Magical objects in Harry Potter

In the Harry Potter series, many magical objects exist for the use of the characters.

Letters and signs

The Dark Mark

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. Also, after the first task in the Triwizard Tournament, the judges "write" the champions' marks in the air.

Potions

Prank objects

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Other

Dungbomb: Explodes into a large and extremely smelly mess.
Fanged Frisbees: Literally frisbees with fangs. First mentioned in The Goblet of Fire, as one of Filch's newest restricted items at the beginning of term speech. 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.
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.

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.

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.

Since Harry Potter plays Quidditch, his brooms - a Nimbus 2000 and a Firebolt - are prominent in the series. The Nimbus 2000 was given to him by Professor Minerva McGonagall, while the Firebolt was given to him by Sirius Black.

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 when he uses Dolores Umbridge's fireplace to communicate with Sirius Black; he is however forced to do so because Umbridge is monitoring all other lines of communication in and out of Hogwarts.

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 advantages of the carpet over the broomstick are that they can seat a number of people, including children and invalids, and are probably more comfortable to ride.

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 Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. It's therefore now against British wizarding law to charm carpets or fly them, 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's 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's very unlikely that the law will be changed.

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.

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 arm 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). Ernie almost crashes into a house because he is so surprised at Harry's tendency to say Voldemort's name. Luckily, inanimate objects have a way of jumping out of the way of the Knight Bus.

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.

The user feels a pulling or jerking sensation behind the navel, and then suddenly appears at the destination. With enough practice, a graceful landing is possible: after the Portkeyed trip to the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of Fire, Cedric Diggory, Arthur Weasley, and Amos Diggory landed on their feet, while the others (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins) fell onto the ground.

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 Lord 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) 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, but Voldemort then states that Harry's blood holds certain properties that Voldemort wished to acquire). 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.

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 at which they arrive.

A large supply of Time-Turners is kept at the Ministry of Magic, as seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; however, during the events of that book the entire supply of Time-Turners is destroyed. Due to their time-affecting properties, they are seen to smash and reassemble, over and over.

The possibility of time travel within the Harry Potter universe may seem to allow many plot holes, but characters appear to use them for trivial tasks that have no effect on existence as a whole. The one notable use of the Time-Turner within canon (to save Buckbeak and Sirius), obeys Novikov self-consistency principle. This fatalistic theory of time-travel (i.e. "Nothing can be changed because anything a traveler does merely produces the circumstances they had noted before traveling") is, incidentally, reminiscent of Rowling's employment of self fulfilling prophecy, but while prophecies within canon are relevant only to the degree that characters place relevance on them, (the books state Harry and Voldemort 'could' walk away and void the Prophecy if they chose), the same cannot be said for time-travel (there is no suggestion that one can change events by inaction). It has not been revealed in the series if any major events within the books or the Harry Potter universe as a whole have been related to time turners' misuse.

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 (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 recognise 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.

Other magical objects

Magical sweets

A multitude of sweets are produced in the stories; many have a violent or bizarre side-effect, especially those created by Fred and George Weasley. Most sweets can be found in the sweetshop Honeydukes.

Acid Pops

Acid Pops are lollipops that can burn a hole through one's tongue.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans are jelly beans that come in literally every flavour. The flavours described in the book as normal include caramel, chocolate, coffee, marmalade, peppermint, strawberry, lemon, and toffee. The "unusual" flavours include baked bean, curry, earwax, bogey, grass, liver, pepper, sardine, spinach, sprout, tripe, and vomit. The Jelly Belly candy company produces real versions of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They have produced odd flavours in and out of the market since (--). Apart from some "regular" flavours, the company also produces several "unusual" flavours mentioned in the books. Other flavours include bacon, dirt, earthworm, rotten egg, and soap.

Cockroach Clusters

A very strange type of sweet, which Harry discovers accidentally to be one of the passwords to Professor Dumbledore's office. We can assume it to contain parts of or whole cockroaches, or to at least be shaped like cockroaches, as other sweets are shaped like frogs or mice. They are sold at Honeydukes shop in Hogsmeade.

Chocolate Frogs

Chocolate Frogs are, as the name implies, frogs made of chocolate, which may also be enchanted to move about like real frogs. Like bubble gum and other items in the muggle world, they are each packaged with a collectible card displaying a magical picture and brief biography of a famous 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
There is probably a card for Flavius Belby, the only person known to have survived a Lethifold attack.

Additionally, J. K. Rowling designed^{[citation needed]} four Wizard Cards for the four Hogwarts founders.

Chocolate Frogs first appear 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, including Chocolate Frogs, for the two of them to share. Harry opens a package to discover that the card inside depicts Albus Dumbledore. The films depict these frogs as capable of movement, though 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.

Droobles Best Blowing Gum

Drooble's Best Blowing Gum is a bubble gum that fills a room with bluebell bubbles that refuse to pop for days. In Order of the Phoenix Alice Longbottom gave Neville a Droobles Bubblegum wrapper for Christmas.

Fizzing Whizzbees

Fizzing Whizbees cause the consumer to levitate for a while. They are rumoured to contain dried Billywig stings. Fizzing Whizzbees are also made by Cap Candy, and come with three packets (one Raspberry, one Strawberry and one Orange). They actually resemble Pop Rocks.

Pepper Imps

Pepper Imps are tiny and black; they cause the consumer to smoke at the ears and breathe fire.

Peppermint Toads

Peppermint Toads are peppermint creams in the shape of a toad. Once eaten, they give the sensation that they hop in the stomach.

Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Pasties are Pumpkin shaped pasties with no magical qualities.

Toothflossing Stringmints

Toothflossing Stringmints are odd splintery mints that presumably clean and floss one's teeth.

Ice Mice

Ice Mice are mouse-shaped candy that make one's teeth squeak and chatter.

Levitating Sherbet Balls

Levitating Sherbet Balls are sweet balls that make the eater levitate.

Liquorice Wands

It is not known whether Liquorice Wands contain any magical qualities. They appear in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the sweets cart on the train, and in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film when Ron requests them, again on the train.

Sugar Quills

Sugar Quills are popular among students, as they can be eaten during class, "and just look like you're thinking what to write next," according to Ron Weasley.

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 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 although it would have by far been an easier method to check if Sirius was alive. Rowling has noted that the mirror "will help more than you think", implying that it will return in the last book. It makes its appearance when Mundungus Fletcher loots Grimmauld Place and sells it to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, who uses it to watch out for Harry. When Harry desperately cries for help at a shard of the magical mirror, a brilliant blue eye (which Harry mistakes for Albus Dumbledore's eye) which happens to be Aberforth Dumbledore's eye, appears and soon after Dobby, presumably sent by Aberforth to help Harry escape from the Malfoy Manor to Bill and Fleur's Shell Cottage.

Deathly Hallows

The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects featured in the last of the Harry Potter books Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The were originally part of a traditional magical childrens story (from the set of stories: The Tales of Beedle The Bard, which Albus Dumbledore left to Hermione in his will, "The Tale of the Three Brothers").

The Deathly Hallows are: - a magical stone said to bring the dead back to life, an invisibility cloak and a magical wand or "Elder Wand".

Posessing all three of the Hallows are said to make the bearer the master of death.

Foe-glass

A Foe-glass is 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.

Gryffindor's Sword

Gryffindor's Sword is a goblin-made sword adorned with huge rubies, once owned by Godric Gryffindor, one of the medieval founders of Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter draws the sword out of the Sorting Hat to kill the basilisk. It also plays a role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where it is revealed to have been imbued with basilisk venom, and is used to destroy several of Lord Voldemort's horcruxes. On several occasions, it is shown that only a true member of the Gryffindor House - one who shows courage in the face of danger - can use the sword. It is revealed that, as the sword was goblin-forged, it is indestructible, and will in fact absorb anything that is more powerful than it, thus making it even more powerful (thus explaining why the sword was imbued with basilisk venom). According to Griphook the goblin, the sword was originally forged for the goblin Ragnuk the First, but was stolen by Godric Gryffindor. It is unclear if this is true, as it might simply be made up to make Harry and the others give Griphook the sword as payment for helping to break into a Gringott's vault. Furthermore, as explained by Bill Weasley, goblins believe that the true owner of an object is its creator and not the one who purchases it. The one who purchases it is simply "renting it." When the purchaser dies, the object is to be returned to the creator. Thus, when wizards and witches owning goblin-made items pass on these items instead of returning it to the creator, goblins regard this as theft.

