What Jo says about...
Magical objects in the stories

Please note: unless you see quotemarks, these are summaries, and not JKR's word themselves. Please see the linked article for the actual text.

• JKR: "There is more to the Sorting Hat than what you have read about in the first three books." [Read the exact quote from the Boston Globe interview, 1999]
• When JKR reads aloud from the Book 1 scene in Ollivander's Shop, she slightly emphases the part where Ollivander comments that Harry's holly and phoenix feather wand is an "unusual combination." [Read the exact quote from the Diane Rehm Show interview, 1999]
• We will be seeing Mr Weasley’s car again. [Read the exact quote from Barnes & Noble chat #2, 1999]
• In Europe, people used to believe that if you cut the hand off a hanged man, it would make a perpetual torch that gave light only to the holder. [Read the exact quote from the CNN Larry King Live interview, 2000]
• Harry got the marauders’ map back in Book 4 by "nipping into Moody’s empty office" and pinching it when he wasn’t there. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Will the two way mirror Sirius gave Harry ever show up again? JKR: Ooooo, good question. There’s your answer. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Can we believe everything the sorting hat says? JKR: "The sorting hat is certainly sincere." [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• "Real sleuths" might be able to guess what happened to Sirius' motorbike. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• The mirror that Harry got from Sirius might not have helped as much as you think but, on the other hand, will help more than you think. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• How did Harry get the marauder's map back after the end of Book 4? JKR: "He simply took it back from the fake Moody’s office"[Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Wizard portraits are not living or thinking entities, they are only a "distillation" of the real person. This "aura" can give advice or repeat catchphrases but not much more. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Fred and George never noticed Pettigrew on the marauder's map because they didn't know who he was. Even if they had recognized his name, they would have assumed he was just a student with the same last name. Pettigrew was one of many moving dots on the map, and Fred and George would have only been focused on the path their mischief took that day. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The Order do not communicate with chocolate frog cards, or any object that would have to be carried on and remembered by the person. They use a form of communication that needs only a wand, and we have already seen it used by an order member before we even knew the order existed. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• It didn't bother JKR that Cuaron left out background information about the marauder's map when he filmed "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• When the marauder's map insulted Snape, Prongs was not writing the insult, but it was like he had left a magical recording of his voice in the map. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• In front of the Mirror of Erised, Voldemort would see "Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That's what he wants." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• JK won't tell us what Dumbledore would see in front of the Mirror of Erised, or what his boggart is, though we might be able to guess the boggart from clues in Book 6. [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• After Book 6, in front of the Mirror of Erised, Harry would see "Voldemort finished, dead gone .... Because he knows now that he will have no peace and no rest until this is accomplished." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• The Sorting Hat has never been wrong. When it talks on its own it comes from "the founders themselves." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• JK will not comment on whether or not Sirius' mirror will allow communication with Regulus or not. [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Pensieves "recreate" the entire reality of the memory and are free of any personal interpretations or biases. Even things not initially noticed are recorded. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• The veil was created hundreds and hundreds of years ago at the same time the Ministry was created. It is only used for the research of death and not for executions. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Fred and George figured out how to use the Marauder’s Map because they were goofing around with it. The map helped them out too. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Dumbledore's guesses about how to kill Voldemort are “never very far wide of the mark.” Harry will need to get rid of four horcruxes, and then “go for Voldemort.” Dumbledore has given Harry “some pretty valuable clues” and Harry "has amassed more knowledge than he realizes." [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• At least one of the remaining Horcruxes is pretty easy to guess at if you are a careful reader. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• The sorting hat is not a horcrux. "Horcruxes do not draw attention to themselves by singing songs in front of large audiences." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Hermione would see the trio “alive and unscathed and Voldemort finished” in the Mirror of Erised. She may also see herself in a romantic embrace. [Read the whole quote from Radio City1, 2006]
• Muggles cannot brew potions because there is always a magical component, and at some point you would have to use a wand. [Read the whole quote from Radio City1, 2006]
• If a muggle picked up a wand something accidental and possibly quite violent would be likely to occur. The wand is a vessel for what lies inside a person. You need the magical ability to make it work properly. [Read the whole quote from Radio City1, 2006]
• We will learn more about the relationship between wands and their wizards/witches in book 7. [Read the whole quote from Radio City1, 2006]
• Wandmakers can choose wand cores “that are particular to their country.” Ollivander was given her three favourite cores from the many she had written down. [Read the whole quote from Radio City1, 2006]
• JKR: "Why did Dumbledore have James' invisibility cloak at the time of James' death, given that Dumbledore could make himself invisible without a cloak?" is an important question that no one has asked her ("NAQ"). [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Jo defines a Horcrux as "'the receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a fragment of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality." [Diary, 29 SEP 2006]
• Snape was not hiding under the Invisibility Cloak on the night Harry's parents were killed. [29 Sept 2006] [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]