Welcome to the World Of: 2008-08-17

Saturday, August 23, 2008

JK Rowling's charity to publish 'Beedle the Bard'

Even though it's her and Harry's birthdays, JK Rowling is giving us and charity yet another gift. In a press release this morning, Scholastic announced that Jo's children's charity, the Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), will be publishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

You may recall last December, when Amazon.com bid $4 million to snag one of seven copies in existence at a Sotheby's auction in London. The books will be printed and distributed by Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon.

Jo had this to say: "There was understandable disappointment among Harry Potter fans when only one copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was offered to the public last December. I am therefore delighted to announce that, thanks to the generous support of Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon (who bought the handwritten copy at auction) – and with the blessing of the wonderful people who own the other six original books - The Tales of Beedle the Bard will now be widely available to all Harry Potter fans. Royalties will be donated to the Children’s High Level Group, to benefit institutionalised children in desperate need of a voice. The new edition will include the Tales themselves, translated from the original runes by Hermione Granger, and with illustrations by me, but also notes by Professor Albus Dumbledore, which appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive."

Scholastic predicts the book will generate around $8 million in sales - all going to benefit the CHLG.

The Children’s High Level Group works to make life better for vulnerable children across Europe, where over a million children and teenagers are growing up in unacceptable conditions in large residential institutions.

Harry Potter Sorcerers Anniversary Edition

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first book in J.K. Rowling's phenomenally best-selling series, will be released in a special anniversary edition on September 23, 2008. The book, published by Scholastic, will feature exclusive bonus material from J.K. Rowling as well as new cover art and a four-color frontispiece by Mary GrandPré.

The special anniversary cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone depicts 11-year-old Harry looking into the Mirror of Erised, which Harry comes across in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and learns that the mirror shows you what you most desire.

"It's a real treat for me to get another chance to visually bring Harry back to his fans in not only a new scene, but in a new light," said American illustrator of the Harry Potter books, Mary GrandPré. "Going back to draw the first cover for the anniversary edition was an opportunity for me to show another side of Harry . . . .a vulnerable side. Having come to know and love Harry the way we all have, after experiencing the whole series, I think we can appreciate him even more on an emotional level."

Release Date: September 23, 2008

Harry Potter Audio eBooks

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Poof! Next 'Harry Potter' Flick Moves To Summer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's summer school for Harry Potter. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the blockbuster film franchise about boy wizard Harry, is moving from its planned Nov. 21 release to July 17, 2009, distributor Warner Bros. said Thursday.

The move was made to take advantage of an open weekend in Hollywood's busy summer season, said Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer. The film had been on schedule, and the change was not due to any production snags, he said.

"The picture is completely, absolutely, 100 percent on schedule, on time. There were no delays," Horn told The Associated Press. "I've seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November."

The switch will mean a two-year lag between the film adaptations of books five and six in J.K. Rowling's fantasy series. But it will shorten fans' wait between "Half-Blood Prince" and the final two installments, which are being shot simultaneously next year.

Based on book seven, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last two movies are due out in close order, in November 2010 and summer 2011. Horn said the later release of "Half-Blood Prince" will not affect the schedule for the final two movies.

Horn said the studio has had success with past summer "Harry Potter" releases, including the fifth movie, which was released in 2007 and became the second-highest grossing in the franchise.

The recent Writers Guild of America strike also had affected Hollywood's lineup in next summer, leaving a key date open for Warner to slot in "Half-Blood Prince," Horn said.

The July 17 release will be over the same weekend that Warner debuted this year's blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which had a record-breaking opening weekend and is on its way to $500 million domestically and the No. 2 spot on the all-time box-office charts behind "Titanic."

"Half-Blood Prince" finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returning to his wizard classes with a clandestine assignment to root out dark secrets about the early years of his archenemy, the dark Lord Voldemort.

The film is directed by David Yates, who made the fifth movie and also is shooting the final two.

Last February, another big Hollywood film, Paramount's "Star Trek," was bumped from a December release to May 8, 2009. Paramount executives said that move also was intended to take advantage of an open weekend in the summer lineup.

'Harry Potter' star suffers from dyspraxia

Daniel Radcliffe, the 19-year-old British star of the “Harry Potter” movies, says he has dyspraxia, a brain disorder associated with clumsiness.

Radcliffe, preparing to make his Broadway debut in the play “Equus,” told the Daily Mail last weekend his disorder makes it hard from him to do simple things such as tie his shoelaces.

“I sometimes think, ‘Why, oh why, has Velcro not taken off?’” Radcliffe jokingly told the newspaper, adding that his condition was partly responsible for his decision to go into acting because it prevented him from becoming successful at other things in school.

The newspaper said the neurological problem is common and affects the organization of movement. It can touch many areas of development, including intellectual, physical and language, and can hurt normal learning processes.

The British newspaper said Radcliffe’s dyspraxia is at the mild end of the spectrum, but when severe cases strike it can make it difficult to perform such simple tasks as walking up and down stairs or running.

Rupert Grint says kissing Emma Watson would be like snogging his sister!

While most boys would give their right arm for a kiss with English actress Emma Watson, her co-star Rupert Grint has revealed that he is terrified of locking lips with her.

The reason that Grint is terrified is, he feels that kissing Watson will make him feel like he is snogging his own sister.

Both Grint and Watson have been acting together in the ‘Harry Potter’ series, with the first having been filmed seven years ago.

The kiss that they have to share is in the final flick of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

“The kiss will be quite uncomfortable,” the Sun quoted him as saying.

“Emma’s like a sister to me so it’s going to be, like, really, really weird,” he added.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1′ is not due for release until November 2010. (ANI)

Quidditch Through The Ages

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Horcrux

A Horcrux is a fictional magical object in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It is a Dark Magic device created for the purposes of attaining immortality. The concept is first introduced in the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, though Horcruxes are present in earlier novels without being identified as such. Rowling uses the character Horace Slughorn to introduce their properties. The retrieval and destruction of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes forms the main focus of the final two books in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Description

In an online diary entry, Rowling described a Horcrux as a "receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a part of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality."[1] With part of a wizard's soul thus stored, the wizard becomes immortal so long as the Horcrux remains intact. For this reason, Horcruxes are typically hidden in a safe location. Even if the wizard's body is destroyed, a portion of his soul will remain preserved within the Horcrux.[2] However, the destruction of the creator's body leaves the wizard or witch in a state of half-life, without corporeal form.[3] The dark magic involved in the creation of a Horcrux is considered most despicable and is therefore rarely published, even in books devoted to the Dark Arts.

A Horcrux can be made from any normal object, including living organisms. Destroying a Horcrux will destroy the fragment of soul contained within it, ending its protection and returning the creator to a state of mortality. If a wizard has created more than one Horcrux, he will remain immortal until all are destroyed. Once destroyed, the wizard will die normally if mortally wounded. [4]

The portion of soul within a Horcrux also has the ability to take spiritual possession of other people. This possession is limited to those who become emotionally attached to the Horcrux. Once possessed, the soul within the Horcrux can take total control of the person's actions while the person remains completely unaware of the connection. Once a person has become possessed by a Horcrux, the Dark Wizard has the ability to take corporeal form by draining the life force of the possessed person. None of these spiritual connections extend to a wizard's other Horcruxes. The portions of soul also possess some level of sensory awareness, being able to sense when in danger and defend themselves.

Lord Voldemort is the only wizard explicitly mentioned as having created a Horcrux (though others are known to have done so), and is the only wizard known to have created more than one. In a recent interview J.K. Rowling mentioned that Herpo the Foul, parselmouth and first breeder of a basilisk, created the first Horcrux.

Creation

Rowling uses Professor Slughorn's expository dialogue to reveal that the creation of a Horcrux requires one to commit a murder, which, as "the supreme act of evil, (...) rips the soul apart."[6] After the murder, a spell is cast to infuse part of the ripped soul into an object, which becomes the Horcrux. Rowling has never published the actual enchantment. In the final book of the series, Hermione Granger finds the spell in a book titled Secrets of the Darkest Art.[7]

Both inanimate objects and living organisms have been used as Horcruxes, though the latter is considered riskier to use, since an organism can move and think for itself. There is no limit to the number of Horcruxes a wizard can create. However, as the creator's soul is divided into progressively smaller portions, he loses more of his natural humanity and his soul becomes increasingly unstable.

Under very specific conditions, a soul fragment can be sealed within an object without the intention or knowledge of the creator. While the object thus affected will, like any Horcrux, preserve the immortality of the creator, it does not become a "Dark object."[8] The only time this is known to have occurred is when Voldemort unsuccessfully used the Killing Curse on one-year-old Harry Potter. Voldemort's body was destroyed by the attempted murder and a portion of his soul was embedded within Harry.

Destruction

Horcruxes are extremely difficult to destroy. They cannot be destroyed by conventional means such as smashing, breaking, or burning. In order to be destroyed, a Horcrux must suffer damage so severe that repair through magical means would be impossible. (Known specific means for accomplishing this are enumerated and detailed below.) Once a Horcrux is irreparably damaged, the fragment of soul within it is destroyed.

A Horcrux can be magically undone only if the creator goes through a process of deep remorse for the murder committed to create the Horcrux. The pain of this remorse is so excruciating that the process itself may kill the creator.

Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort

Voldemort's creation of Horcruxes is central to the later storyline of the Harry Potter novels.

As the number seven is a powerful, mystical number in the world of Harry Potter, (see Bridget Wenlock), Voldemort intended to split his soul into that many pieces, with six in Horcruxes and the last reposing within his body[9]. When Voldemort attacked Godric's Hollow on October 31, 1981, he had been intending to make his sixth and final Horcrux with the death of "The Chosen One." Despite his defeat, he actually succeeded in doing so: when his body was destroyed by the rebounded Killing Curse, a piece of his soul was spalled off and attached itself to the only living thing remaining in the room—Harry Potter—effectively making The Boy Who Lived a sixth Horcrux. Voldemort, unaware of this, "completed" his collection of Horcruxes by turning his snake Nagini into one, thus fragmenting his soul into a total of eight (counting the one residing in his own body), not seven, pieces. Complicating things even further, only six Horcruxes ever existed at any one time in the series: by the time Nagini had been made a Horcrux (mid-'93), one of the original Horcruxes had already been destroyed (his diary, by Harry Potter, in 1992).

All of Voldemort's (deliberately-created) Horcruxes were made using objects that had been important or held some sentimental value.

Marvolo Gaunt's Ring

Tom Riddle creates his first Horcrux using a ring owned by his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, during the summer after his fifth year as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He casts the spell after murdering his father. The ring is introduced during the fourth chapter of the Half-Blood Prince, having already been destroyed by Albus Dumbledore but its significance not yet revealed.

In a Pensieve memory, it is revealed that Riddle had taken the gold ring, which has a black stone inscribed with a magical symbol, from his uncle Morfin Gaunt, whom he had framed for the murder of his father and grandparents. Riddle wears the ring while still a student at Hogwarts, but eventually hides it in the house where the Gaunt family had lived. It remains hidden under the floorboards, placed in a golden box, and protected by several enchantments, until Dumbledore finds it.

Dumbledore finds Marvolo Gaunt's ring during the summer break between the events of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. Dumbledore destroys the Horcrux with Godric Gryffindor's sword. Dumbledore is seriously injured by the ring's curses after putting the ring on his finger. The injury leaves his right arm permanently disfigured and would have killed him quickly but for the intervention of professor Severus Snape, who can merely postpone its inevitably fatal effects.[12] The damaged ring is kept for a time on a table in the Headmaster's office.

Before his death, Dumbledore hides the ring's black stone inside a Golden Snitch and wills the Snitch to Harry Potter. Dumbledore had learned that the stone is, in fact, the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows. This was why he had put it on his finger: he had hoped to activate it and apologize to his long-dead family, quite forgetting it was also a Horcrux now, and thus likely to be protected by destructive enchantments. Voldemort remained unaware of the stone's additional magical properties throughout his lifetime.

Tom Riddle's Diary

Tom Riddle used his diary to create his next Horcrux during his sixth year at Hogwarts. He cast the spell after murdering his fellow student Moaning Myrtle using a Basilisk. The diary is introduced in the fourth chapter of the Chamber of Secrets and is destroyed by Harry Potter during the climax of the same book.

Before Voldemort's downfall, he entrusted the Horcrux to Lucius Malfoy. While aware of its corrupting magical properties, Malfoy did not know the diary was a Horcrux. In an attempt to discredit Arthur Weasley, Malfoy hid the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron, amidst her other books. Tom Riddle's soul-fragment possessed Ginny and through her reopened the Chamber of Secrets. At the end of book two, Harry saved Ginny and destroyed the diary by stabbing it with the venomous fang of a Basilisk, making it the first Horcrux to be destroyed. His reports of the diary's behavior to Dumbledore were the latter's first inkling that Voldemort might have created, not just one Horcrux, but several: "What intrigued and alarmed me most was that the diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard[13]," implying that Voldemort must have had backups of some sort.

To Rowling, a diary is a very scary object. She said in an interview that "the temptation particularly for a young girl, [is] to pour out her heart to a diary." Rowling's little sister Diane was prone to this, and her great fear was that someone would read her diary. This gave Rowling the idea to have a diary that is, in itself, against the confider.[14] When asked what would have happened if Ginny had died and Riddle had managed to escape, Rowling declined to give a straight answer, but revealed that "it would have strengthened the present-day Voldemort considerably."

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

Tom Riddle used a cup owned by Hogwarts founder Helga Hufflepuff to create his third Horcrux. The spell was cast after he murdered Hepzibah Smith. The cup is introduced during the twentieth chapter of Half-Blood Prince and is destroyed by Hermione Granger in the thirty-first chapter of Deathly Hallows.

Hepzibah Smith, who owned the cup, was a distant descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. Riddle killed Smith, stole the cup, then framed her house elf for the murder.

Voldemort entrusted the cup to Bellatrix Lestrange, who kept it protected in her family's vault at Gringotts Bank, a place that Harry guessed that the once penniless Voldemort would have always coveted a connection to. Additional protective spells, including the Gemino and Flagrante curses, were used to protect the contents of the vault. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger stole the cup after breaking into the bank.

Hermione destroyed this Horcrux using a fang from the remains of the basilisk that appears in the Chamber of Secrets.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket

Tom Riddle created his next Horcrux using a locket once owned by Salazar Slytherin and which had belonged to Riddle's mother, Merope Gaunt. The spell was cast after Riddle murdered a Muggle tramp.[11] The locket is introduced briefly in Order of the Phoenix (described only as "a heavy locket that none of them could open") and is destroyed by Ron Weasley in the nineteenth chapter of Deathly Hallows.

Slytherin's locket was passed down through the generations and eventually ended up in the possession of Merope Gaunt. After being abandoned by her husband Tom Riddle Senior, Merope sold the locket to Caractacus Burke, shopkeeper of Borgin & Burkes, for ten galleons, a fraction of the Locket's true value. The locket was eventually sold to Hepzibah Smith. Riddle stole the locket, along with Helga Hufflepuff's cup, after murdering Smith. Once the locket became a Horcrux, Voldemort hid it in a cave where he had once terrorized two of his fellow orphans. The cave's magical protection included an enchanted boat and the use of Inferi.

Disillusioned Death Eater Regulus Black learned about the Horcrux and its hiding place. In an effort to bring about Voldemort's eventual downfall, he and his house elf Kreacher broke through the magical protection and stole the locket. While Black died in the effort, killed by the surrounding inferi, Kreacher took the locket back to their home at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Kreacher continued to protect the locket for years. However, while the Order of the Phoenix was using the house as its headquarters, the locket was stolen by Mundungus Fletcher, a petty criminal and member of the Order. He gave it to Dolores Umbridge as a bribe when she caught him selling stolen property.

Two years later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, where Umbridge worked, and stole the locket. Ron later saved Harry from being strangled by the locket. The Horcrux inside assumed the shape of Harry and Hermione and played on Ron's fear that Harry and Hermione had started a relationship during his absence (and his longer-held fear that in Hermione's eyes he, Ron, would never match up to Harry). The Horcrux attempted to possess him, but Ron overcame its influence and destroyed it using the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

After the release of the final book, several reviews noted similarities between Slytherin's locket and the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings, as both artifacts negatively affect the personality of those who wore them.

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem

Lord Voldemort created his fifth Horcrux using Hogwarts founder Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem.[17] The spell needed to create a horcrux was cast after Voldemort murdered an Albanian peasant.[11] The diadem is introduced by Xenophilius Lovegood, father of Luna Lovegood, in The Deathly Hallows.[17] Ravenclaw's daughter Helena, also known as The Grey Lady of Ravenclaw, stole the diadem from her mother in an attempt to become more intelligent than her own mother.[17] She fled to Albania where she hid the diadem in the hollow of a tree when the Bloody Baron attempted to search for her.[17] After Helena died, she became the Ravenclaw house ghost.[17] Tom Riddle, while a student at the school, charmed the Lady into telling him the location of her mother's lost diadem.[17] Shortly after leaving Hogwarts and after the subsequent murder of Hepzibah Smith where Riddle stole Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's cup from her, he travelled to Albania and took possession of the artifact while planning his rise to power.[17] Years later, when Voldemort returned to Hogwarts and reapplied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position and was denied the job by Albus Dumbledore, he hid the diadem Horcrux in the Room of Requirement.[17] Voldemort believed himself to only have delved into Hogwarts's many secrets and thought the Horcrux to be safe and hidden, with the additional protection of the school and the room he never placed curses around the diadem.[17]

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry first comes into contact with the diadem when he hastily hides the Half-Blood Prince's old potions book in the Room of Requirement, right after he used an invented spell from the book on Draco Malfoy. The diadem was only mentioned as an "old discoloured tiara" in the sixth book where Harry attempted to plan to try to later remember exactly where he placed the book. Later, after having the diadem described to him by the Ravenclaw ghost, Harry recalls this scene and hurries to retrieve it from the Room.[17] The diadem was destroyed by a Fiendfyre spell cast by Vincent Crabbe as he, Gregory Goyle and Draco Malfoy attacked Harry, Ron and Hermione within the Room, Crabbe was slain by the resulting fire.

Harry Potter

Voldemort inadvertently sealed a fragment of his soul within Harry Potter while attempting to murder the boy. The event took place just before the opening chapter of the Philosopher's Stone. Rowling has explicitly stated that Harry never became a proper "Dark object" since the Horcrux spell was not cast.[8] Regardless, as with all Horcruxes, Voldemort would remain immortal so long as his soul fragment remained within Harry.[18] That portion of Voldemort's soul is destroyed by Voldemort himself at the close of the thirty-fourth chapter of the Deathly Hallows.

As a baby, Harry Potter was in the room when Voldemort's fatal Killing Curse backfired. Voldemort's soul had been weakened and destabilized by his continuous murders and the creation of his previous Horcruxes. Harry became a Horcrux when a fragment of Voldemort's soul attached itself to him after the unsuccessful curse. The lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead is a direct result of this attempted murder.

This connection is used to explain several important plot points. Throughout the series, Harry is able to receive insight into Voldemort's mental and emotional states, allowing the reader to eavesdrop on the series' primary antagonist. This insight is usually accompanied by pain in the scar on Harry's forehead. Through Voldemort, Harry also inherited the ability to speak and understand Parseltongue. It is also revealed by Rowling in an interview that Harry's frequent pain in his scar when Voldemort is either active, nearby or feeling strong emotions, is really the trapped bit of soul yearning to depart from Harry's body and rejoin its master soul. [19]

While Voldemort did learn of Harry's telepathic ability, Voldemort was never made aware that Harry was inadvertently protecting a portion of his soul. When Voldemort attempted to kill Harry with the Killing Curse near the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he destroyed the portion of his own soul embedded within Harry. Once destroyed, the connections between the two were also broken, and Harry never again felt pain in his scar.

Nagini

Nagini (Hindi: nāginī, pronounced [ˈnɑːɡɪniː], or [nəˈɡiːni]; variant of Hindi: nāgin, a female cobra, from Hindi/Sanskrit: nāg, a cobra) is a serpent used by Voldemort to create his final Horcrux.[17] Voldemort intended Nagini to be his sixth Horcrux, which would have split his soul into seven pieces, a number he considered to have magically powerful properties.[17] Since he had inadvertently made Harry into a Horcrux and since he had not known this, Nagini was in fact his seventh Horcrux.[17] He cast the spells needed to create the Horcrux after murdering Ministry official Bertha Jorkins.[20][21] As with his diary, Voldemort intended Nagini to be a tool as well as a safeguard to his immortality.[17] Nagini is introduced in the first chapter of the Goblet of Fire.[20] The snake is killed by Neville Longbottom in the final chapter of The Deathly Hallows.[17]

Voldemort is able to communicate with Nagini due to his ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes.[22] Readers are first introduced to Nagini when the snake is the first to notice Frank Bryce, an old gardener who had worked for the late Riddle family, and alerts Voldemort to Bryce's presence.[20] During the fourth year Harry spends at Hogwarts, Voldemort's temporary body is sustained by Nagini's venom, harvested by Peter Pettigrew.[20] In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry takes a direct viewpoint of Nagini's attack on Arthur Weasley in one of his dreams, feeling that he (Harry) himself is the snake.[23] Albus Dumbledore believes this to be due to Harry's special connection to Voldemort, with Harry's witnessing the attack by virtue of the fact that Voldemort's mind "happened to be" in Nagini at the time.[23] This is the first indication of Nagini and Voldemort's deeper connection, having the ability to share each other's thoughts, and share them with Harry as well.[23]

