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Top 10: Harry Potter Artifacts

Photo Courtesy of Flickr.com

The wizarding world is quite obviously magical. But it’s not only the wands and spells that make it so enchanting. Harry Potter is full of cool, bewitched objects that could make our lives a whole lot easier – or at least more exciting. Here are some of the top picks:

1.    Time Turner

What college student wouldn’t wish for more hours in the day? Of course, Hermione used this gift from Professor McGonagall to take more classes (and, oh, you know, save Sirius Black’s life), but this gadget could certainly be used for less noble achievements. Procrastinated on that essay? Totally screwed up that in-class presentation? No worries – just give the time turner a twist for a redo.

2.    Firebolt

Harry’s transportation method of choice is the world’s fastest broom, aka the Firebolt. A step up from the Nimbus 2000, this baby could get you from Newman to the library in under a minute – that is, as long as you’ve got Harry’s broom skills and not, say, Neville’s or Hermione’s. If brooms aren’t your thing, though, there are plenty of other ways to get around: floo powder, port keys, vanishing cabinets, flying cars and apparition all work, too.

3.    Invisibility Cloak

This one hardly needs explaining. The impenetrable invisibility cloak, one of the revered deathly hallows, was given to Harry during his first year at Hogwarts. With the cloak, you’d be able to go wherever you want, unnoticed no questions asked. Trying to sneak in somewhere? Slip the cloak on, walk through the door and take it off once you get inside.

4.     The Resurrection Stone

This powerful stone allows its owner to reconnect with loved ones who have passed away. Although the reunion isn’t the same as bringing people back from the dead, some would give anything simply to see their friends and family again, if only temporarily. However, the stone – also a deathly hallow – is pretty hard to come by. If you’re looking to see lost loved ones again, moving pictures and talking portraits could provide the next best thing.

5.    Skiving Snackboxes

These Skiving Snackboxes full of assorted charmed candy – dreamt up by Fred and George Weasley – can get you out of any undesirable activity by making you instantaneously ill. Boring lectures and jury duty would all be things of the past. Just pop in half of one of these sickly sweets, and let the effects take over – then politely excuse yourself, eat the other half to stop the symptoms, and go about your day.

6.    The Pensieve

Wouldn’t it be nice to tuck your memories away and revisit them at your convenience? After safely storing the contents of your mind in little vials, this magical basin allows you to pour memories out again and reenter ones of your choosing by simply placing your face in the Pensieve’s bowl. Although you won’t be able to communicate with the people in your memories or change the course of past events, it would be a great way to relive an awesome concert, or – more practically – review an important class discussion before a test.

7.    Marauder’s Map

Instead of waiting for confirmations of your friends’ whereabouts in a pesky group text, you could simply refer to this all-knowing map to see their locations. No more frantically searching for your friends only to realize that when they asked you to grab dinner, they meant at Iggy’s, consequently, leaving you alone and embarrassed in a very crowded Boulder.

8.    Remembrall

Perfect for the forgetful among us, this nifty little glass ball fills with red smoke to alert you when you’ve forgotten something and only dissipates when you’ve remembered that thing. The only problem – which our friend Neville knows all too well – is that sometimes you can’t actually remember what it is you’ve forgotten.

9.    The Weasley Family’s Clock

This clever clock is in the same vein as the Marauder’s Map, as it allows you to keep an eye on where people are at a given time. Crafted by Mrs. Weasley – who I’m sure would describe herself as “concerned” rather than over-protective – the clock features hands corresponding to different family members, and instead of moving to numbers, the hands move to descriptions like “School,” “Work” or, scarily, “Mortal Peril” depending on the location or state of that person.

10. Sneakoscope

Courtrooms and – closer to home – the Honor Council would have a much easier job of determining guilt or responsibility if sneakoscopes existed. Assuming we don’t have access to Veritaserum, this device is the next best thing to ensure honesty. Similar in shape to a spinning top, these “dark detectors” light up and start whirring violently whenever someone in their presence does something untrustworthy or says something untruthful.

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Top 10: Harry Potter Artifacts