Flying Carpet

• Type: Magical Transportation, Charmed Object, Proscribed Charmable Object
• Owners: Various wizards and witches, predominantly outside Great Britain. Known dealers include Ali Bashir.
• Maker: Unknown, but their creation is heavily associated with wizards in the East.

A flying carpet is a woven rug that has been magically enchanted to fly. They vary widely in size, pattern, and design, often appearing identical to conventional, non-magical carpets until commanded to levitate. The materials can also differ; Barty Crouch Sr. mentions confiscating a twelve-seater Axminster carpet, a specific type of high-quality Muggle rug from England, indicating that any carpet could potentially be enchanted. They are designed to carry one or more passengers and their luggage.

The primary magical property of a flying carpet is its ability to achieve flight, providing a stable and often comfortable platform for aerial travel. Unlike a broomstick, which requires the rider to straddle it, a carpet allows passengers to sit or stand. This makes it a more suitable mode of transport for families or for carrying large amounts of cargo. The precise Charms used to enchant a carpet are not detailed in the novels, but they imbue the fabric with the power of levitation and propulsion. Control over the carpet's direction and speed is presumably managed by the primary rider.

Flying carpets were once a popular and legal form of wizarding transport in Great Britain. However, the Ministry of Magic eventually banned their use. The Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects officially defined carpets as a Muggle artifact, making it illegal to enchant them under the rules enforced by the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. The official reason for this ban was the preservation of the International Statute of Secrecy. It was argued that a carpet flying through the sky was too blatant and recognizable a piece of magic to Muggles, largely because the “magic carpet” is a well-established concept in Muggle folklore. A broomstick, by contrast, was considered more discreet as Muggles do not associate them with flight. (Pottermore) This ban is a source of international friction, as carpets remain legal and commonplace in other parts of the world, particularly in the East. The British law is seen by some as prejudiced. Arthur Weasley noted that his German counterpart was furious about having to abandon his family's flying carpet.

The status of flying carpets is a key point of discussion in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where they serve to illustrate the bureaucratic and sometimes arbitrary nature of Ministry of Magic law. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Barty Crouch Sr. confronts Arthur Weasley about Ali Bashir, a wizard attempting to import a flying carpet. The incident highlights Crouch's rigid and severe adherence to rules and provides insight into the international complexities of wizarding law. The subject also ties directly into Arthur Weasley's professional life and personal fascination with Muggle artifacts. Earlier, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Rubeus Hagrid casually mentions carpets as a form of wizarding transport, which suggests their worldwide prevalence, even if they are outlawed in Britain.

• The magic flying carpet is a famous magical object in the folklore of the Middle East, most widely known from the collection of tales One Thousand and One Nights.
• J.K. Rowling’s decision to make flying carpets illegal in Britain subverts this fantasy trope, using it as a world-building tool to establish the legal and cultural distinctiveness of the British wizarding community.
• According to the Wizarding World website, the British ban on flying carpets was implemented in the 18th century and championed by a wizard named Archie Aymslowe. (Pottermore)