Sneakoscope

Sneakoscope
Object information
Manufacturer	Edgar Stroulger (inventor)
Usage	To keep away enemies and to detect deception
Owners	Ronald Weasley (briefly) Harry Potter Bartemius Crouch Jnr (stolen) Alastor Moody Horace Slughorn Hermione Granger (briefly)

"It's quite easy once you know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these absurd burglar alarms they use instead of Sneakoscopes and make sure the neighbours don't spot you bringing in the piano."

— Horace Slughorn briefly mentioning Sneakoscopes

A Sneakoscope was a type of Dark Detector that looked like a glass spinning top. It lit up, spun, and whistled if someone was doing something untrustworthy nearby.

History

Early history

The Sneakoscope was invented in the eighteenth century by the wizarding inventor Edgar Stroulger. During the 1890–1891 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there was a Sneakoscope in Dervish and Banges.

Recent history

1993

Ronald Weasley purchased a "pocket" Sneakoscope in Egypt in 1993 as the thirteenth birthday present for Harry Potter. Ron's brother Bill said it was just a piece of rubbish sold for tourists and did not work as it was whistling at their supper table. However, he had not realised that Fred and George had put beetles in his soup. It also lit up when Ron was tying Harry's birthday package to Errol's leg, as he was not supposed to use the old owl for long journeys.

Later that year, Harry's Sneakoscope started whistling on the Hogwarts Express when Scabbers was nearby, as Scabbers was really Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus rat disguise, which might help explain the previous occurrences as well.

1994

A Sneakoscope

Harry had to keep the Sneakoscope in a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks to keep the whistling quiet.

"Professor Moody" (disguised as Mad Eye Moody) had a large Sneakoscope in his office in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. He had to disable it because he claimed it was extra-sensitive and would whistle at any deceit as far off as a mile, not to mention students lying about their homework. Regardless of the truth of this claim, it would certainly have not been activated by "Professor Moody" himself, as he was Barty Crouch Jnr in disguise.

1995

"Hey, Harry, what’s this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass."

— The Sneakoscopes present during the first Dumbledore's Army meeting

A few Sneakoscopes (along with other detection devices) were present in the Room of Requirement while Dumbledore's Army was using it to practise. Sadly, they proved of little help to the D.A. when Professor Dolores Umbridge finally discovered where they were.

1997

On 31 July 1997, Hermione Granger gave Harry a Sneakoscope as a gift for his seventeenth birthday at breakfast, before a small celebration was held in his honour. The contraption later alerted Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the Snatchers outside of their tent after accidentally saying the Dark Lord's name even though it was Tabooed. Unfortunately, it also alerted the Snatchers that the trio were in the tent.

Behind the scenes

Different types of Sneakoscopes from the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A Sneakoscope as seen in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells

• Horace Slughorn compared Sneakoscopes to the Muggle-counterpart, burglar alarms, which he considered to be inferior, as they could be stunned via the Freezing Charm, suggesting Sneakoscopes were immune to said charm.
• A Sneakoscope can be seen on the flash version of J. K. Rowling's official site.
• Sneakoscopes can be purchased at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and The Making of Harry Potter as a novelty toy.
• In Hogwarts Legacy, this device is depicted as resembling a telescope rather than a glass spinning top.

Translations

• Bosnian: Cinkoskop
• Catalan: Dolentoscopi
• Czech: Lotroskop ("Thief/Swindlerscope")
• Danish: Luskometer (at luske means "to sneak")
• Dutch: Gluiposcoop (a gluiperd is a sneaky person)
• Estonian: nuhiskoop
• Faroese: Sníkikagi
• Finnish: Ilmiskooppi
• French: Scrutoscope
• German: Spickoskop (spicken "to cheat at an exam")
• Hebrew: מלשינוסקופ
• Hindi: मुखबिर यन्त्र ("informer machine")
• Hungarian: Gyanúszkóp ("suspicion scope")
• Icelandic: læðupokamælir
• Indonesian: Teropong-curiga ("suspicion scope")
• Italian: spioscopio (literal, spyscope)
• Japanese: かくれん防止器 (kakuren-bōshi-ki) (lit. "anti-hiding device"; also may be a pun on kakurenbo "hide-and-seek")
• Norwegian: snikoskop
• Polish: Fałszoskop (fałsz "lie" or "false")
• Portuguese: Bisbilhoscópio
• Russian: Вредноскоп (Nastyscope)
• Serbian: Шуњоскоп (Šunjoskop)
• Slovak: Špiónoskop
• Spanish: Chivatoscopio (Falsoscopio in the South American version)
• Turkish: Sinsioskop
• Ukrainian: Стервоскоп (Stervoskop) ("Scumbagoscope")
• Vietnamese: Kính mách lẻo ("sneaky mirror")

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Appears in deleted scene(s))
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• J. K. Rowling's official site
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned in History of Magic classes)
• Hogwarts Legacy