Sleeping Bag

• Type: Bedding, Camping Equipment
• Owners: A common item owned or used by many, including Hogwarts students and staff, and specifically Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger during their hunt for Horcruxes.
• Maker: Not applicable; this is a general, mass-produced item.

A sleeping bag is a portable form of bedding designed for warmth and comfort when sleeping outdoors or away from a conventional bed. They are typically quilted or insulated and can be rolled up for easy transport. In the wizarding world, they appear identical to their Muggle counterparts. The most notable examples described are the hundreds of purple sleeping bags magically summoned by Albus Dumbledore in the Great Hall. During the hunt for Horcruxes, Harry Potter and his friends use standard sleeping bags inside their magically-expanded tent.

While a sleeping bag itself is not inherently magical, it can be the subject of magic. The primary magical use seen in the series is their instantaneous creation through a powerful, non-verbal spell cast by Albus Dumbledore. With a wave of his wand, he conjured hundreds of sleeping bags to accommodate the entire student body, suggesting they were either created from thin air (Conjuration) or summoned from a storage location. Their main purpose, however, is mundane: providing a place to sleep. They are essential for camping, as seen at the Quidditch World Cup and during the trio's year on the run.

Sleeping bags appear at several key moments throughout the series, often signifying a disruption of normal routine or a period of hardship.

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: After Sirius Black successfully infiltrated Gryffindor Tower by slashing the Fat Lady's portrait, Professor Dumbledore decided it was unsafe for students to sleep in their dormitories. He gathered the entire school in the Great Hall, where he conjured hundreds of plush, purple sleeping bags. The students spent the night there, with prefects like Percy Weasley taking charge and professors patrolling the hall. It was during this night that Harry Potter overheard the conversation between Severus Snape and Dumbledore about Black's true target and the presence of Dementors at the school.
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Sleeping bags were common camping equipment used by attendees of the Quidditch World Cup. The Weasley family and their guests likely used them inside their magically enlarged Muggle tents at the campsite before it was attacked by Death Eaters.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Sleeping bags became a symbol of the trio's difficult, nomadic life while hunting for Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. After fleeing the Ministry of Magic, Harry, Ron, and Hermione lived out of a tent protected by numerous enchantments. They relied on sleeping bags for warmth and a small measure of comfort during their months of isolation and constant danger.

The sleeping bag serves as a potent symbol of temporary and often precarious shelter. In Prisoner of Azkaban, the sea of purple sleeping bags in the Great Hall visually represents the breach of Hogwarts's security and the community's response to a shared threat. It transforms the grand hall from a place of feasting and ceremony into a massive, temporary dormitory, highlighting the seriousness of Sirius Black's escape. In Deathly Hallows, the sleeping bag's role is more personal and grim. It underscores the trio's homelessness and isolation from the wizarding world. Far from the communal safety of the Great Hall, their individual sleeping bags represent a stripped-down existence, where basic survival is a daily struggle.

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the scene in the Great Hall features the purple sleeping bags as described in the book. The scene captures the sense of communal slumber and Dumbledore's brief, reassuring speech to the students before they sleep (film).