The Most Valuable Magical Item In The Harry Potter Universe

Eytan Raphaely
2 min readJul 15, 2019

Neville Longbottom shook his hand triumphantly one day, proclaiming in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” “It’s a Remembrall!’…‘Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there’s something you’ve forgotten to do.” With those words, Neville had solidified himself to be a god among wizards, witches, and muggles alike, for he owned the Remembrall, the most amazing item in the Harry Potter universe.

Yes, the very item J.K Rowling described on the official Harry Potter website as “more useless than a battery-powered battery charger.” Should be the most sought after item in the world.

To fully understand the potential of the Remembrall, we must first break down the mechanics of the device. The Remembrall is a glass ball that fills up with bright red smoke the instant that the user forgets something.

Top: The Remembrall (resting) Bottom: The Remembrall (The user has forgotten something)

To put into layman’s terms, anytime the owner of the Remembrall forgets something, whether it be a lovers anniversary or to take one’s medication, the user will be privy to the knowledge that they have forgotten something, and be ready to try and remember that thing.

The possibilities are truly endless, and while other magical items may seem fantastical and amazing, they simply cannot best the practicality of the Remembrall.

The practical uses are outstanding, let’s compare the Remembrall to something like the invisibility cloak in a basic scenario.

Scenario 1: You Have Forgotten Your Keys

  • With Invisibility Cloak: You put the cloak on, you vanish from sight, and you have no idea that you have misplaced your keys in the first place. You probably die alone.
  • With Remembrall: You hold the Remembrall, it turns red, you deduce you misplaced your keys. You still die but surrounded by loved ones.

As Uncle Ben once said, “with great power comes… comes great responsibility.” but who in their right mind wants more responsibility. With an object such as the Resurrection Stone, an object that can bring back people from the dead one would have the added responsibility of choosing who to bring back or debating the morality of the whole thing, while an object as seemingly mundane as the Remembrall can be enjoyed without a second thought. This can be solidified with another basic scenario.

Scenario 2: Your Mom Has Died

  • With The Resurrection Stone: You bring back your mother from the depths of Hades. She feels out of place in this world and she ends up killing you in your sleep as revenge for damning her to a fate worse than death.
  • With The Remembrall: Years go by until one day your Remembrall glows a comforting red as you forget about who your mother was in the first place.

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Eytan Raphaely

Eytan Raphaely is a comedian from Seattle. His other characteristics include: Jewish, brown hair, and tattoos.