Extendable Ears

Extendable Ears
Object information
Location	Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Manufacturer	Fred and George Weasley
Made	In or before 1995
Usage	Makes the user able to listen into a blocked out conversation
Owners	Fred Weasley George Weasley Harry Potter Hermione Granger Ron Weasley

Ron Weasley: "Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see. They're really useful."

Harry Potter: "Extendable — ?"

Ron Weasley: "Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk."

— Harry Potter's introduction to Extendable Ears

Extendable Ears were magical items created by Fred and George Weasley. They were good for eavesdropping on conversations.

Description

They were long, flesh-coloured pieces of string which one can insert in one's ear, then shove the other end under (for example) a door, and one will hear the conversation or other noise as clear as if it was mere foot away, unless, that is, the door has been Imperturbed.

The ears were invented sometime prior to Harry Potter's arrival at 12 Grimmauld Place in August 1995. Upon learning of their existence, Molly Weasley was outraged and binned as many of them as she could find. A number of the ears, however, survived this purge and remained in use.

Known users

Hermione Granger: "If only we could hear what they're saying!"

Ron Weasley: "We can! Hang on — damn — Extendable Ears, look!"

— The trio use Extendable Ears to eavesdrop on Draco Malfoy

An Extendable Ear used by Fred and George Weasley with the trio in attempt to listen in on an Order of the Phoenix meeting

The twins' Extendable Ears proved very useful to Harry Potter when he was trying to listen in on the Order of the Phoenix's conversations, and trying to figure out what the Death Eaters were doing. Harry also used them in 1996 when he was trying to listen to the conversation between Draco Malfoy and Mr Borgin.

Hermione packed a few Extendable Ears when she, Ron, and Harry went to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes in 1997. The trio used them at one point to listen to a group of Muggle-born fugitives, including Dean Thomas, that had briefly stopped outside their tent while they were on the run from horrible Snatchers.

The use of Extendable Ears during lessons at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was prohibited, with infracting students being subject to reprimand.

Behind the scenes

• The books describe them as long and string-like, while in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, there are human-looking ears on the distant end. Crookshanks interfered with one of them, knocking it off the "string".
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter sells extendable ears, as a novelty electronic toy. It amplifies sound, from up to 12 feet away.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite