Gemstones

• Type: Magical Material, Currency, Potion Ingredient, Decorative Element
• Owners: Not applicable to gemstones as a general category. Ownership is specific to individual items incorporating gemstones.
• Maker: Occur naturally in the earth. Can also be magically created, such as the Sorcerer's Stone through Alchemy, or conjured.

Gemstones are naturally occurring crystalline minerals that are highly valued in the Wizarding world for their beauty, rarity, and magical affinities. They appear in a wide variety of colours and types, and are often cut and polished to be used in jewellery, as decoration on magical artefacts, or as potent magical components themselves. Notable types of gemstones mentioned in the series include:

• Rubies: A deep red stone, famously used to fill the Gryffindor House Point Hourglass and to encrust the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor.
• Emeralds: A brilliant green stone, used to fill the Slytherin House Point Hourglass and associated with the house's founder, Salazar Slytherin.
• Sapphires: A vibrant blue stone, used to fill the Ravenclaw House Point Hourglass and set in Ravenclaw's Diadem.
• Diamonds: A clear, brilliant stone, used to fill the Hufflepuff House Point Hourglass. Uncut diamonds are also mentioned on the Goblet of Fire.
• Moonstones: A pale, silvery stone used as a Potion ingredient.
• Opals: A multicoloured stone. A particularly dangerous cursed opal necklace was sold at Borgin and Burkes.
• Garnets: A reddish stone mentioned as a possible Potion ingredient or additive to ink.
• The Resurrection Stone: A unique black stone with a crack down the middle, later revealed to be one of the Deathly Hallows.

Gemstones are used in a variety of magical applications, serving as everything from indicators and ingredients to powerful enchanted objects.

• Tallying and Display: The most prominent use is in the four great House Point Hourglasses located in the entrance hall of Hogwarts. Each hourglass is filled with a different gemstone representing one of the four houses, and the stones rise or fall to represent the earning and losing of House Points.
• Enchantment and Artefacts: Gemstones are frequently embedded in powerful magical items, where they may act as focal points or reservoirs for potent enchantments. The goblin-made Sword of Gryffindor is set with large rubies. Two of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes were pieces of jewellery set with significant stones: Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, which contained the Resurrection Stone, and Ravenclaw's Diadem, which was set with sapphires.
• Currency: Goblins consider gemstones, particularly large rubies, to be a form of currency and a component of wealth. Their different view on ownership—that an item's true owner is its maker—led Griphook to demand the Sword of Gryffindor as payment for his help.
• Potion Ingredients: Certain gemstones are valuable components in Potions. Moonstone is a required ingredient for several potions, including the Draught of Peace. Powdered garnet is also mentioned as a magical ink additive in a Potions textbook.
• Cursed Objects: Gemstones can be imbued with powerful Dark Magic. A cursed opal necklace at Borgin and Burkes had claimed the lives of nineteen Muggle owners and severely cursed Katie Bell when she touched it through a small hole in its packaging.

The use of gemstones is ancient in the Wizarding world. Since the founding of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the House Point Hourglasses have used gems to track the inter-house competition. The history of Goblins, such as Ragnuk the First, is deeply intertwined with the craftsmanship of gem-encrusted items like the Sword of Gryffindor. One of the most ancient and legendary gemstones is the Resurrection Stone, which according to The Tales of Beedle the Bard, was given to Cadmus Peverell by Death himself. It was passed down through the Gaunt family and set into a ring. In a more recent, but still significant, historical context, the alchemist Nicolas Flamel was the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary blood-red stone with the power to grant immortality.

Gemstones are central to several major plotlines throughout the series.

• In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the titular Sorcerer's Stone is the object Harry Potter must protect from Professor Quirrell and Lord Voldemort.
• The House Point Hourglasses serve as a constant visual motif of the rivalry between the houses, with the climax of the first book seeing Dumbledore award last-minute points to Gryffindor, causing a shower of rubies to fill their hourglass.
• In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the stone in Marvolo Gaunt's Ring is revealed to be both a Horcrux and the Resurrection Stone, a key discovery in understanding how to defeat Voldemort. In the same book, the cursed opal necklace becomes an active threat, demonstrating the danger of objects from Borgin and Burkes.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, gemstones are at the heart of the quest. The search for the Resurrection Stone and Ravenclaw's Diadem is critical. Furthermore, Griphook's desire for the rubies in the Sword of Gryffindor leads to the tense alliance during the Gringotts break-in and his ultimate betrayal of Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

• The gemstones used in the House Point Hourglasses correspond to traditional birthstones associated with months that have thematic links to the houses or their members (Pottermore).
  • Ruby (Gryffindor) is the birthstone for July, the month of Harry Potter's birth.
  • Emerald (Slytherin) is the birthstone for May. The Battle of Hogwarts, a key event in Voldemort's downfall, took place in May.
  • Sapphire (Ravenclaw) is the birthstone for September, the month when students begin a new year at Hogwarts.
  • Diamond (Hufflepuff) is the birthstone for April.