In the final book, Nagini consumes Charity Burbage, a Hogwarts Muggle Studies professor, after the Killing Curse is used on her.[17] Nagini is later placed inside the body of Bathilda Bagshot by Voldemort, and uses the hiding place to launch a surprise assault on Harry when he visits Godric's Hollow.[17] Because snakes can sense heat and movement in a way humans can't, Nagini is able to detect Harry and Hermione even when they are under the Invisibility Cloak.[21] After discovering that Harry is searching for his Horcruxes, Voldemort places Nagini into a protective magical cage to prevent her from being killed, but still uses her to slay Severus Snape by expanding the cage over and on top of him.[17] When Harry is apparently killed by Voldemort, Nagini is released from the protective enchantment and is draped around Voldemort's shoulders during the Death Eaters' victory march back to Hogwarts.[17] After Neville Longbottom openly defies Voldemort, Voldemort punishes him by forcing the Sorting Hat on his head and setting it on fire.[17] The Death Eaters are then attacked and a battle ensues, and Neville pulls Godric Gryffindor's sword from the Hat and beheads Nagini.[17]

Since she was Voldemort's last remaining Horcrux, her death sets up the series' climactic duel between Voldemort and Harry Potter. As Voldemort has no Horcruxes remaining and is therefore mortal, his death in that duel is final

Magical Objects - Other uncategorized objects

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

Gubraithian fire

Gubraithian Fire is a conjured everlasting magical fire that may only be created by extremely skilled wizards. First mentioned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rubeus Hagrid and Madame Maxime give a branch of Gubraithian fire (conjured by Dumbledore, to burn atop the branch) as a gift to the giant leader during their journey.

Marauder's Map

The Marauder's Map is a magical map of Hogwarts which makes its first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban. The map was created by the four students known collectively as "The Marauders" at Hogwarts. During their time there, they gained extensive knowledge about the school grounds, such as its various hidden passages, from their frequent night-time adventures together. These marauders were James Potter (Prongs), Sirius Black (Padfoot), Remus Lupin (Moony), and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail).

At first glance, the Map is simply a blank piece of parchment; but when the user points their wand to 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' Castle (including secret passageways) is revealed.[HP3] Saying, "Mischief managed!" returns the map to its original blank state.[HP3] The Map gives information on how to open secret passageways, though several locations (such as the Room of Requirement and 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. Furthermore, Animagus disguises or Invisibility Cloaks cannot fool the Marauder’s Map. Not even Polyjuice Potion can outwit the Marauder's Map. For this reason, Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Moody, considered it a threat and asks to 'borrow' the map from a trusting Harry.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Fred and George (who have no further need for it) give the Map to Harry so he can get to Hogsmeade Village through a hidden passageway. Snape later on found the Map in Harry's possession and tried to force it to reveal its secrets. It merely insulted him with mocking phrases, the Map retains an echo of its creators' personalities, much like the Sorting Hat remembers the thoughts and opinions of the school founders; the marauders had no happy memories of Snape. Lupin later took it with him. He returns the map to Harry after resigning his post at Hogwarts. The Map then on makes insignificant appearances in the books.

In the series, the Map is depicted as 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 impostor and Harry later uses it in upcoming books. When asked, J. K. 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. 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 [one of Harry's sons] sneaked it out of his father’s desk one day."[19] This is expected, as James Potter, the boy's grandfather, was also a mischief-maker.

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'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.

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.[20][21]

Spellotape is referenced in all of the Harry Potter books, apart from Deathly Hallows, and is seen in the second film.

Magical Objects - Wands

A wand is a part of a wizard's everyday accessory, used to perform magical feats, and without which only limited magic is possible. They are used as both tools and weapons in the Wizarding World. Wands are generally carried inside the wizard's robes in the books; however, they can also be placed into other objects. For instance, Hagrid hid the broken halves of his wand inside his umbrella. In the Harry Potter universe, when a wizard has committed a serious crime, their wands are snapped in half.

The only named wand shop is Ollivander's. This is where Hagrid takes Harry to buy his first wand. In the "Weighing of the Wands" chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ollivander is seen to evaluate two foreign wands: Krum's wand: a Gregorovitch creation, unusually thick; and Fleur's wand, whose core (a hair from her Veela grandmother) he felt created "temperamental" wands, which is why he did not use it himself.

Creation

A wand is made by a wandmaker learned in wandlore, the study of wands. Wands are handcrafted from "wandwood", which is a wood 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, dragon heartstrings and Veela hair. The books mention that Ollivander only uses phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings and unicorn hair as the cores of his wands. In the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand is described as having a core made from the tail hair of a Thestral.[22]

Effects

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". It was an 11-inch (280 mm), holly and phoenix feather wand.

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.

Wands are capable of changing masters. This is revealed in Deathly Hallows. 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 perfectly well with its new master. It is unclear if the wand will continue to work properly for its original master if it is returned (not taken back in a fight). However, any wands removed from the owners using Expelliarmus (other than Dumbledore when disarmed by Draco in Half Blood Prince), seem to not change allegiance. If they have, they work perfectly well for their original masters when they retrieve them.

Magical Objects - Quills

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 exams, it is presumably used for all the exams Harry takes at Hogwarts.

Blood Quill

The Blood Quill is used by Umbridge throughout Order of the Phoenix to carry out her perverse punishment of "cutting up" students. In the fifth book, Harry has detention with 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 using a regular quill, Umbridge makes Harry use a blood quill, which 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 their blood for ink. When carried out repeatedly over a period, this can lead to permanent scarring, as shown by Harry to Rufus 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.

Quick Quotes Quill

A Quick Quotes Quill is a stenographic tool employed by Rita Skeeter to spin the words of her subjects into a more salacious or melodramatic form more to her liking. Because she sucks on it first before writing (which then the quill writes to her liking), it is speculated that the quill will also write to the likings of others (as long as he or she sucks it before it begins writing).

Rita uses the quill to interview Harry (inside a Hogwarts broomstick cupboard) about his participation in the Triwizard Tournament in 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. 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.

Magical Objects - Transportation

Broomsticks

Broomsticks are used for transportation by wizards and witches of all ages, and for 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 extensive 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, 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 even family-sized broomsticks that have room for an entire family to sit down on and have a luggage compartment below the seating area. The cultural significance of broomsticks in the world of Harry Potter is similar to that of the real life automobiles.

Since Harry Potter 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 Professor Minerva McGonagall, who had chosen him as Seeker.[HP1] The Firebolt was given to him by Sirius as a Christmas gift.[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 (Harry Potter never asks for the price, and thus it remains unknown). However Harry loses his Firebolt in Deathly Hallows and it is unknown what he replaces it with afterwards, or if he does at all.

Cars and Motorbikes

Enchanted motor vehicles appear in most of the books.

In Chamber of Secrets, Ron and Harry miss the train and travel to Hogwarts in Ron's father's car, a flying Ford Anglia.

Sirius owned a flying motorbike, which he lent to Hagrid the night James and Lily Potter 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 escape from the Dursley's in the seventh book.
Knight Bus

The Knight Bus is a heavily enchanted, violently purple, triple-decker bus that transports wizards and witches. 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 Potter is charged 11 Sickles to travel from the town of Little Whinging to The Leaky Cauldron[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.

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 flue, which is the passageway that leads from a fireplace to the chimney so hot gases can escape. Strangely, flues did not exist at the supposed time of Floo powder's invention. It is possible that the muggles could have taken the word from the wizards and made it their own.

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 the Floo powder into the fireplace, 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.

In Chamber of Secrets, the Weasleys travelled to Diagon Alley by Floo powder. Harry did not say "Diagon Alley" clearly: he coughed while saying "Diagon Alley" so he was instead sent to Borgin and Burkes, 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 blocked. Sirius uses the network to communicate with Harry in the same book. In the fifth book, Harry uses the Gryffindor fireplace and finally Dolores Umbridge's fireplace to communicate with Sirius; he is however forced to do so because Umbridge is monitoring all other lines of communication in and out of Hogwarts (thus why he did not communicate through Gryffindor's). The Floo Network is controlled by the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry also has over 700 fireplaces in its headquarters so ministry officials and workers can teleport straight from their homes to the ministry without the hustle and bustle of travelling on broom 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.[original research?] 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 is 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 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.

A wizard merchant by the name of Ali Bashir is very keen to import flying carpets into Britain and is very upset that local laws are preventing him from doing so. He regularly berates Arthur about the subject, but it is very unlikely that the law will be changed.

Portkeys

The Portkeys are first mentioned in 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 of activation. 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 Remus Lupin says "...it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorised Portkey."

In the Harry Potter series, a portkey is usually made from an unobtrusive object or bit of rubbish, to prevent Muggles from discovering their magical nature. When activated, the user feels a pulling or jerking sensation behind the navel, and then suddenly appears at the destination.[HP4] With enough practice, a graceful landing is possible: after the Portkeyed trip to the Quidditch World Cup in fourth film, 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 Goblet of Fire, Crouch Jr., who was impersonating Moody, made the Triwizard Tournament cup a Portkey so it would transport anybody who touched it straight to the hands of Voldemort, expecting it would be Harry. However, Harry took the cup together with Cedric, so Pettigrew murdered Cedric.
Time-Turners

A Time Turner may be used for time travel. A large supply of Time-Turners is kept at the Ministry of Magic, 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 a Daily Prophet article 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 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, where she and Harry use the Time-Turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak.

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 s/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).
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 in mistakenly transported to Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley and hides in it to elude Draco and the man that appears to be his father. That cabinet's counterpart is mentioned in Chamber of Secrets when Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington convinces Peeves to drop it (thus breaking it) over Argus Filch's office in order to help Harry escape detention for "befouling of the castle" (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, learning that you could transport between the two cabinets and that the other is located in Borgin and Burkes. He later tells Voldemort of this and is instructed to fix the broken one at Hogwarts as so to transport the Death Eaters into the highly secured castle.

In Half-Blood Prince Draco visits the dark shop to ask for instruction in fixing the one broken Cabinet placed in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts after Peeves broke it by dropping it in Draco's second year. After Draco pales and becomes fatigue in his complex struggle to fix the cabinet, he madly yells in triumph as he succeeds and allows the Death Eaters to finally enter the school. Thus, a chaotic battle begins in the castle between them and the Order of the Phoenix, ultimately leading to Dumbledore's death.

Magical Objects - 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

A Pensieve is a stone receptacle in which to store memories. Covered in mystic runes, it contains memories that take physical form as a type of matter that is described as neither liquid nor gas. A witch or wizard can extract their own memories or another person’s, 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. 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".[17] 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 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 (Hokey) provided Dumbledore with a memory as well.

Dumbledore's Pensieve first appears in Goblet of Fire, again in Order of the Phoenix, and plays a pivotal role in Half-Blood Prince. It makes a last appearance in Deathly Hallows when Harry uses it to decipher Snape's memories.

Hermione's small beaded handbag
Hermione used an Undetectable Extension Charm on her handbag which contains almost everything they need when they disapparate from Bill and Fleur's wedding reception. It contained jeans, sweatshirts, socks, the Invisibility Cloak, Polyjuice Potion, books, a tent, essence of dittany (a liquid extract that can be used to heal wounds quickly) and even Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait, along with other various items.

Magical Objects - Potions

These are notable magical drinks and mixtures which have varying effects on the user, from poisons to antidotes to causing irreversible sleep.

Elixir of Life

This potion makes the drinker immortal so long as he/she continues to consume it. Nicolas Flamel and his wife are said to have lived over 650 years by drinking this continually. If the drinker stops drinking it, then they will soon die afterwards. It is first heard of in Philosopher's Stone.

Felix Felicis

Also called Liquid Luck. First seen in book six, the potion grants whomever drinks it unusually good luck (the time span depending on how much is imbibed.) It is dangerous in large quantities and banned in all sporting events. It looks like gold in fluid form. Side effects include giddiness and overzealousness, among other effects related to overconfidence.

Amortentia

This potion causes the drinker to develop a powerful obsession and infatuation with whomever gave them the potion. It is usually either forced upon someone or covertly given. Its effects grow stronger the longer it is not consumed, as seen in book six when Ron mistakenly eats a Chocolate Cauldron intended for Harry into which Romilda Vane had slipped a Love Potion. The potion has different scents to different people. It is also the most powerful love potion of all.

Polyjuice Potion

This potion allows the drinker to appear to be another person for a set time, most commonly an hour. It is made with several ingredients, including a part of the person that the drinker wishes to turn into, such as a strand of hair. It is first used in Chamber of Secrets to allow Harry and Ron to transform into Crabbe and Goyle.

Veritaserum

Also known as Truth Potion. Only a drop 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. When Dumbledore asked him how he escaped from Azkaban, he told him truthfully that his mother rescued him from jail.

Magical Objects - 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 reversed and correctly spaced, reads I show not your face but your heart's 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).

According to Dumbledore, the Mirror "shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts"; which is why Harry sees his family, while Ron sees himself achieving more than his older brothers — but 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 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", and lamenting that he did not receive any for Christmas, since people will insist on giving him books. However, this is a lie. It is said in Deathly Hallows that what he really sees is his entire family alive and well and happy together again. [15]

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 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 finding the Stone. Dumbledore tells Harry, "It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something."

The mirror has not been seen since Philosopher's 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 it to Aberforth Dumbledore, who uses it to watch out for Harry in Deathly Hallows. When Harry desperately cries for help at a shard of the magical mirror, a brilliant blue eye (which Harry mistakes for Albus' eye) that happens to be Aberforth's eye, appears, sends Dobby who arrives to help Harry escape from the Malfoy Manor to Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's Shell Cottage.

Magical Objects - Legendary magical artifacts

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 "a very 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). An ageing potion cannot fool the Goblet, however, as was proven by Fred and George Weasley, who entered their names and had themselves thrown from the Goblet's presence. When not in use, the goblet is kept in a jeweled "casket".

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, and is used to destroy three of Voldemort's Horcruxes. On several occasions, it is shown that only one who is truly a member of the Gryffindor House - one who shows courage in the face of danger - can use the Sword.

Because the Sword was goblin-forged, it is indestructible and according to Griphook the goblin, the Sword was originally forged for 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. In both incidents when it was drawn from the hat, it was used to kill a snake, the symbol of Slytherin. 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.

The 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, invented 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 Philosopher's Stone, and is the object that Voldemort is pursuing to return himself to power. It was destroyed at the end of the book by Dumbledore with Flamel's agreement.

Sorting Hat

The Sorting Hat is a sentient artifact 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, 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. 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. It is suggested by Ron that the hat probably spends each school year thinking up the song it will sing at the next start-of-term banquet.

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 Potter, 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. The sword and hat together make up the two known relics of Godric Gryffindor.

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. 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.

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 movies, the hat is voiced by actor Leslie Phillips.

Magical Objects - 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.

Playing cards: Self-shuffling and Exploding Snap

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]

In Goblet of Fire, Ron was trying to build a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack, playing cards that have the ability to explode at random. It is mentioned that this made building card castles more exciting, as they were likely to explode at any given time, and indeed his did so as he placed the last two cards on the top of the castle.

Wizard's Chess

Wizard's chess is played with pieces and a board like real chess, except that the pieces are animated.[11] 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. Harry replaces a bishop, Ron a knight and Hermione a castle. 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.[12]

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.

Magical Objects - 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 the nearest.

Until the debate over Severus Snape's allegiance was resolved in Deathly Hallows, a key argument for those who believed that Snape was still in league with the Order of the Phoenix was the fact that Snape appeared as an enemy in the Foe-glass of Barty Crouch, Jr. in the fourth book (an event that would not have occurred were Snape working for the Death Eaters).

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 to rob the bank 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 is given a Remembrall in Philosopher's Stone, but loses it by his fifth year. Their use is forbidden during the O.W.L. exams, because students can tell if they wrote a wrong answer.

Revealer

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

Secrecy Sensor

The Secrecy Sensor is a dark detector which makes its first appearance when Harry enters Moody's office. The sensor 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 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.).

In Order of the Phoenix, it is shown that Secrecy Sensors are used at the Atrium Desk in the Ministry of Magic upon visitor 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 his 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 (because they are not dark, though Harry considers them to be).

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 one 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 was present each time the Sneakoscope was 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 Weasley family has 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, and Mortal Peril. The Weasleys are the only family mentioned to own such a clock. Albus Dumbledore calls the clock "wonderful" and seems impressed by it, suggesting that it's an extremely powerful object.

Only the location of mortal peril is known on the round clock (it is situated 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 can not verify this, because she does not know anyone else who has a clock like hers.[HP6]

In the 4th book (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) it is mentioned that the clock is a grandfather clock, whereas in the 6th book (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) Mrs. Weasley is able to carry the clock with her and balance it on a stack of laundry.

