized as they are the only ones in their field.

Cauldron

Cauldrons are magical receptacles in which potions are brewed. There are different sizes and materials of cauldrons. Hogwarts students can buy cauldrons at the cauldron shop in Diagon Alley. Hogwarts ask students to buy at least pewter, though in the first book Harry expresses a longing for one of pure gold.

Percy Weasley writes papers in the hope that he can regulate the thickness of cauldron bottoms, as foreign imports are deemed a safety risk.

Gubraithian fire

Gubraithian Fire is a conjured everlasting magical fire that may only be created by extremely skilled wizards. Hagrid and Madame Maxime give a branch of Gubraithian fire conjured by Dumbledore, to burn atop the branch, as a gift to the Gurg (leader) of the giants during their journey.

The Marauder's Map

The Marauder's Map is a magical map of Hogwarts created by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew while they were at Hogwarts, during which time they gained extensive knowledge about the school grounds, such as its various hidden passages, from their frequent night-time adventures together.

At first glance, the Map is simply a blank piece of parchment; but when the user points his wand at the Map and says, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!", the message "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, purveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers, are proud to present the Marauders Map," and a detailed layout of Hogwarts appears, including its occupants, secret passageways (and instructions on how to access them), and other mysteries, though several locations (such as the Room of Requirement and the Chamber of Secrets) do not appear on the map, either because the Marauders did not have any knowledge of them, or—in the case of the former—they are Unplottable. Furthermore, Animagus disguises, Polyjuice Potion or Invisibility Cloaks cannot fool the map. Saying, "Mischief managed!" returns the map to its original blank state.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Fred and George Weasley, who have no further need for it, give the map to Harry so he can get to Hogsmeade through a hidden passageway. Fred and George stole the map from a drawer in Filch's office that contained dangerous confiscated objects; it is revealed by Lupin that Filch probably knew what it was but not how to work it. Snape later finds the map in Harry's possession and tries to force it to reveal its secrets, but the map merely insulted him with mocking phrases, much as the Marauders themselves would have done. Lupin, the current Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, is called upon to investigate this "Dark object," and confiscates it to keep Harry safe, though he returns it after resigning his post at Hogwarts. From then on, the map becomes one of Harry's tools in his ongoing adventures, and is mentioned only in passing when he consults it.

On the prop version of the map made for the films, the lines are made up of what at first glance are just random letters, but upon closer inspection are Latin words. The series makes no mention of Harry recovering the map from Moody's office, even though he continued to use it in later books; when asked about this discrepancy, Rowling answered that Harry had indeed sneaked into the office and recovered it in the days following the Third Task, and that she had forgotten to include this detail in on-page. When asked during an online question session, "What child did Harry give the Marauders Map to if any?" (after his school years), Rowling responded, "I’ve got a feeling he didn’t give it to any of them, but that James (Harry's eldest son) sneaked it out of his father’s desk one day."[3]

Omnioculars

Omnioculars are a pair of magical brass binoculars used by Harry, Ron and Hermione in the fourth book during the Quidditch World Cup. Omnioculars, besides having magnified lenses, have many other features. Among them, the ones mentioned are the ability to replay or slow down something seen through the lenses, although a side effect is that the view in the lenses is not accurate of what is currently happening, since it is going slower than real life. They also have a play-by-play feature, where the names of moves performed by Quidditch players is shown in bright purple letters across the Omnioculars' lenses.[HP4]

Spellotape

Spellotape is magical adhesive tape. The name is a play on Sellotape, a popular brand which has become a generic name for transparent adhesive tape in the United Kingdom.[19][20] It is used by Ron in Chamber of Secrets to repair his wand after he breaks it early in the book while trying to stop the car. It is also used by Hermione in Prisoner of Azkaban when she binds her Care of Magical Creatures textbook, The Monster Book of Monsters, to stop it biting her.

