Magical objects in Harry Potter

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

Transportation

Broomsticks

Broomsticks are used for transportation by wizards and witches of all ages and for the game of Quidditch. Portkeys and Floo Powder also provide transportation. Licensed wizards of age will sometimes apparate. Eastern magic-wielders are usually the only ones to use flying carpets, and their use is banned in England at least, for being too conspicuous. There are also toy broomsticks for young children which only fly about three feet off the ground.

A complete culture exists for broomsticks as exists for cars in the real world, see the list of Broomsticks in Harry Potter.

Floo Powder

Floo powder is a glittering powder used by wizards to travel and communicate using fireplaces. A fire to which Floo powder has been added will appear green. 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.

To use a fireplace for transport or communication the fireplace must be connected to the Floo Network. To transport from one fireplace to another, the traveller stands in the fireplace with a handful of Floo powder, states the intended destination in a clear voice, then throws the powder at his or her feet. Alternatively, Floo Powder can be thrown into a fireplace (with or without a fire already burning) and the traveller can step into it. As for communication, one puts ones head in the fire, and speaks the destination. This allows people to communicate without having to travel to the location.

In the second book the Weasleys traveled to Diagon Alley by Floo powder. Harry did not say "Diagon Alley" clearly (in the film, this was portrayed by Harry saying "diagonally", so he presumably travelled diagonally) and was deposited in a dingy and sinister shop in nearby Knockturn Alley. In the fourth book, Arthur Weasley used 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 used the network to communicate with Harry in the same book. In the fifth book, Dolores Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad inspected the incoming and outgoing Owl Post, and every fireplace in Hogwarts, except for Dolores Umbridge's own fire, so Harry had to put himself in considerable risk and use Umbridge's fireplace whenever he wanted to communicate with Sirius at headquarters, a method which was quite uncomfortable to begin with.

Flying Carpets

Flying carpets are an alternative wizarding type of transportation, possibly around the world, but illegal in Europe (or at least in England). Usually they are a thick rug, frequently highly patterned and often manufactured in the Middle East. The obvious advantage of the carpet over the broomstick is that they can seat a number of people, and are no doubt more comfortable to ride.

Flying Carpets were once an accepted form of travel for the magical community, but they are now banned due to being defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. It is therefore now against wizarding law to charm carpets or fly them in Britain, although they are still legal in other countries. Arthur Weasley was very much involved in the introduction of this legislation due to his position in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. It is known that the ban was relatively recent, not only from Arthur's involvement, but also from the fact that Barty Crouch Senior's grandfather owned a 12-seater Axminster back in the days before they were prohibited.

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

Hand of Glory

The Hand of Glory is an unpleasant instrument sold to Draco Malfoy by Borgin and Burkes. It is a large shrivelled hand, often displayed on a cushion. When it is given a candle, it gives light only to the one holding the hand.

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.

Portkey

Portkeys are first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Once created, they can be set to transport anybody who touches them 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.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Jr., who was impersonating as Alastor Moody, made the Triwizard Tournament cup into a portkey so it would transport anybody who touched it straight to the hands of Voldemort, expecting it would be Harry Potter. However, Harry took the cup together with Cedric Diggory, so Voldemort had Cedric unceremoniously murdered with Avada Kedavra.

It has been noted by some fans that it is interesting that the simplicity with which portkeys are created in the beginning of the fourth book (as a method for transportation to the Quidditch tournament) and in the fifth book calls into question the need for the fourth book: Crouch, posing as Moody, could easily 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 laboriously guiding Harry through the tournament tasks, turning the trophy in the labyrinth into a portkey, and for 600-plus pages of dense (albeit interesting) reading. It has been argued by others, though, that due to the protection of Hogwarts, which also makes apparating impossible, the creation of portkeys on Hogwarts must have the permission of the Headmaster. This is why Moody cast the portkey spell on the Triwizard Cup since, it was originally intended as a portkey all along by the tournament officials for the winner of the cup to exit the maze without having to fight past the other champions and challenges of the maze again. It 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 (or not functioned at all like regular one time portkeys). Other evidence to support this theory may be found in the fifth Harry Potter book, including Fudge's anger at Dumbledore setting up an "Unauthorised Portkey", and the quote from Lupin: "...it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorised Portkey." Also, many argue that using the Tournament would be an excellent coverup for Lord Voldemort, who wished to return unnoticed. The death of Harry Potter would have been seen as a tragic accident in such a dangerous tournament, and Voldemort would be able to continue with his agenda unchallenged.

Time-Turner

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 Hogwarts classes than time would normally allow. McGonagall made Hermione keep the Time-Turner secret, so Hermione did not mention it to Harry or Ron; yet they noticed that she would, on occasion, suddenly seem to appear unexpectedly, and apparently out of thin air, in classes or elsewhere. Hermione finally lets Harry in on the secret near the end of the book, where she and Harry used the Time-Turner to travel back in time in order 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 traveled back in time.

A large supply of Time-Turners is discovered by members of Dumbledore's Army at the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it is mentioned that the entire supply of Time-Turners in storage at the Ministry was destroyed by Harry Potter and the Death Eaters the previous year.

Vanishing Cabinet

At the end of the sixth book, Hogwarts is invaded despite its magical defenses 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 (a side street of Diagon Alley, which has many shops for the Dark arts, hence: nocturnally) purchasing the twin of some object, 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 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 utilized 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, presumably for no reason. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Malfoy discovers that a pair of Vanishing Cabinets could be used as a magical passage, and uses this object to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. The Vanishing Cabinets have yet to appear prominently in the films; in a deleted scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry hides in one of the Cabinets in Borgin and Burke's.

Letters and signs

The Dark Mark

The Dark Mark is Lord Voldemort's symbol, and at the height of his power, it was sent up in the air when any one of his followers murdered someone. The Mark is also magically imprinted onto the Death Eaters' left forearms. It consists of a skull with a serpent in its mouth. According to Snape, the Dark Mark can be triggered by Voldemort to glow and burn; this is intended to serve as a summons for the Death Eaters. In this manner, The Dark Mark, in terms of its appearance on the arms of Voldemort's Death Eaters and the concept of it being used to summon them, has a similar function to The Brand of the Order of the Midnight Sons, a group of supernaturally inclined superheroes from Marvel Comics, who received a mark that resembled a dagger composed of flames on their arms which would activate when the world was in a time of supernatural crisis in order to alert the heroes that they were needed. The Dark Mark is cast by placing the tip of one's staff or wand against the target's forearm or the air, and incanting the word "morsmordre."

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's 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.

Potions

Prank Objects

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Headless Hat: Creates a limited field of invisibility. Specifically, the wearer's head. Hermione actually calls it "Clever," which, coming from Hermione, is one of the greatest compliments one can receive.

Extendable Ears: Placing one end of one of these long, flesh-colored strings in one's ear allows one to hear anything at the other end. Used for spying in many instances. Can't listen through doors if an Imperturbable charm has been placed on the door.

Skiving Snackbox: These hold a variety of sweets that, when eaten, cause the subject to show symptoms of some sort of illness, such as vomiting or nosebleed. Used for getting out of classes. The sweets have two differently colored halves. The first half causes the malady, and the second half is the antidote.

Includes:

Fainting Fancy
Fever Fudge
Nosebleed Nougat
Puking Pastilles

Ton Tongue Toffees: Toffee that, when eaten, causes the user's tongue to grow to an amazing length, and become extremely heavy. They are wrapped in brightly colored wrappers. Fred and George Weasley used this new invention on Dudley Dursley.

Canary Creams: Transfigures the user into a giant canary for a few seconds.

Wildfire Whiz-Bangs: Fireworks.

Includes:

Basic Blaze Box
Deflagration Deluxe

Individual fireworks include:

Dragons and bats comprised from coloured sparks
Pink Catherine wheels that fly through the air
Silver-tailed rockets
Firecrackers that blast for hours
Sparklers that write swear words; probably charmed
(very likely to be unintentional) Winged piglets made from pink and silver sparks that fly around-created when a Catherine wheel collides with a rocket

Portable Swamp: Creates a swamp when used.

Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder: When sprinkled into the air, creates an area of impenetrable darkness. Malfoy used this in the Death Eaters' attack on Hogwarts. It holds off spells such as incendio fire, lumos light, and supposedly other light charms, even though Malfoy's Hand of Glory can penetrate it.