Magical Objects - Deathly Hallows

The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects that appear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the novel, the lore behind them states that a person who unites the Hallows will become a "master of death". Throughout the history of the novel, many wizards have sought out the legendary Hallows through what is referred to by Xenophilius Lovegood as the Quest. Apparently, not many have succeeded in finding the Deathly Hallows. They had, after all, no evidence of the locations of the Hallows and no proof that they actually existed. Also, very few actually believe this story. The 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 one 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 "perhaps" based upon Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale".

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] Supposedly, it is the most powerful wand in existence, and when used by its true master, he or she cannot be defeated in a duel (however, in Deathly Hallows Dumbledore dueled with Grindelwald and conquered the wand, despite the fact it is supposed to be unbeatable). 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. The wand's ownership, however, is a tricky matter. As stated by Mr Ollivander the wandmaker, ownership can only be transferred properly. That is, the wand will only fully work for the new user if they directly Disarm, Stun or kill the previous user. This can occur during a duel (although because the Wand is very powerful, this scenario would be rare), or in non-magical ways (killing in Muggle fashion, etc). Rowling has stated that the wand is brutal in its choice of master, that, whilst most wands have some allegiance to their own masters, the Elder Wand only responds to power, i.e. becoming the possession of the most powerful wizard in a duel. If a master dies naturally without ever being defeated, the wand's power will die too, as it had never been won from its master. After defeating Voldemort, Harry discusses its fate with the portrait of Dumbledore, and decides that he should put it back into Dumbledore's grave, so that no more wizards will die in the pursuit of the item.

After boasting of his unbeatable wand, Antioch Peverell met his end – 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 how he possessed the Elder Wand, as it would boost his popularity as he tried to reverse engineer its secrets as he faced competition from Ollivander. It subsequently fell to Grindelwald, who stole it from the famed wandmaker. It is not known if Gregorovitch mastered its secrets properly but he did have a reputation in Europe. The Stunning Spell Grindelwald sent at Gregorovitch while stealing the wand caused it to recognize him as its master, although this is never explicitly stated in Deathly Hallows. 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 death with Snape, he meant 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 disarmed Dumbledore, the plan failed and Draco became the wand's new master. After Dumbledore's death, the wand was placed inside his White Tomb. Voldemort opened it and claimed the wand as his own. Only later did he learn that he never mastered the wand because he did not gain ownership from its previous owner (who, after all, was already dead). Thereafter he slew Snape, not realizing that the wand's allegiance had passed to Draco, even though Draco never had the Elder Wand itself in his possession; furthermore, Draco was Disarmed by Harry, and thus relieved of the Elder Wand's allegiance, before Voldemort even took possession of the Wand itself. While Voldemort wielded the Wand for its entire presence in the novel, he never understood who actually owned it, until Harry spells it out for him (and the reader) in the final pages of the book.

At the beginning of the final book, Voldemort attempts to use a Killing Curse on Harry as the boy and the decoys attempt to flee Privet Drive: at this time Harry's wand mysteriously acts of its own accord and stops Voldemort. This is what causes Voldemort to seek out Gregorovitch and the Hallow. The Elder Wand did destroy Voldemort's soul fragment inside Harry with another killing curse; Voldemort could not kill Harry, but he could certainly destroy that part of himself. The killing curse only knocked Harry into a death-like state for a few moments, in which in his mind he was given a choice to "move on" to the afterlife or return to the living world, and he chose the latter. Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse, used on Harry when Voldemort thought he was dead, caused no pain to Harry. In the final battle, the Elder Wand recognizes its true master, and when confronted with Harry's Expelliarmus charm, the wand causes Voldemort's final Killing Curse to rebound and kill him. Harry is the wand's true master and the wand cannot hurt its owner.

Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his damaged holly and phoenix feather wand (an act that the great wandmaker Ollivander believed impossible according to what he knew — he mentions that wandlore is very ancient and complicated). Harry intends to return the wand to Dumbledore's tomb, in the hopes 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.

Resurrection Stone

The Resurrection Stone allows the holder to see and 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 truly be with her. By the time the stone was seen in Marvolo Gaunt's possession, it had been set into a ring. The ring 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 as a Horcrux, the Resurrection Stone was likely cursed, 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 perhaps a year to live. Before summoning Snape, Dumbledore had destroyed the Horcrux, using Godric Gryffindor's sword.

The stone was later passed to Harry through Dumbledore's will, hidden inside a Snitch. The Snitch, the same one Harry caught in his first-ever Quidditch match (Harry originally caught the Snitch in his mouth and nearly swallowed it), 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 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 recent interview, Rowling said she would like to believe that a centaur's hoof pushed it into the ground, burying it forever.

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. Other typical invisibility cloaks described in the books, which are sometimes woven from the hair of a beast known as the Demiguise, can become opaque with age and are vulnerable to being penetrated by various spells.[1]

In Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that Harry's cloak is in fact the Cloak of Invisibility: 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[6] and eventually to Harry. The cloak was not in James' possession the night he was murdered; he had previously lent it to Dumbledore, who was greatly interested in the Deathly Hallows, to study. Dumbledore gave 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. 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, as demonstrated by Harry and his friends on various adventures under the cloak throughout the series.

While making the wearer invisible to ordinary people 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 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 see Harry through the cloak. In the Prisoner of Azkaban Dumbledore warns that Dementors' perception of humans is unhindered by invisibility cloaks, as they sense people through emotions. In Philospher's Stone, Dumbledore used homenum revelio the human-presence-revealing spell and was therefore able to sense when the cloaked Harry was nearby.[7]

At the conclusion of the seventh book in the series, Harry decides that the Invisibility Cloak will be the only Hallow that he will keep, and intends to pass it on to his descendants.

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