Catherine Wheel

• Type: Magical Firework
• Owners: Fred Weasley and George Weasley
• Maker: Fred Weasley and George Weasley

A Catherine wheel is a type of magical firework developed and sold as part of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product line. While their static appearance is not described, in action they are enchanted wheels that whiz through the air, emitting “loud bangs and multi-coloured sparks.” They are seemingly capable of independent movement and can be bewitched to follow specific targets. Their name and function are based on the real-world Muggle firework of the same name.

The primary function of the Catherine wheels is entertainment and causing large-scale, colourful disruption. They possess several powerful magical properties:

• Homing Enchantment: They are enchanted to be able to “chase” people, as demonstrated when they pursued students through the corridors of Hogwarts.
• Extreme Durability: These fireworks are exceptionally resilient and difficult to remove with simple magic. Argus Filch and Dolores Umbridge struggled immensely to dispose of them, indicating they were protected by strong and complex bewitchments.
• Harmful Potential: While mostly a nuisance, the sparks they emit can be harmful. Professor Filius Flitwick weaponised one by setting it off in Professor Umbridge's face, which resulted in her developing a nasty case of boils. This suggests the fireworks can be charmed to have specific jinx-like effects upon detonation.

The Catherine wheel was invented by Fred Weasley and George Weasley sometime before or during their seventh year at Hogwarts. They were a key part of the twins' famous “unplanned exit” from the school in May 1996. To protest the tyrannical rule of High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge and to disrupt the fifth-year O.W.L. examinations, the twins unleashed a massive volley of their Wildfire Whiz-Bangs, including numerous Catherine wheels. The wheels, along with other fireworks, caused chaos for days. They chased students, exploded in closets, and proved nearly impossible for the authorities to get rid of. The staff, secretly pleased with the rebellion, offered little help. In one notable act of defiance, Professor Filius Flitwick claimed to have “mistaken” a charmed Catherine wheel for a stray firework, setting it off to strike Umbridge directly.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Catherine wheels are a powerful symbol of creative rebellion against oppression. Along with the other Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes fireworks, they represent the unstoppable spirit and ingenuity of the Weasley twins and the student body's resistance to Dolores Umbridge's joyless and controlling regime. Their persistence in the corridors of Hogwarts, long after the twins had departed, served as a constant, colourful reminder that Umbridge's authority was not absolute. The incident involving Professor Flitwick highlights how the twins' mischievous creations became tools of subtle warfare for even the Hogwarts staff.

The name “Catherine wheel” is taken directly from a type of spinning, stationary firework in the Muggle world, also known as a pinwheel. The Muggle firework is named after Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian saint who was condemned to be martyred on a spiked breaking wheel. According to legend, the wheel miraculously shattered when she touched it. This backstory adds a symbolic layer to the firework's use in the book, where the Weasleys' Catherine wheels help to “break” the tyrannical rule of Dolores Umbridge.