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(During the fourth film). This is one of the first clues that he is involved in the hoodwinking.

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).

Horcruxes

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 stylised 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.

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, or are ordinary cloaks with an invisiblity spell placed on them. It is stated that over time, they will lose their invisibility ability, eventually becoming opaque. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it was revealed that the invisibility cloak Harry had was one of the Deathly Hallows, which are magical objects which can give the owner of all the objects lordship over death. Its invisibility charm will never wear off, but gives him absolutely perfect invisibility forever.

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 previous owner of this Cloak was his father James Potter. It is also one of the fabled Deathly Hallows, the others of which are the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone.
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. It is also implied that a skilled Legilimens can render an invisibility cloak useless by simply sensing the emotions of the person under it. This is evidenced by Severus Snape knowing that Harry is under his cloak in the hall after hours^GOF.

Rowling has stated that James Potter's Cloak was indeed in the care of Albus Dumbledore (as stated in the note included with it when Harry received it at Christmas of his first year) at the time James died and noted that there is an important reason for this.

The Marauder's Map

The Marauder's Map was created by Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter (the Marauders) to aid their mischief-making. They gained extensive knowledge about 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 its creators' nicknames (derived from their animal forms): 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 blank parchment; but when the user says, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," it reveals the message, "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders Map," and Hogwarts' layout (including secret passageways) is shown. Saying, "Mischief managed!" returns the map to its original blank state. The Map also gives information on how to open secret passageways. Several locations (such as the Room of Requirement and probably the Chamber of Secrets) do not appear on the map. It would seem that the four friends either did not have any knowledge of them, or—in the case of the former—they are unplottable.

The Marauder's Map is covered in tiny ink dots accompanied by minuscule names, indicating the every person's location in Hogwarts. This, according to Harry, is the map's most remarkable feature, and is helpful in evading teachers and other people whom one wishes to avoid while "managing mischief." The Marauder's Map cannot be fooled by Animagus disguises or Invisibility Cloaks. Not even Polyjuice Potion can outwit the Marauder's Map: Crabbe and Goyle liberally use Polyjuice Potion in The Half-Blood Prince, but the map continues to displays their true identities. For this reason, Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, considered it a threat and asks to 'borrow' the map from a trusting Harry.

The Map was given to Harry by Fred and George Weasley, who found it in Filch's office. It makes its first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban, and has been 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 he will investigate, and takes it with him. He returns the map to Harry after resigning his post at Hogwarts. 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 upon closer inspection are Latin words.

In the books, there is no mention of Harry recovering the Map from the office of the Professor Moody imposter; 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 it.

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 and correctly spaced, reads I show not your face but your heart's 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, as well as his more popular friend, Harry). 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, since people will insist on giving him books. If the claim was true, it might suggest that Dumbledore is, indeed, so content that he can wish for such small things. On the other hand, as the book is careful to inform us, Harry suspects he might merely have not wished to tell Harry. "It had been rather a personal question." Dumbledore lying about this seems to be corroborated by Rowling as well. Dumbledore's deepest desire is revealed in the last book to be the knowledge of who killed Arianna, if it was Grindelwald, Aberforth Dumbledore, or himself.^[1]

The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore hid the Mirror and hid the Stone inside it, knowing that 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 - as Dumbledore tells Harry, "It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something."

Moody's Magical Trunk

Alastor Moody owns a rather interesting 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 deep, and is where Barty Crouch Jr. imprisoned the real Moody. Other compartments contain spellbooks, Dark Detectors, and Moody's Invisibility Cloak.

Omnioculars

Omnioculars are 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 features. Among them, the ones mentioned are the ability to replay or slow down something seen through the lenses, although a side-effect being that the view in the lenses is not accurate of what is currently happening, since it's 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.

Pensieve

A Pensieve is a stone receptacle in which to store memories. Covered in mystic runes, it has neither liquid nor 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 portmanteau of 'sieve' (a device used for sifting) and 'pensive' (thoughtful or full of thoughts). It is also a (possibly unintentional) anagram of Pevensie, the surname of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia.

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. It makes a last appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Harry uses it to decipher the memories of Severus Snape.

Photographs

Portraits

Deluminator

The deluminator (also unofficially called the Put-Outer until book 7) is a device used, and possibly invented, 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 four 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. 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.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it is known as the Deluminator. It is bequeathed to Ron Weasley by Dumbledore. It demonstrates other abilities in Ron's hands, notably a Portkey-like ability that allows him to eventually catch up with Harry and Hermione after they part ways in anger. It seems to be able to transport you to anyone who is talking about you. Ron hears Harry and Hermione talking about him through the deluminator, clicks it, it emits a light that enters Ron's body, and he's transported to their rough location.

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 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.

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.

Remembrall

A Remembrall is a small, clear orb that turns red if its user has forgotten something (it most likely got its name by combining "remember all"). 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 gives it to Harry after he retrieves it from Malfoy. This is because Neville had no use for it, as he was unable to remember what he forgot. Their use is forbidden during OWL exams.

The DVD of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone contains a software approximation of a remembrall.

Revealer

Used in Chamber of Secrets when Hermione Granger tries to make something appear in Tom Riddle's diary, this object is a bright red eraser which makes invisible ink appear.

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, they cannot detect love potions.

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.

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.

In book seven, Hermione gives Harry a Sneakoscope for his 17th birthday which they later use to help as a lookout.

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.

The Sorting Hat is shown to conjure the sword of Godric Gryffindor from under its brim on two instances; in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, it provides the sword to Harry Potter, and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it delivers it to Neville Longbottom. The sword and hat together make up the two known relics of that Founder.

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, after both his parents.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the Sorting Hat is set on fire by Lord Voldemort, although it is unclear if the hat was destroyed, as references to the sorting were used during the epilogue 19 years later.

In the first two Harry Potter movies, he is voiced by actor Leslie Phillips.

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 seen in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Tom Riddle's diary

Blood 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 Umbridge believes "the message has sunk in." Rather than use a regular quill, Umbridge makes Harry use a blood quill, which is 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 their blood for 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.

Wand

To perform feats of magic a wand is usually used. Without a wand magic is possible, but this seems to be difficult, hard to control, and weaker. A wand is personal for a wizard, although other wizards' wands can be used, generally to a less potent effect than by using one's own wand. 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, where Hagrid takes Harry to buy his first wand. However, in the "Weighing of the Wands" chapter of "Goblet of Fire", Ollivander is seen to evaluate two foreign wands: Viktor Krum's wand: a Gregorovitch creation and unusually thick; and Fleur Delacour's wand, whose core (a hair from her veela grandmother) was a core he felt created "temperamental" wands, and thus did not use himself. Rather than carry a wand inside one's robes, they can be put into other objects, as Lucius Malfoy does by hiding his inside his cane in the films, and Moody seems to have his actually inside his walking staff in the Order of the Phoenix film. Harry also suspects that Hagrid has the broken halves of his wand inside his umbrella.

Wands are capable of changing masters. It is revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that when a wizard or witch is defeated, or if their wand is forcibly taken from them in a fight (a form of defeat), the wand will change its allegiance to the one who defeated its previous master and work with its new master perfectly well.

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 and Mrs Weasley notes that she does not know of anyone else with one.

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.[3] 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. However, because sets can be inherited and loaned, the pieces are assumed to rebuild themselves after the game. 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 become chess pieces in a life-size game of wizard's chess, thus risking their lives.

Recently, the company Deagostini have released a magazine series called "Harry Potter Chess", which is based on the life-size game near the end of the film version of Philosopher's Stone. The chess pieces that come with it are based on the life-size pieces in the film. Arco Toys and others also have a Wizards Chess Set.[4][5]

Hand of Glory

The Hand of Glory is an unpleasant instrument used by Draco Malfoy in The Half-Blood Prince. It was seen previously in Chamber of Secrets, when Draco and his father, Lucius Malfoy, visited the Dark Arts store Borgin and Burkes down Knockturn Alley. (At that point, Lucius denied Draco's request to have it, saying that it was a tool for a common thief.) It is a large shrivelled hand displayed on a cushion in the shop. When it is given a candle, it gives light only to the one holding the hand. In the Half Blood Prince, was used by Draco when leaving the Room of Requirements, and was able to escape Ron and a few other members of the DA, after using the Instant Darkness Powder.

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.

References

^ MuggleNet | Emerson and Melissa's J.K. Rowling Interview Page 2

External links

Magical objects on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki

[1] MuggleNet | Emerson and Melissa's J.K. Rowling Interview Page 2

[1]