The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter (13 page)

If you grew up playing "magic,” you probably imagined bewitching a small rug to create a flying carpet. Just a little
abracadabra,
and you hoped to be flying around the room on your bathmat. Unfortunately, you’ll find no magic carpets in Harry Potter’s magical world. Wizards there are said to remember fondly the Axminster model, a flying carpet that could seat twelve comfortably and was considered a lifesaver on family vacations. (
Axminster
is a type of carpet originally handmade in Axminster, England.) But in the wizarding world, carpets have been defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects (a publication from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office of the Ministry of Magic). Thus, flying carpets are relics of the past.

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Foe-Glass:
This mirror reveals when enemies are nearby. A Foe-Glass (a glass that allows you to see your foes) shows figures moving about, all rather skulky and shadowy. When an enemy comes clearly into focus, he is close indeed.

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Mirror of Erised:
This massive mirror—perhaps only one of which exists in the wizarding world—shows you exactly what you desire (“Erised” is “desire” spelled backward). In fact, the inscription on the mirror,
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi,
proclaims “I show not your face but your heart’s desire” when spelled backward. It does not show the future, but rather what you wish the present to be and/or what you hope the future will be.

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Talking mirrors:
As in
Snow White,
some mirrors in the wizarding world talk to the people who look into them.

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Two-way mirrors:
Like cell phones with a live video feed, two-way mirrors allow two wizards to talk to and see each other. Each must possess one of the mirrors, and both must be alive—two-way mirrors do not extend beyond death.

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The Goblet of Fire:
This cup is reminiscent of the Holy Grail: large; carved from wood; and humble in its design. The Holy Grail, reportedly the cup from which Jesus drank during the Last Supper, has been the subject of countless stories, books, and movies, from
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
to
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
to
The Da Vinci Code
. Although precious, it is not known to dispense advice of any kind. The Goblet of Fire, on the other hand, is filled with flames, out of which pop the names of three wizards who will join in the Triwizard Tournament (although, in one year, the goblet was tricked into issuing a fourth name). The wizards chosen by the Goblet are bound to complete the tournament—no changes of heart are allowed after the names are announced.

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The Sorting Hat:
The Sorting Hat isn’t much to look at, but oh, what it can do! Old, torn, and not-so-clean, the Sorting Hat is pulled out for the Sorting Ceremony at the beginning of each school year at Hogwarts. After singing a song, the hat is placed on the head of each new student, deciding in which house each student will live. Sometimes the Sorting Hat makes decisions quickly; other times, it mulls the choice carefully. When the Sorting Hat is unsure of where to place the student, the Hat can even confer with the student in question.

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Pensieve:
A Pensieve is a stone basin (to picture this, think of a stone birdbath) into which one’s thoughts can be placed for safekeeping. Yep—that’s right: thoughts (in the form of silvery wisps) can, by using a wand, be taken from the brain and placed in the Pensieve. If you have too much on your mind or want to protect yourself against Legilimency (see Chapter 13), a Pensieve is the way to go. Unfortunately, anyone who ventures near the Pensieve can, by dipping his face into the thoughts swirling in the basin, relive those thoughts as a firsthand observer. In this way, someone else can experience your innermost (and, perhaps, most embarrassing) memories. This object is aptly named: to be pensive is to think deeply and seriously, often tinged with sadness or melancholy. This word is from the French
penser,
which means “to think.” And a sieve is an object used to sift and separate.

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Time-Turner:
A time-turner can be nearly any size, but it always looks like an hourglass. Each complete twist of the hourglass turns back time one hour. However, if, back in time, the time-traveling you runs into the original you, the consequences could be terrifying, so it’s important that the original you never see the time-traveling you. The exception, of course, is if you are using a Time-Turner regularly, in which case time-traveling you could probably wave to original you, and both would find it amusing. To cut down on all this confusion, the use of Time-Turners is regulated by the Ministry. All Time-Turners had been kept in the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, but they were all destroyed in a particularly messy encounter between Dark Wizards and good.

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Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder:
This powder, when thrown, makes everything go pitch black, thus allowing good wizards to escape from bad, but also bad wizards to escape from good. That it is Peruvian is a play on Paddington Bear’s origins in “deepest, darkest Peru.” You can also use a Decoy Detonator to make a fast getaway—this ugly, loud gadget makes a noise in one direction (in other words, works as a decoy) while you escape in the other.

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Shield Hats, Shield Cloaks, Shield Gloves:
Although unable to shield against the Unforgivable Curses (see Chapter 12), these gadgets allow lesser charms, hexes, and jinxes to bounce off the wizard wearing them, and sometimes even bounce back to the hexing wizard! Sold at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes (see Chapter 7).

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Secrecy Sensor:
A Secrecy Sensor looks like a squiggly TV antennae (called a television aerial among the Brits); it begins vibrating when it senses secrecy (telling a lie, evading the truth, or concealing an important piece of information). Used properly, a Secrecy Sensor can also tell you when a jinx, curse, or charm has been put on a person or object.

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Sneakoscope:
One of the coolest inventions in the wizarding world, a Sneakoscope (and its smaller cousin, a Pocket Sneakoscope) whistles or lights up whenever it encounters someone untrustworthy. (It is a type of Secrecy Sensor.) Think of how handy this would be anytime you buy a used car, go on a date, or try to find out who stole your baseball mitt.