Shield Hats: Automatically cast a Shield Charm on the wearer, causing minor to moderate curses and jinxes to be reflected back at the caster. Come in other shapes as well, such as Shield Cloaks and Shield Gloves. First thought as a joke, until the Ministry bought 500 of these and other Shield garments.
Decoy Detonators: Small horn-type object that, when dropped on the ground, will scurry away at a distance and make a loud distracting noise.
Punching Telescopes: Discovered by Hermione Granger in Fred and George's bedroom. You squeeze it and it gives you a black eye. Has a thick yellow paste as an antidote, possibly used for other things as well.
Edible Dark Marks: Makes whoever eats it sick
U-No-Poo: "The Constipation Sensation That's Gripping The Nation." Its name is a play on 'You-Know-Who.'
Reuseable Hangman: A classic game of Hangman with an added twist; a wooden doll actually climbs up the stairs of a set of gallows with each wrong guess, and hangs itself if the player loses.
Patented daydream charm: Instructions on casting an incantation on yourself to enter a realistic thirty-minute daydream. Minor side-effects include vacant expression and drooling.
Fanged Frisbees: Literaly frisbees with fangs. First seen in Half Blood Prince. It whirled around the room after Ron Weasly threw one in the Gryffandor common room. May be capable of causing damage.

Other

Dungbomb: Explodes into a large and extremely smelly mess.
Stink Pellets: Used to distract prefects and teachers, and gives an unpleasant smell.

Pygmy Puffs: Miniature puffskeins.
Screaming yo-yos: Presumably screams loudly when worked.

Other Magical Objects

Magical Candies

Acid Pops are a type of wizard candy available at Honeydukes. They are magical lollipops that can burn a hole through your tongue.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are a famous type of wizard candy. They are jelly beans that came in every (really, EVERY) flavor. The flavors described in the book as normal are: caramel - chocolate - coffee - marmelade - peppermint - strawberry

The ones with the "unusual" flavors are: baked beans - bogey - curry - earwax - grass - liver - pepper - sardine - spinach - sprouts - tripe - vomit

Jelly Belly candy company produces real Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They have produced odd flavors in and out of the market since (--). Some of the "unusual" examples are: bacon - black pepper - booger - dirt - earthworm - ear wax - grass - rotten egg - soap - sardine - spinach - vomit

Chocolate frogs are found in the Harry Potter universe. They are frogs made of chocolate and, because they are magical, they hop around. (In the first film, they also croak like real frogs.) Chocolate frogs are each packaged with a magical collectible card giving a brief biography of a famous (in the Harry Potter universe and sometimes in other magical worlds) witch or wizard. The cards named by the Harry Potter books include:

Additionally, J.K. Rowling designed four Wizard Cards for the four Hogwarts founders.

We are first introduced to chocolate frogs in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when Harry is on the Hogwarts Express heading to Hogwarts. Having just met Ron Weasley, Harry buys a cart load of candy for the two of them to split. Some of the pieces of candy are chocolate frogs. Harry opens one and the frog jumps out the window. Harry then sees that that frog's card was Albus Dumbledore.

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. Unfortunately, these frogs do not move by themselves.

Fizzing Whizbees. A type of wizard candy available at Honeydukes. They are magical candies that can make you levitate a little when you eat them. It is rumored to contain dried Billywig stings.

Pepper Imps. A type of wizard candy available at Honeydukes. A tiny black candy, they make you breathe fire.

Peppermint Toad A peppermint cream in the shape of the toad that, once eaten, gives off the sensation that it is hopping in the stomach.

Toothflossing Stringmint An odd, splintery mint candy that premumably cleans and flosses your teeth as you chew it.

Ice Mice A mouse-shaped candy that makes your teeth squeak and chatter.

Drooble's Best Blowing Gum A bubblegum that fills a room with bluebell bubbles that refuse to pop for days.

James's and Sirius's detention mirrors

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gives Harry a mirror he originally used to communicate with James in detention. Harry forgets about it, and only remembers it upon Sirius's death, by which point it is no longer functional.

Foe-glass

A mirror that shows its owner's enemies.

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]. It is not known whether it has any other magical ability.

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.

Gubraithian fire may be a reference to (or is at least reminiscent of) the burning bush of the Bible, encountered by Moses. J. K. Rowling may be implying that Moses (or someone) was a powerful wizard.

This article does not have the etymology of the term, if any.

Horcruxes

See Horcrux.

