Magical Toys

• Type: Magical Device, Toy
• Owners: Various witches and wizards, particularly children. Notable owners of specific toys include Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and the Weasley family.
• Maker: Various toymakers and joke shops, most notably Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Magical Toys are playthings for young witches and wizards, often resembling their Muggle counterparts but imbued with magical properties. These enchantments grant them capabilities such as limited flight, animation, or other surprising effects designed for entertainment. Their appearance can range from simple objects, like magically animated playing cards, to more complex devices sold in specialized shops.

• Toy Broomsticks: Miniature broomsticks enchanted to hover only a few feet above the ground, allowing young children to safely experience the sensation of flying.
• Wizard's Chess Sets: The chess pieces are animated and sentient to a degree, moving on their own and often brutally destroying opposing pieces upon capture.
• Gobstones Sets: A game similar to Muggle marbles, where the stones squirt a foul-smelling liquid in the face of the player who loses a point.
• Exploding Snap Cards: A deck of playing cards that are magically rigged to explode unpredictably during a game.
• Fanged Frisbees: Flying discs that are enchanted to snarl and attempt to bite anything in their path.
• Ever-Bashing Boomerangs: Boomerangs that, once thrown, will continuously hit their target. They were on Argus Filch's list of banned items at Hogwarts.

The primary purpose of a Magical Toy is entertainment. The magic used in their creation is typically a form of Charm or Transfiguration that animates the object or gives it a specific, controlled magical behavior. Unlike more serious magical objects, their enchantments are usually harmless or cause only minor, comical inconvenience. Usage varies by toy. Wizard's Chess and Gobstones are games of skill and strategy, while items like the Toy Broomstick provide a physical activity. Joke products from shops like Zonko's Joke Shop or Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes often blur the line between toys and pranks, with items designed to surprise or fool others, such as the Decoy Detonator or Skiving Snackbox.

Magical Toys are a long-standing and integral part of wizarding culture, serving as the primary form of recreation for children. They are commonplace in wizarding households like The Burrow. Evidence of their existence spans generations; Albus Dumbledore's office contained numerous “funny little silver instruments that whirred and puffed smoke,” which Harry Potter suspected might be unique magical toys or instruments of his own invention. Shops like Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade and later Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley specialized in selling a wide array of magical toys, games, and novelty items, indicating a thriving market for such goods.

Magical Toys primarily serve as world-building elements, illustrating the whimsical and distinct nature of the wizarding world compared to the Muggle world. They provide insight into the daily lives and childhoods of the characters. Several specific toys play minor but significant roles in the narrative:

• In a letter from Lily Potter to Sirius Black, she mentions that Harry Potter received a Toy Broomstick for his first birthday and loved it, foreshadowing his prodigious talent for flying and his future as a Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
• Ron Weasley's proficiency at Wizard's Chess is established early in the series. This skill becomes crucial when he uses it to win the life-sized game of Wizard's Chess protecting the Philosopher's Stone, allowing Harry to proceed.
• Items like Fanged Frisbees and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs are listed as forbidden items at Hogwarts, highlighting the strict rules enforced by Argus Filch and the mischievous nature of the students.
• The success of Fred and George Weasley's joke products, which function as advanced magical toys, provides them with the capital to open Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and serves as a testament to their exceptional magical talent and ingenuity.

In the film adaptations of the series, many magical toys are given a distinct visual representation. The Wizard's Chess set in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone features intricately carved, violent pieces. The merchandise from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is depicted as a chaotic and colourful array of animated products, bringing the twins' inventions to life (film). Various video games based on the series have incorporated magical games like Gobstones and Exploding Snap as playable mini-games, allowing players to directly experience these wizarding pastimes (video game).