Wand

A wand is a wooden tool, used to channel magical energy and thus increase its power, and without which only limited magic is possible. Wands are used as both tools and weapons in the Wizarding World. They have been used in the brewing of various potions in the books. Wands are generally carried inside the wizard's robes or otherwise somewhere on their person in the books; however, they can also be placed into other objects. For instance, Rubeus Hagrid hid the broken halves of his wand inside his umbrella, and in the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lucius Malfoy is revealed to hide his wand in his cane. In the magical world, when a wizard has committed a serious crime, their wands are snapped in half (this type of damage to a wand is nearly irreparable, though Harry is able to mend his wand, which was accidentally broken by Hermione, with the help of the powerful Elder Wand).

A wand is made by a wandmaker learned in wandlore, the study of wands. Wands are handcrafted from woods only of a level of quality, or "wandwoods," which are capable of sustaining magic (e.g. holly, yew, ebony, vinewood, etc.). Then a core is inserted into the middle of the wand from top to bottom. Such cores have been mentioned to include phoenix tail feathers, unicorn tail hairs, Veela's hair, and dragon heartstrings. In the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand is described as having a core made from the tail hair of a Thestral.[21] The only named wand shop is Ollivanders. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ollivander is seen to evaluate two foreign wands: Victor Krum's wand was crafted by Gregorovitch, was unusually thick, and had a dragon's heartstring core; while Fleur Delacour's wand was made of rose wood (its maker is unknown). Its core (a hair from her Veela grandmother) was believed by Ollivander to produce "temperamental" wands, which is why he did not use it himself.

A wand is generally considered personal for a wizard. However, wands belonging to other wizards can be used to a comparatively less potent effect. In Philosopher's Stone, Harry had to try out many wands before he found one that "chose him." Wands with cores from the same source give strange effects (Priori Incantatem) when forced to fight each other, as is the case with Harry and Voldemort's wands. In Goblet of Fire, it is revealed that each of their wands contains a tail feather from Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Dumbledore. After Priori Incantatem, the wands get to know the opposites' master - this is explained in Deathly Hallows. While, according to Ollivander, any object can channel magic if the wizard is strong enough, wands are the most commonly used because of their efficiency (due to the owner's bond with the wand itself). This can explain how some wizards are able to use spells without wands (for example, retrieving an item with Accio).

References

  1. ↑ Rowling, J. K. (2007). "The Tale of the Three Brothers". Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bloomsbury. ISBN 1551929767. 
  2. ↑ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript". The Leaky Cauldron. 2007-07-30. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript. Retrieved 2007-07-30. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Online Chat Transcript". Bloomsbury. 2007-07-31. http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/content.asp?sec=3&sec2=1. Retrieved 2007-07-31. 
  4. ↑ "Extra Stuff". J.K.Rowling Official Site. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=25. 
  5. ↑ The Tales Of Beedle The Bard - Page 104
  6. ↑ Transcript of live web interview with Bloomsbury
  7. ↑ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript". Accio Quote. 2007-07-30. http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/1000-aol-chat.htm. Retrieved 2000-10-19. 
  8. ↑ Harry Potter at Bloomsbury
  9. ↑ Rowling, J. K. (1998). "The Burrow". Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747538492. 
  10. ↑ Elsewhere on the Web : Harry Potter Wizard Chess
  11. ↑ Harry Potter. The complete position. Composition of the chess position by International chess master Jeremy Silman
  12. ↑ Amazon.com: Harry Potter Wizard Chess: Toys & Games
  13. ↑ Gryffindor did not 'steal' the sword, not unless you are a goblin fanatic and believe that all goblin-made objects really belong to the maker.
  14. ↑ J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript - The Leaky Cauldron
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rowling, J. K. (1999). "Flight of the Fat Lady". Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747542155. 
  16. ↑ MuggleNet Emerson and Melissa's J.K. Rowling Interview Page 3
  17. ↑ http://www.countrybus.org/RT/RT4_4.htm
  18. ↑ Rowling, J. K. (1999). "Hermione's Secret". Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747542155. 
  19. ↑ Boyle, Fiona (2004). A Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World: Exploring The Harry Potter Universe. ECW Press. pp. 363. ISBN 155022655X. 
  20. ↑ Whited, Lana A. (2002). The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon. University of Missouri Press. pp. 280. ISBN 0826215491. 
  21. ↑ J.K.Rowling Official Site

See also