Howler

A Howler is a bright red letter usually signifying displeasure and/or anger from the sender directed at the recipient. When opened, the Howler begins to yell in the sender's voice at the recipient, eventually dissolving into scraps of paper. If not opened, it will explode and scream even louder. In Chamber of Secrets, Mrs. Weasley sends Ron a Howler after he steals his dad's enchanted car and flies it to Hogwarts with Harry. In Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore sends Petunia Dursley a howler to remind her of her agreement to let Harry live at Privet Drive after the dementor attack, when Harry's Uncle Vernon is ready to throw him out. Neville Longbottom also receives them on a regular basis, from his grandmother.

Invisibility cloak

An Invisibility cloak makes its wearer invisible. Harry Potter inherited one from his father 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 approach full growth.

Invisibility cloaks are very rare and expensive, and they are made from the pelts of Demiguises, magical herbivore beasts that are found in the Far East.

The Marauder's Map

The Marauder's Map was created by Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter (the Marauders) as an aid in mischief-making. They gained extensive knowledge of the Hogwarts grounds from their frequent night-time adventures while transformed as animals (Black, Pettigrew and Potter being Animagi and Lupin a werewolf). They used this knowledge to create the Marauder's Map. The map bears the names of its creators, the Marauders, as they knew each other — by their nicknames (which are derived from the animal they transform into): Moony (Lupin, a werewolf), Wormtail (Pettigrew, a rat), Padfoot (Black, a dog), and Prongs (Potter, a stag).

At first glance, the map is simply a piece of blank parchment; but when the user says, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," ink lines stretch across it, revealing a map of Hogwarts (including secret passageways) and the location of everyone within the grounds. The map also gives information on how to open secret passageways. The only place that the Marauder's Map does not show is the Room of Requirement. This was discovered by Harry when he was looking for Draco Malfoy, only to find him not in the map. This may be on account of the fact that the four friends may not have known of its existence. The words "Mischief managed!" return the map to its original blank state, to prevent someone who does not know the secret of the map from using it.

The map is given to Harry by Fred and George Weasley, who find it while unattended in Filch's office. It makes its first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban, and has featured in all subsequent novels.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Professor Snape finds the map in Harry's possession and tries to force it to reveal its secrets; the map responds by insulting him. Professor Lupin arrives, says that he will investigate, and takes it with him. He later gives it back to Harry. The Map retains an echo of its creators' personalities, much like the Sorting Hat remembers the thoughts and opinions of the school founders. Snape, however, continues to insist that the map contains dark magic, most likely because he recognised the nicknames of his old schooltime rivals on the heading.

Unlike the book, where the map is a piece of parchment, in the movie version, the map appears with a cover that unfolds in two with many other folds inside each other. All the lines in the map are made up of what at first glance are just random letters, but closer are latin words. The map in the movie also was so complicated, it even had folds that could move to show the moving staircases.

The Mirror of Erised

The Mirror of Erised is a mystical mirror discovered by Harry in a back corridor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. On it is inscribed, erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi — which, when reversed, reads I show not your face but your heart's desire. Also, "Erised", upon being reversed, is read as "Desire". According to Dumbledore, the Mirror "shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts"; Harry, upon encountering the mirror, can see his parents, as well as what appears to be a crowd of relatives; Ron sees himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain holding the Quidditch Cup (thus revealing his wish to be acknowledged in the shadow of his highly successful older brothers). Dumbledore, one of the only other characters to face the mirror in the novel, claims to see himself holding a pair of socks, telling Harry that "...one can never have enough socks." , also lamenting that he did not receive any during Christmas. If the claim was true, it might suggest that Dumbledore is, indeed, fully content. On the other hand, as Harry suspects, he might merely have not wished to tell Harry.

The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to the Philosopher's stone. Dumbledore hid the mirror and hid the stone inside it. He cast a spell that made it so only a person who wanted to find the stone, but not to use it, would be able to obtain the stone. Anyone else would see himself making an Elixir of Life or turning things to gold, rather than actually see himself find the stone, as Professor Quirrel claimed to have seen.

Pensieve

A Pensieve is a stone basin, covered in mystic runes, with a liquid or gas within. A witch or wizard can extract his or her own memories and place them in the Pensieve, especially to relieve the mind when it becomes too 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 an 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" [1].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) appear thick and jelly-like and offer obscure clarity upon viewing. Memories are not limited to just those of humans, since at least one house-elf provided Dumbledore with one as well.

Like many names in these books, Pensieve is a pun: it is a sieve in that it is a device used for sifting out thoughts, and in using it one becomes pensive or thoughtful. It may be notable that "Pensieve" is an anagram of Pevensie, the surname of the main characters from C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which the Pevensie children are thrust into another world through a magical cupboard, as Harry is thrust into a memory through the Pensieve in Dumbledore's cupboard.

A Pensieve first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (See Snape's Worst Memory), and plays a pivotal role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Photographs

See Portrait (Harry Potter): Photographs.

Portraits

See Portrait (Harry Potter).

Put-Outer

The Put-Outer is a device used by Albus Dumbledore to turn off the streetlights along a street at night. It looks like a standard cigarette lighter. The Put-Outer makes three appearances:

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore uses the Put-Outer to darken Privet Drive, where the Dursley household is located. Dumbledore is expecting Rubeus Hagrid to transport the infant Harry Potter to Privet Drive, where Dumbledore will leave him at the Dursley household. Dumbledore's Put-Outer allows Hagrid to arrive with added security, which is necessary because Harry Potter's parents had just been murdered the night before. This makes the Put-Outer the first piece of magic to be shown in the novels.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore loans the Put-Outer to Mad-Eye Moody, who uses it when transporting Harry from the Dursleys' home to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at #12 Grimmauld Place. The Order is a highly secret society which aims to thwart the evil Lord Voldemort. The Put-Outer again provides added security to (a) keep Harry Potter safe, as he is a highly valued target among Lord Voldemort's supporters, and (b) keep the Order's headquarters secret, because these headquarters are also a highly valued target.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore uses it again to darken Privet Drive before coming to collect Harry.

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.

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, mimicing 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 so it falls more slowly than normal.

Remembrall

A Remembrall is a small, clear orb that turns red if its user has forgotten something. Unfortunately, it does not tell the user what he/she has forgotten. The very forgetful Neville Longbottom is given a Remembrall in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but loses it soon after. They are forbidden to use during OWL exams.

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

Revealer

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

Secrecy Sensor

In Goblet of Fire, this magical object was mentioned when Harry went into Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody's office. It is descibed 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."

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 round object 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. The sneakoscope initially appears to be faulty, howling continuously for no apparent reason on the Hogwarts Express. Harry later discovers that Scabbers, Ron's rat familiar who was present during the train ride, 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. It is also mentioned that Bill Weasley's sneakoscope rang at dinner once because his brothers Fred and George had put beetles in Bill's soup, although Bill couldn't understand why, because he didn't know about the beetles.

The Sorting Hat

File:Z psss film 18.jpg

Harry with The Sorting Hat

The Sorting Hat is a sentient artefact used at Hogwarts, which magically determines 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 Sorting Hat originally belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts.

Before sorting the students each year, the hat recites a new introductory song. These songs occasionally warn of danger to come, as in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the hat plays a critical role in the climax of the story by coming to Harry's aid in the Chamber and providing him with Godric Gryffindor's sword.

In the movie versions of the novels, the hat is voiced by 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 features in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Tom Riddle's diary

See: Tom Riddle's diary and horcrux.

Umbridge's quill

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry has detention with Professor Umbridge on several occasions. During these detentions, he is required to write lines (I must not tell lies), and is not released from this until Umbridges believes "the message has sunk in". Rather than use a regular quill, Umbridge makes Harry use her own quill, which is unusually sharp with a black nib. When the user writes something, the quill cuts painfully into the back of the user's hand and uses their blood as ink. When carried out repeatedly over a period of time, this can lead to permanent scarring, as shown by Harry to Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Other victims of this form of detention include Lee Jordan.

Wand

To perform feats of magic a wand is usually used. Without a wand magic is possible, but this seems to be very difficult. A wand is personal for a wizard, although other wizards' wands can be used. When Harry Potter was selecting his wand, he had to try out a lot of 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.

See also: List of wands in Harry Potter.

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. Ron has a set left to him by his Uncle Bilius. Harry gets a set in one of his wizard crackers during his first Christmas at Hogwarts. During the climactic chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Harry, Ron and Hermione are involved in a life-size game of wizard's chess.