Portkey

A Portkey is an object enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location. Most of the time, a Portkey is an everyday object that would not draw the attention of a Muggle. Travelling by Portkey is said to feel like having a hook "somewhere behind the navel" pulling the traveller to their location.

Portkeys have an advantage over Floo powder in that they may transport many people at once, but each Portkey can only transport its users to one destination. Unlike Apparition, Portkeys may also be used by anyone, such as underage witches and wizards and possibly even Muggles, though there are no known instances of the latter occurring.

Some Portkeys are preset to travel to their destinations at a specific time. Examples include the Portkeys that transported wizards to the Quidditch World Cup in 1994 and the ones that transported members of the Order of the Phoenix from safehouses to the Burrow after the Battle over Little Whinging in 1997. Other Portkeys are triggered immediately by a person's touch; examples include the Triwizard Cup, which transported Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory to Little Hangleton, and the broken statue head that sent Harry Potter back to Hogwarts after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. It is unknown how one effects the difference between the two types of Portkeys.

Both types of Portkey travel to the destination along with their users. With touch-activated Portkeys, touching it again transports the users back to their original location. Time-activated ones, however, can be handled after their use without effect.



According to Remus Lupin, the creation of unauthorised Portkeys entails some sort of punishment, and Cornelius Fudge was quite angry when Albus Dumbledore created one in front of him without permission. However, as demonstrated by Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Jr., the Ministry does not have the ability to detect the creation of such Portkeys.

Behind the scenes

 * According to W.O.M.B.A.T., in order for portkeys to be arranged between countries, the consent of both Nations's Ministries of Magic may be required.
 * Also on W.O.M.B.A.T., it is possible that releasing a Portkey before arriving at one's destination may result in serious injury or death.

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