Free The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter by Tere Stouffer Page B

like binoculars, but they can also slow down action, replay it, do a play-by-play, and so on. Ocular relates to the eyes, and omni means “all” or “everywhere.”
    • Put-Outer: A Put-Outer, although not the most creatively named object in the wizarding world, has an important function, especially if you have nefarious purposes. A Put-Outer looks like a cigarette lighter, but when aimed at a streetlight (and, possibly, other lights as well), it steals the light and stores it. The streetlight thus goes out until the light is restored by the Put-Outer.
    • Revealer: An eraser that reveals secret ink written on what appears to be a blank page. This is the equivalent to the old homemade invisible-ink trick of revealing lemon-juice-based words by exposing them to a heat source.
    • Remembrall: The equivalent of a Muggle tying string around one finger, a Remembrall (remember-ball) reminds you of something you’ve forgotten. This smoky glass ball is roughly the size of a marble shooter; if you forget something important, the smoke inside the ball turns bright red.
    • Spellotape: From the British product Sellotape (the UK’s equivalent to Scotch tape), Spellotape is a tape wizards use to mend books, wands, and the like. It’s used so often that it’s the wizarding equivalent of duct tape.
    • Vanishing Cabinet: Although the name may lead you to believe that the cabinet itself vanishes (if, for example, a classmate you didn’t like was coming over to borrow your best sweater, you could temporarily make your cabinet of clothes disappear), that’s not what a Vanishing Cabinet is at all. Instead, anything that’s put into a Vanishing Cabinet— whether your best sweater or a person— disappears. The object (or person) is not made invisible; instead, it is transported elsewhere, often for days or weeks.
    KING’S ENGLISH
    If you met a Muggle who claimed he was in possession of a Dark Detector, you might think he was a little crazy, right Well, if you lived in Great Britain, you wouldn’t say he was "crazy,” you’d say he was mental. He hadn’t "gone round the bend”; he had gone round the twist. had gone round the twist.
    • Wizard penknife: The Swiss Army knife of the wizarding world, this penknife can unlock any locked door and undo even the most tangled of knots. The first is a little scary, what with the power that comes with undoing any lock; the second is quite convenient, especially if you’ve ever had your iPod’s earbuds all in a wad.
    MAGIC TALE
    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.
Mirrors and Glasses
    Mirrors and glasses have great power in the wizarding world:
    • 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.
    • 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