Dagger

• Type: Weapon, Dark Arts Implement
• Owners: Notable users include Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Bellatrix Lestrange.
• Maker: Generally unknown. Some may be Goblin-made, given their expertise in metalwork, particularly with silver.

A dagger is a short, knife-like bladed weapon. Several distinct daggers appear throughout the series, varying in appearance and material.

• Peter Pettigrew's Dagger: Described as a small, silver dagger. Pettigrew produced it from inside his robes to perform a key part of the Rebirthing Potion.
• Sirius Black's Dagger: Described only as a long knife. It was sharp and strong enough to slash the canvas of the Fat Lady's portrait.
• Bellatrix Lestrange's Dagger: A silver dagger with a jeweled hilt. This weapon was one of Bellatrix's preferred tools for torture and murder.

While not inherently magical in the same way as a wand, daggers are frequently used as implements in magical rituals and as physical weapons within the wizarding world. Their use often signifies a more brutal, personal, and visceral form of violence than that typically seen with spells.

• Ritual Implement: Daggers are essential for certain Dark Magic rituals. Peter Pettigrew used his silver dagger to perform the complex ritual that restored Lord Voldemort to a physical body. He used it to sever his own hand as the “flesh of the servant, willingly given,” demonstrating its role in potions and rituals requiring blood or sacrifice.
• Weapon: Daggers are used as straightforward weapons for assault and murder.
  • Sirius Black, in his desperation as a fugitive, used a dagger to attack the Fat Lady's portrait in an attempt to get to Pettigrew within Gryffindor Tower.
  • Bellatrix Lestrange used her dagger to torture Hermione Granger by carving the word “Mudblood” into her arm at Malfoy Manor. Shortly thereafter, she murdered the house-elf Dobby by throwing the same dagger into his chest as he was Disapparating.

The recurring use of silver for these daggers, particularly in the context of Dark Magic, is notable, though the specific properties of silver are not explicitly detailed in the novels.

As “dagger” is a general category of object, its history is tied to the individual items seen in the story.

• In `Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban`, Sirius Black acquires a dagger while on the run. He uses it during his infiltration of Hogwarts Castle in 1993. Its ultimate fate is unknown.
• In `Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire`, Peter Pettigrew uses a silver dagger during the rebirth of Lord Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard in 1995.
• In `Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows`, Bellatrix Lestrange's dagger is a prominent weapon during the skirmish at Malfoy Manor in 1998. It is the weapon she uses to kill Dobby, and it was presumably still in her possession when she was killed by Molly Weasley at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Daggers serve as a potent symbol of cruelty and desperation. Unlike the detached nature of many spells, a dagger requires close, physical contact, making the violence it inflicts more intimate and horrifying. Pettigrew's self-mutilation with a dagger underscores his complete subservience to Voldemort and the gruesome nature of the Dark Arts. Bellatrix's use of her dagger to torture Hermione and murder Dobby cements her character as a sadistic and remorseless killer. Dobby's death by this mundane, non-magical weapon is one of the most tragic and impactful moments in the series, highlighting that the greatest threats are not always the most powerful spells, but the simple, cruel intentions behind them.

• In the film adaptation of `Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1`, Bellatrix Lestrange's dagger is given a distinctive design with a dark, curved, and jagged blade and a metallic, talon-like hilt.
• In the `Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald` film, a silver, ornate dagger is used by a young Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald to create a magical Blood Pact, showing another example of a dagger being used in a significant magical binding ritual (film).