81
votes
How did James Potter get his Invisibility Cloak?
In book 7 (Chapter 35), Dumbledore explains to Harry how the cloak got to him:
“The Cloak, as you know now, traveled down through the ages, father to
son, mother to daughter, right down to Ignotus’s ...
- 7,219
78
votes
Accepted
What are all these Harry Potter objects?
From left to right:
The Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone
Tom Riddle's Diary (with inkwell and quill)
A Time-Turner
The Goblet of Fire
A Prophecy Record
A pensieve
The sign of the Deathly ...
- 65.4k
67
votes
How could the Marauder's Map detect something which Death could not?
To begin with, the Tales of Beedle the Bard are just those-- tales. Even though it referred to actual powerful magic objects and actual wizards, the story is a morality play written for small children....
- 38.2k
67
votes
Accepted
How did James Potter get his Invisibility Cloak?
Look at this excerpt from a Pottermore article by JK Rowling (the full article can be found here):
The wizarding family of Potters descends from the twelfth-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a ...
- 2,947
64
votes
Is Lembas (Elven bread) magical?
Almost certainly
There's an entire essay devoted to the subject of lembas in History of Middle-earth, imaginatively titled "Of Lembas"; in it, Tolkien writes:
The Eldar say that they first ...
- 158k
50
votes
Why does the Ring have such an obsessive possessive effect?
Given that the ring is inanimate, it can’t just roll back to Sauron if left on its own.
So, making people desire it is probably the best way to ensure that it isn’t just left in a drawer or dropped ...
- 32.3k
42
votes
Accepted
What would happen in a battle of Felix Felicises (?)
Felix would lead them both away from playing with each other, as that would be the most lucky scenario for each of them (Thanks @Deltharis).
If you consumed some Felix and went to a gambling table, ...
- 5,436
41
votes
Accepted
Do muggles react the same way to potions in Harry Potter?
Possibly Yes.
Tom Riddle Senior was a muggle, and according to Dumbledore he could have been affected by a love potion, just like if he were a wizard. Maybe not all potions work exactly the same to ...
- 3,555
39
votes
Accepted
Why does the Ring have such an obsessive possessive effect?
The Ring is a Ring of power, and it increases the desire for power in those who wear it; this effect is amplified in direct proportion to the wearer's innate desire for power. This effect is a ...
- 66.8k
35
votes
Is Lembas (Elven bread) magical?
Lembas may seem like magic to us, but the elves would have seen it as simply natural.
Clarke's Third Law is
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke ...
- 20.4k
33
votes
Accepted
What makes this character worthy to lift Thor's hammer, Mjolnir?
SPOILERS - In small print on the side of Mjolnir - "Worthiness lifting requirements may be waived in the event of a sentient machine operator. No powers included."
UPDATE:
Whedon On Avengers:...
- 210k
33
votes
Accepted
Is the D&D 5e magic item "Ioun stone" derived from the magic of Mandor from Zelazny's "Amber"?
Ioun stones are specifically derived from the later Dying Earth stories, featuring Rhialto the Marvelous, by Jack Vance. In the first two Rhialto stories, the IOUN Stones are merely powerful items ...
- 86k
30
votes
Do magic carpets exist in the Wizarding World?
Yes. In Goblet of Fire, there is a reference to them being banned in England as they were deemed to be Muggle artifacts:
"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once
I've ...
- 1,432
29
votes
Accepted
Do the enchanted locations in the Harry Potter books occupy another dimension?
No
Most of these locations are described as invisible to Muggles. With the exception of Platform 9 3/4 this seems reasonable as it is a magical world
Tent
These spells not only increase the ...
- 75.4k
27
votes
Accepted
Why does Frodo see his sword glow red at Weathertop?
Frodo was not yet using Sting at Weathertop. He received Sting from Bilbo in Rivendell, just a few chapters on. At Weathertop, he was using one of the swords rescued from a barrow & given to the ...
- 386
27
votes
Is Lembas (Elven bread) magical?
Its virtues cannot be explained with science. From Letter #210
We are not exploring the Moon or any other more improbable region. No analysis in any laboratory would discover chemical properties of ...
- 371
25
votes
What makes this character worthy to lift Thor's hammer, Mjolnir?
We don't know, but we can speculate. Based on the context, the most likely explanation is that
Then again, we still don't have a complete understanding of what makes someone worthy. However, this ...
- 61.9k
24
votes
Accepted
How many Stars of Elendil were there, and what happened to each of them?
There were probably only two stones that bore the name "Elendilmir":
The stone of Silmariën. This was the original Elendilmir, and was the "crown" of the kingdom of Gondor worn by Elendil and Isildur....
- 158k
21
votes
Accepted
What's the point of a Remembrall?
Although they seem pretty useless in general (Neville states that he can never remember what he's forgotten) they do seem to have a more specific use as a cheating device for exams.
When the students ...
- 615k
20
votes
What are all these Harry Potter objects?
The creator of the gifs that your image is based on (Jessica Martinez) has stated on her website that the pictures are inspired and derived from artifacts from the seven Harry Potter books.
A set ...
- 615k
19
votes
Accepted
To whom does each of these wands belong?
Left to right: Death Eater (known as the swirl), Narcissa Malfoy, Tonks, Death Eater (thorn), Mundungus Fletcher, Alecto Carrow, Death Eater (skull), Rufus Scrimgeour, Voldemort, Slughorn.
- 12.7k
18
votes
Where Did Dolores Umbridge Get Her Evil Quill?
She made it herself.
Her Pottermore entry states this explicitly:
Special abilities: Her punishment quill is of her own invention
What’s even more disturbing is the fact that it doesn’t sound ...
- 102k
18
votes
Why does the Ring have such an obsessive possessive effect?
I don't have specific sources to cite for this, although I'm sure that Tolkien did touch on the matter in his voluminous notes and correspondence, but it has always been my impression that, while ...
- 1,458
18
votes
Valyrian Steel in the Citadel
GRRM has answered at least part of your question:
Fan: Do maesters fully forge the links of their chokers from raw
metal, or do they take strips of existing metal and forge it into the
links?
...
- 10.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Book series for kids with boy and stones that went on belt
Another possibility is The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. There are five books in total:
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Dark is Rising
Greenwich
The Grey King
Silver on the Tree
Part of the ...
- 2,378
17
votes
Do non-Elven blades damage the Nazgûl despite being destroyed?
At least one sword, made by Men, was able to hurt the Nazgûl:
ROTK, Book V, Ch. 6 The Battle of the Pelennor Fields:
And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking ...
- 27.4k
17
votes
Accepted
How many inventions did Fred and George have?
Fred and George sell the following items of their own invention in their shop:
Extendable Ears - Long, flesh-coloured pieces of string which one can insert in one's ear, then shove the other end ...
- 58.3k
16
votes
Accepted
Weapons that glow when the enemy is near. Are there precedents before Tolkien?
In Nigerian mythology, the god of war wields a sword called the Mmaagha Kamalu that glows red when enemies are near. (I can find very little by way of source for this one)
I do not know of any ...
- 32.2k
15
votes
Accepted
Young adult fantasy book - boy finds wizard finger (kind of like a Horcrux)
It is possibly Taran Wanderer from the The Chronicles of Prydain
From Wikipedia
Taran Wanderer (1967) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the fourth of five volumes in The ...
- 6,148
14
votes
Accepted
Can non-humans master a wand in Harry Potter?
Canon suggests that goblins could certainly use wands, and probably other non-human creatures as well.
The Goblet of Fire quote you want is this one, which introduces the wand ban:
“Here, look.” Mr. ...
- 102k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible