Gramophone

Gramophone
Object information
Location	Muggle Studies Classroom Classroom 3C (formerly) Janus Thickey Ward
Manufacturer	C. Gilbert & Co. Ltd.
Usage	Playing gramophone records
Owners	Remus Lupin Horace Slughorn Weasley family Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

A gramophone (also called phonograph, record player, or turntable) was a mechanical device used for playing gramophone records.

History

C. Gilbert & Co. Ltd. was a Muggle gramophone manufacturer based in Sheffield, England, which operated from 1922 to approximately 1931.

During the 1985–1986 school year, a gramophone was in the Muggle Studies Classroom.

A gramophone could be found in the Janus Thickey Ward in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in the 1990–1991 school year.

Remus Lupin dropping the needle on his gramophone

Remus Lupin owned a gramophone from their Geisha line. In 1993, he played his copy of Witchita Banana on this gramophone during a third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson on Boggarts, helping put students at ease while they confronted their greatest fears.

Argus Filch readying a gramophone at Hogwarts

In preparation for the Yule Ball in 1994, Minerva McGonagall gave a dance lesson to Gryffindors, having Argus Filch play a copy of Wizard Waltz on a magical gramophone with a giant horn.

When Draco Malfoy visited the Room of Requirement for the first time during the 1996–1997 school year, there was a gramophone stored there, which was skipping on a record. Later that same school year, when Harry Potter knocked on the door of Horace Slughorn's office, hoping to get the memory of his discussion of Horcruxes with Tom Riddle, he heard what he was sure were the quickly stifled sounds of an old gramophone.

The Weasley family owned a gramophone, which sat on a windowsill in the living room of their home, The Burrow.

Behind the scenes

• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger ran around in the Forbidden Forest to repair a gramophone to call Remus Lupin in werewolf form.
• Though the terms "gramophone" and "phonograph" are used nearly interchangeably today to describe a disc-playing machine, in the past they had distinct meanings. "Phonograph" was intended to describe Thomas Edison's cylinder machine, while Emile Berliner's invention using flat discs was trademarked as a "gramophone". British English tends to use "gramophone" to describe a windup disc-playing machine, while American English will use "phonograph" or "Victrola."
• Since most modern record players operate on electricity, they are rendered inoperable in the presence of magic like most other electric appliances such as telephones and computers. Witches and wizards presumably use mechanical windup gramophones which require no electricity to amplify sound and rotate the turntable. These play 78 RPM shellac discs and are incapable of playing slower-speed vinyl records. However in the real-world, shellac 78 production largely ceased in the 1960s, being superseded by vinyl. This possibly limits the type of Muggle music available to wizards with gramophones.
• Several gramophones were provided for filming by Howard Hope: Gramophones & Phonographs.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault‏‎
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened