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Magical objects in Harry Potter

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A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These may act on their own or be the tools of the person or being whose hands they fall into. Magic items are commonly found in both folklore and modern fantasy . Their fictional appearance is as old as the Iliad in which Aphrodite 's magical girdle is used by Hera as a love charm.

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59-727: The following is a list of magical objects that appear in the Harry Potter novels and film adaptations . The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects that appear in Deathly Hallows . They are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. According to wizarding legend, they can provide mastery over death if one person owns all three. The objects are generally remembered only as part of

118-457: A plot device to grant magical abilities. They may give magical abilities to a person lacking in them, or enhance the power of a wizard . For instance, in J.R.R. Tolkien 's The Hobbit , the magic ring allows Bilbo Baggins to be instrumental in the quest, exceeding the abilities of the dwarves. Magic items are often, also, used as MacGuffins . The characters in a story must collect an arbitrary number of magical items, and when they have

177-440: A Disillusionment Charm or a Bedazzlement Hex placed on them. Over time, these cloaks will lose their invisibility. In the novels, Harry owns an invisibility cloak which is later revealed to be a Hallow. Unlike other invisibility cloaks, the Cloak of Invisibility cannot be worn out by time or spells. The Hallow Cloak belonged to Ignotus Peverell and was passed down to his descendant, James Potter. After James's death, Dumbledore gives

236-426: A Horcrux in her long-mentioned Harry Potter Encyclopedia. Both inanimate objects and living organisms have been used as Horcruxes, though the latter are considered riskier to use, since a living being can move and think for itself. There is no limit to the number of Horcruxes a witch or wizard can create. As the creator's soul is divided into progressively smaller portions, they lose more of their natural humanity and

295-411: A baby, Harry was in the room when Voldemort's fatal Killing Curse backfired. Voldemort's soul had been weakened and destabilised 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, and

354-548: A clock like hers. Various fans have re-created the clock for their own families, for example by using geofencing for cell phones. A Horcrux is an object used to store part of a wizard's soul, which protects them from death. If the body of a Horcrux owner is killed, that portion of the soul that had remained in the body does not pass on to the next world, but will rather exist in a non-corporeal form capable of being resurrected by another wizard, as stated in Harry Potter and

413-613: A fairy tale called The Tale of the Three Brothers . According to J. K. Rowling, this fictional fairy tale is based on The Pardoner's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer . Harry eventually comes to possess all three Hallows – the cloak being inherited from his father James Potter, later understood to be a descendant of one of the Peverell brothers, the Resurrection Stone in the Golden Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore, and

472-507: A fragment of his soul within him in a manner similar to a Horcrux. Rowling has stated that Harry never became a proper "Dark object" since the Horcrux spell was not cast. Regardless, as with all Horcruxes, Voldemort would remain immortal so long as his soul fragment remained within Harry. That portion of Voldemort's soul is unintentionally destroyed by Voldemort himself in Deathly Hallows . As

531-511: A hidden passageway. The map is a blank piece of parchment when not in use, but it becomes a detailed layout of Hogwarts when it is activated. It shows the locations of secret passages and instructions on how to access them. It also depicts the location of every individual at Hogwarts in real-time, including their movements. A Probity Probe detects hidden magical objects and concealment spells. Probity Probes are depicted as thin golden rods in Order of

590-453: A plot-related means of destruction is generally substituted. Artifacts in D&;D are split into two categories. Minor artifacts are common, but they can no longer be created, whereas major artifacts are unique – only one of each item exists. In the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling , several magical objects exist for the use of the characters. Some of them play a crucial role in

649-624: Is a magical object with great power. Often, this power is so great that it cannot be duplicated by any known art allowed by the premises of the fantasy world, and often cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. Artifacts often serve as MacGuffins , the central focus of quests to locate, capture, or destroy them. The One Ring of The Lord of the Rings is a typical artifact: it was alarmingly powerful, of ancient and obscure origin, and nearly indestructible. In Dungeons & Dragons , artifacts are magic items that either cannot be created by players or

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708-568: Is a bright red eraser, used to make invisible ink appear. It first appears in Chamber of Secrets when Hermione tries to make hidden writing appear in Tom Riddle's diary. A Secrecy Sensor is a Dark detector that looks like "an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial." It vibrates when it detects concealment and lies. In Half-Blood Prince , every student and owl entering Hogwarts is inspected with Secrecy Sensors to ensure no Dark objects enter

767-507: Is a magical flame that cannot be extinguished unless it runs out of fuel. Voldemort's creation of Horcruxes is central to the later storyline of the Harry Potter novels. Voldemort intended to split his soul into seven pieces, with six Horcruxes and the last piece reposing within his body. When Voldemort attacked the Potter family, and his body was destroyed by the rebounded Killing Curse, a piece of his soul splintered off and attached itself to

826-439: Is killed, defeated, or disarmed. Through a series of events, Voldemort comes to possess the Elder Wand, even though Harry is its true master. Unaware of the wand's loyalty to Harry, Voldemort attempts to duel him near the end of the novel. The wand refuses to kill Harry, with the result that Voldemort's curse rebounds on him, and he dies. After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own broken wand. He then returns

885-484: Is that the piece of soul within Quirrell was able to exist without its container, as it abandoned Quirrell and left him to die in the underground chambers. Tom Riddle (later known as Lord Voldemort) created his first Horcrux during his fifth year at Hogwarts, using his own school diary. In order to cast the spell, he murdered his fellow student Myrtle Warren . In Chamber of Secrets , Ginny Weasley becomes possessed by

944-630: Is the magic item that runs out of control when the character knows how to start it but not to stop it: the mill in Why the Sea Is Salt or the pot in Sweet Porridge . A third is the tale in which a hero has two rewards stolen from him, and a third reward attacks the thief. Many works of folklore and fantasy include very similar items, that can be grouped into types. These include: In role-playing games and fantasy literature, an artifact

1003-558: The Harry Potter films, the Sorting Hat is voiced by Leslie Phillips . The Mirror of Erised is a mystical mirror discovered by Harry in an abandoned classroom in Philosopher's Stone . On it is inscribed "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". When mirrored and correctly spaced, this reads "I show not your face but your heart's desire." As "erised" reversed is "desire", it is the "Mirror of Desire". Harry, upon encountering

1062-513: The philosopher's stone , the stone is owned by Nicolas Flamel and first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone . The stone is legendary in that it changes all metals to gold, and can be used to brew a potion called the Elixir of Life , making the drinker immortal. The Philosopher's Stone is seen only in the first and last book, although it is referenced several times throughout

1121-520: The Cloak to Harry, who uses it throughout the series to sneak around Hogwarts on various adventures. During the First Wizarding War, Alastor Moody lost his eye and replaced it with an enchanted glass eyeball. With the eyeball, Moody can see through solid objects, invisibility cloaks, and the back of his own head. Following Moody's death in Deathly Hallows , the eyeball ends up in the possession of Dolores Umbridge . When Harry infiltrates

1180-473: The Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb. In the film adaptation of Deathly Hallows , Harry snaps the wand in two and throws the pieces off a bridge. J. K. Rowling revealed in an interview that the first working title for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was Harry Potter and the Elder Wand . The Resurrection Stone allows the bearer to communicate with the dead. The form of Sirius Black generated by

1239-577: The Forbidden Forest as he reaches Voldemort's encampment. Harry survives the encounter and he and Dumbledore's portrait later agreed that Harry will neither search for the stone nor tell others where it is. In the Harry Potter universe, an invisibility cloak is a rare type of cloak used to make the wearer invisible. Rowling's 2001 book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them states that invisibility cloaks may be crafted from Demiguise pelts. Invisibility cloaks can also be ordinary cloaks with

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1298-467: The GobIet selects one champion from each of the three schools in competition. The Sword of Gryffindor is a goblin -crafted sword. It was once owned by Godric Gryffindor , and can magically present itself to any Gryffindor student who needs it. During the course of the novel series, the sword is used to kill a Basilisk and destroy three of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Based upon the ancient alchemical idea of

1357-572: The Half-Blood Prince and demonstrated in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . If all of someone's Horcruxes are destroyed, then the soul's only anchor in the material world would be the body, the destruction of which would then cause final death. The creation of Horcruxes is considered the darkest of all magic. This method was chosen by Voldemort to attain immortality. J. K. Rowling uses Horace Slughorn 's expository dialogue to reveal that

1416-487: The Half-Blood Prince , the discovery of Voldemort's diary is revealed as the proof that lead to Dumbledore beginning the hunt for other Horcruxes, as it not only gave absolute proof that Voldemort split his soul, but also that there were likely other, better-protected artifacts. J. K. Rowling revealed on Pottermore that Quirinus Quirrell served as a temporary Horcrux when Voldemort's soul possessed his body during Harry's first year at Hogwarts. A notable difference, however,

1475-494: The Ministry of Magic, he steals the eyeball from her office and buries it in the forest. A Foe-glass is a mirror that depicts the enemies of its owner. The Marauder's Map is a magical map of Hogwarts created by Sirius Black , Remus Lupin , Peter Pettigrew , and James Potter while they were students at the school. In Prisoner of Azkaban , Fred and George Weasley give the map to Harry so he can travel to Hogsmeade through

1534-461: The Mirror, can see his parents, as well as what appears to be a crowd of relatives. The last thing Harry saw in the mirror was Voldemort defeated. Dumbledore cautions Harry that the Mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, merely showing the viewer's deepest desire, and that men have wasted their lives away before it, entranced by what they see. The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to

1593-469: 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 but not use the Stone would be able to obtain it. Anyone else would see themselves making an Elixir of Life or turning things to gold, rather than actually finding the Stone, and would be unable to obtain it. What happens to the mirror afterwards is unknown. In Order of

1652-538: The Phoenix , Sirius gives Harry a mirror he originally used to communicate with James while they were in separate detentions. 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

1711-404: The Phoenix. After Voldemort's return, Probes are used to protect Gringotts Bank and to scan Hogwarts students for Dark objects. A Remembrall is a small glass orb. It contains smoke that turns red when the person holding it has forgotten something. It does not tell the holder what has been forgotten. Neville Longbottom is sent a Remembrall by his grandmother in Philosopher's Stone . A Revealer

1770-584: The Resurrection Stone to talk to his deceased family. The curse disfigured his hand and began to spread into his body. Although Snape partly contained the spread in the damaged and blackened hand, Dumbledore was doomed to have, at most, a year left to live. The stone is later passed to Harry through Dumbledore's will. Harry uses the Stone to summon his deceased loved ones – his parents, his godfather Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin – to comfort him and strengthen his courage, before he goes to meet his death at Voldemort's hand. The stone falls unseen from Harry's fingers in

1829-495: 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's soul. This yearning was one of the reasons why the Killing Curse used by Voldemort on Harry in the Forbidden Forest does destroy

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1888-405: The allegiance and mastery of the Elder Wand when he defeats and disarms its prior owner, Draco Malfoy, who unwittingly won it from Dumbledore just before Dumbledore's death. The Elder Wand is described in Deathly Hallows as a legendary and extremely powerful wand made of elder wood with a core of Thestral tail hair. Harry discovers that the Elder Wand's allegiance is transferred when its owner

1947-443: The bottom of his trunk), a brilliant blue eye belonging to Aberforth (which Harry mistakes for Albus' eye), appears and he sends Dobby , who arrives to help Harry escape from Malfoy Manor to Shell Cottage . Prank objects from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are made and designed by the owners of the shop, Fred and George, who test their new creations on themselves and other Hogwarts students. Magic item Magic items often act as

2006-454: 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 . In the sixth novel, all nine hands point to mortal peril at all times, except when someone is travelling. Mrs. Weasley takes this to mean that with Voldemort's return, everyone is always in mortal peril, but she cannot verify this as she does not know anyone else who has

2065-406: The connection that formed as a result 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 many of Voldemort's powers and

2124-480: The creation of a Horcrux requires one to commit a murder, which, as the supreme act of evil, "rips the soul apart". After the murder, a spell is cast to infuse part of the ripped soul into an object, which then becomes a Horcrux. In the final book of the series, Hermione finds the spell in a book titled Secrets of the Darkest Art . Rowling has revealed that she intends to detail the process and spell used to create

2183-710: The diadem in Albania , where it was eventually found by Voldemort. The Dark Lord turned the diadem into his fifth Horcrux, and later sequestered it in the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts. In the novel Deathly Hallows , the diadem is destroyed by a Fiendfyre spell cast by Vincent Crabbe . In the film adaptation, Harry stabs the diadem with a Basilisk fang before Ron Weasley kicks it into the Fiendfyre. When Voldemort attempted to murder Harry as an infant, he inadvertently sealed

2242-433: The epilogue of the last film, the scar has faded to an ordinary-looking scar on Harry's forehead. The sixth Horcrux was Nagini, the snake Voldemort had with him constantly. This Horcrux was created by Voldemort when he was hiding in the forests of Albania; the murder victim whom he used for its creation was Bertha Jorkins. He found Nagini, and becoming smitten by the snake, turned it into a Horcrux, being connected with it. In

2301-459: The fragment of Riddle's soul that is encased in the diary, which compels her to open the Chamber of Secrets. At the end of the novel, Harry saves Ginny and destroys the diary by stabbing it with a Basilisk fang. Voldemort created his second Horcrux using a ring owned by his grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt. He murdered his father to make this Horcrux, which is later destroyed by Albus Dumbledore, using

2360-404: The fragment of Voldemort's soul within Harry, but only sends Harry's soul into a near-death state. Harry could return to his body despite being hit by the Killing Curse from the Elder Wand because Voldemort had used Harry's blood to regain his full strength in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , and because the actual master of the Elder Wand, Draco Malfoy, had been defeated by Harry, making Harry

2419-463: The full set, the magic is sufficient to resolve the plot. In video games , these types of items are usually collected in fetch quests . Certain kinds of fairy tales have their plots dominated by the magic items they contain. One such is the tale where the hero has a magic item that brings success, loses the item either accidentally ( The Tinder Box ) or through an enemy's actions ( The Bronze Ring ), and must regain it to regain his success. Another

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2478-416: The last chapter of Deathly Hallows , Nagini was killed by Neville Longbottom using the sword of Godric Gryffindor. The destruction of the last remaining Horcrux made Voldemort mortal. The Goblet of Fire is an artefact used at the beginning of every Triwizard Tournament . Each student who is of-age and wishes to compete places a piece of parchment with their name on it into the Goblet. At the designated time,

2537-401: The main plot. There are objects for different purposes such as communication, transportation, games, storage, as well as legendary artifacts and items with dark properties. Alastor Moody The following is a list of characters from the Harry Potter series. Each character appears in at least one Harry Potter -related book or story by J. K. Rowling . These books and stories include

2596-474: The new master of the Elder Wand. Harry's ownership of the wand used for the curse and the Horcrux-like connection between Voldemort and Harry diminished Voldemort's curse and protected Harry from irreversible death. While Voldemort did learn of Harry's telepathic connection, Voldemort was never aware that Harry was inadvertently carrying a fragment of his soul. With this destroyed, the connections between

2655-485: The only living thing remaining in the room, Harry Potter, in a manner similar to a Horcrux. Voldemort went on to complete his collection of the intended six 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. By that time, though, unbeknownst to Voldemort himself, the first Horcrux (a diary) had already been destroyed, therefore all seven Horcruxes never existed together at

2714-407: The package, although he does discover the mirror after Sirius' death, by which point it is no longer functional. It makes its second appearance in Deathly Hallows when Mundungus Fletcher loots Grimmauld Place and sells Sirius' mirror to Aberforth Dumbledore , who uses it to watch out for Harry in Deathly Hallows . When Harry desperately cries for help to a shard of the magical mirror (which broke in

2773-505: The presence of Harry in Godric's Hollow in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . Horcruxes made from inanimate objects cannot be destroyed by conventional means such as smashing, breaking, or burning. The known materials or objects that can destroy Horcruxes are Basilisk venom, the Sword of Gryffindor (which contains Basilisk venom after Harry uses it to kill a Basilisk), and Fiendfyre, which

2832-513: The real locket from Dolores Umbridge . Ron then destroys it with the sword of Gryffindor. Voldemort created his fourth Horcrux using a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff . In Deathly Hallows, Harry and his friends break into Gringotts Wizarding Bank and steal the cup from the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange . Hermione Granger later destroys it with a Basilisk fang. Rowena Ravenclaw 's daughter, Helena, stole her mother's diadem in an attempt to become more intelligent than her. Helena hid

2891-420: The ring's antiquity and eventually used it as a Horcrux, a container for part of his soul, being unaware of the stone's additional magical properties. 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, it was likely to be protected by curses laid by Voldemort, and blinded by personal desire, Dumbledore attempted to use

2950-432: The same point in time. All of Voldemort's deliberately created Horcruxes were made using objects that had been important to him or that held some symbolic value. He hid some of them carefully so that no one could find and destroy them, but used Nagini to do his bidding on several occasions, and the diary was always intended to be a weapon to carry out Voldemort's plan to remove Muggle-borns from Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and

3009-403: The school. 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. The Weasleys have a special clock in their home with nine hands, one for every member of the family. Instead of telling the time,

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3068-434: The secrets to their creation is not given. In any event, artifacts have no market price and have no hit points (that is, they are indestructible by normal spells). Artifacts typically have no inherent limit of using their powers. Under strict rules, any artifact can theoretically be destroyed by the sorcerer / wizard spell Mordenkainen's Disjunction , but for the purposes of a campaign centered on destroying an artifact,

3127-606: The series. It was destroyed at the end of the first book by Dumbledore with Flamel's agreement. In the American version, this stone is called the Sorcerer's Stone. The Sorting Hat is an artefact used to sort Hogwarts students into houses . At the beginning of each school year, the Hat is placed on each first-year student's head. The Hat announces whether the student will be assigned to Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. In

3186-621: The seven original Harry Potter novels (1997–2007), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001), Quidditch Through the Ages (2001), The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (2016), Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (2016), Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (2016) and

3245-439: The soul becomes increasingly unstable. Consequently, 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". For example, Voldemort has unusual control over Nagini, and consequently Nagini is able to communicate with Voldemort about

3304-399: The stone tells Harry that he and the other forms created by the stone are part of him and invisible to others. According to the fairy tale concerning the origin of the Deathly Hallows, using the Resurrection Stone drove its first owner to kill himself because he brought his late fiancée back from the dead, and she was very unhappy in the living world because she did not belong there. By the time

3363-529: The stone was seen in Marvolo Gaunt's possession, it had been set into a ring that bore the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, which the ignorant Gaunt believed to be the Peverell coat of arms; he used the ring to boast about his ancestry and blood purity. Harry said this is the Hallow he would desire most, as like Dumbledore he could name people he would like to communicate with again. Voldemort became aware of

3422-550: The sword of Gryffindor. The ring contains the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows. Voldemort created his third Horcrux using a locket that once belonged to his ancestor Salazar Slytherin . He murdered a Muggle to make the Horcrux. Albus Dumbledore and Harry obtain the locket in Half-Blood Prince , only to discover that it is fake. Later, Harry and his friends infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and steal

3481-403: The two were also broken, and Harry never again felt pain in his scar. Rowling revealed Harry has also lost the ability to speak Parseltongue, though he regained the ability to understand it in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child after his scar began to hurt again following the rise of Voldemort and Bellatrix's daughter Delphi whom Harry, his son Albus, and his allies defeated and sent to Azkaban. In

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