Deluminator

Deluminator
Object information
Manufacturer	Albus Dumbledore
Made	1920s or earlier
Usage	To remove or return light to its sources To transport wielder and people that the wielder wants transported to a mirror dimension To guide and apparate Ron Weasley back to his friends
Owners	Albus Dumbledore (formerly) Alastor Moody (briefly) Ron Weasley

"It looked like a silver cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a simple click."

— Description

The Deluminator, also known as the Put-Outer, was a magical device used by Albus Dumbledore (the first known owner and designer of the one Deluminator known to exist) to remove light sources from the Deluminator's immediate surroundings, as well as bestow them. It looked like a standard silver cigarette lighter.

Dumbledore left the Deluminator to Ron Weasley, in his will (presented by Rufus Scrimgeour), after his death.

History

Albus Dumbledore's usage

"He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn’t be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement."

— Dumbledore using the Deluminator to darken Privet Drive in 1981

Dumbledore using the Deluminator to darken London's streets

In 1927, Albus Dumbledore used the Deluminator to darken London's streets to talk with Newt Scamander and avoid detection by the Ministry of Magic employees.

Dumbledore using the Deluminator to darken Berlin's streets

In 1932, Albus used this Deluminator to flip to an alternate dimension during his duel with his nephew.

Dumbledore using the Deluminator to darken Privet Drive

On 1 November 1981, after the murders of James and Lily Potter by Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore used the Deluminator to darken Privet Drive, where the Dursley household was located. Dumbledore was expecting Rubeus Hagrid to transport the infant Harry Potter to Privet Drive, where Dumbledore would leave him at the Dursley household. Dumbledore's Deluminator allowed Hagrid to arrive with added security.

In 1995, Dumbledore lent the Deluminator to Mad-Eye Moody, who used it when transporting Harry from the Dursleys' home to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at 12 Grimmauld Place. The Deluminator again provided added security to keep Harry Potter safe, as he was a highly valued target among Lord Voldemort's supporters, and to keep the Order's headquarters secret, because these headquarters were also a highly valued target.

In 1996, Dumbledore used it again to darken Privet Drive before coming to collect Harry.

Ronald Weasley's usage

"That is a valuable object. It may even be unique. Certainly it is of Dumbledore’s own design. Why would he have left you an item so rare?"

— Rufus Scrimgeour about Dumbledore's gift to Ron Weasley

Ron using the Deluminator for the first time after Dumbledore left it to him

In 1997, the Deluminator was left to Ron Weasley in Dumbledore's will. It seemed to also act like a homing device. Whenever Hermione and Harry mentioned Ron's name, he could hear snippets of conversation before and after, even though he was far away. It then acted as a guide, leading Ron back to Harry and Hermione after he left them following an argument. Ron speculated that this was the true reason that Dumbledore left him the Deluminator: so that he could find his way back to his friends if he ever left them.

In 1998, Ron Weasley used the Deluminator in the Malfoys' cellar, so that Luna Lovegood, Ollivander, Ron and Harry could see inside the cellar, releasing light that he had earlier taken from the lamps within Perkins's tent. And when Peter Pettigrew came down into the cellar, Harry told Ron keep the lights on, and leave as it is. The lights, being unable to rejoin their sources, simply remained in the room.

On 31 October 2009, Ron came back to Hogwarts to bring his Deluminator to Headmistress McGonagall so she could take another look at it. On the way there, he travelled past London and used the Deluminator to collect the lights of half a street. When he arrived, he happened to be attracted to Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington's Deathday Party, where he talked to a student and showed them the Deluminator. When Peeves caused the lights in the party hall to go out, Ron encouraged the student to use the Deluminator to restore the lights.

During the Calamity which affected the wizarding world in the late 2010s, the Deluminator was among the many magical items which became Foundables, being guarded by Confoundables.

Function

The main use of the Deluminator was to take, or release light. There was a button on it, and when pressed, would absorb the nearest light source and a light ball would fly towards the Deluminator. If light was already taken, the Deluminator could also release light. The light would go back to their sources if the original source was nearby, otherwise the light would stay at the Deluminator.

There seemed to be another use as demonstrated by Ron Weasley. Whenever the user's name was mentioned in a conversation, the Deluminator would play the snippet of conversation just before and after the user's name was said. Activating the Deluminator after this allowed the user to Apparate to the location of those speaking about the user even when their exact location was unknown; Ron speculated that Dumbledore specifically left the Deluminator to him for this reason, so that Ron could find his way back to his friends if he ever left them.

In 1932, Dumbledore used the Deluminator to transport and fight both Credence Barebone and Gellert Grindelwald to a mirror dimension inside the Deluminator, but on separate occasions. This was to avoid damaging buildings and hurting or killing innocent bystanders in Berlin (with Credence Barebone) and Bhutan (with Gellert Grindelwald).

Behind the scenes

The functioning of the Deluminator as seen in Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey

• In its first and second appearances in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Deluminator was called a Put-Outer.
• In the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the Deluminator is able to turn off electric appliances, as seen in Luchino Cafe when Ron put out the lights and the TV turned off.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ron explains that the Deluminator creates a blue light which, after entering his chest near his heart, allows him to disapparate to where his love interest (Hermione) and his best friend (Harry) are located. The ability to transport a wizard, via a light through the heart, to where his or her favourite (or most treasured) people are is curiously similar to the epitaph Dumbledore selected for his mother and sister: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
• The Noble Collection sells an exact replica of the device, which even includes a small light inside.
• The Deluminator may have been inspired by the Phial of Galadriel in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, with the exception that, unlike Galadriel's gift to Frodo, the Deluminator can remove light in addition to bestowing it.
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, once Ron is gifted the Deluminator in year seven, his character will lose the ability to perform the Wand-Lighting Charm (as well as Lumos Solem), as the Deluminator will take the spell's former place on his ability wheel, since it is his light-based ability.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance) (Identified as "Put-Outer")
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First identified as Deluminator)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game) (Nintendo DS version only)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Appears in deleted scene(s))
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened