Vanishing Cabinet

Vanishing Cabinet
Object information
Manufacturer	A store in the Place Cachée
Made	Pre-1920s
Usage	Together act as passage way
Owners	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Borgin and Burkes

Fred Weasley: "He never managed to get all the words out, due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."

Hermione Granger: "But you'll get into terrible trouble!"

Fred Weasley: "Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him."

— How Fred and George Weasley punished Graham Montague

A pair of Vanishing Cabinets would act as a passage between two places. If an object had been placed in one, it would appear in the other.

The cabinets seemed to ward off all known defensive spells, as they were successfully used to transport several Death Eaters from Borgin and Burkes into Hogwarts School, and Graham Montague was able to Apparate into Hogwarts despite the protection spells of the school normally preventing such an action.

Vanishing Cabinets were highly popular during the First Wizarding War; in the event of a Death Eater attack, one could simply disappear to the other cabinet until the danger had passed.

History

There was a store in the Place Cachée which sold Vanishing Cabinets, and also offered repair services.

The First and Second Wizarding wars

"That vanishing cabinet was extremely valuable! We'll have Peeves out this time, my sweet —"

— Argus Filch to Mrs Norris

During the First Wizarding War, numerous witches and wizards used Vanishing Cabinets to anonymously disappear if the Death Eaters visited. Arthur Weasley mentioned this during Christmas 1996 while talking to members of the Order of the Phoenix.

The Vanishing Cabinet inside Borgin and Burkes

In 1992, when Harry accidentally arrived to Borgin and Burkes via Floo Powder, he hid inside the Cabinet without fully closing the door, to avoid Borgin, Lucius, and Draco Malfoy. Draco nearly opened the Cabinet door but was beckoned to leave with his father before he could open the door.

Two months later, Peeves damaged the Cabinet at Hogwarts in when he was persuaded by Nearly Headless Nick to drop it in a classroom right above Filch's office to get Harry out of trouble with Filch.

In 1996, Fred and George Weasley shoved Graham Montague headfirst into the broken cabinet on the first floor of Hogwarts when he tried to take points away from them. Montague eventually escaped (by Apparating), and was found in a toilet's u-bend by Draco Malfoy, who summoned Professor Snape for help, although it nearly cost Montague his life. Montague revealed the previously unknown powers of the Cabinets to Draco.

Second Wizarding War

Draco Malfoy: "I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year."

Albus Dumbledore: "Aaaah. That was clever.... There is a pair, I take it?"

Draco Malfoy: "In Borgin and Burkes, and they make a kind of passage between them."

— How Draco Malfoy got Death Eaters into Hogwarts

Draco Malfoy observing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement

The Hogwarts Vanishing Cabinet was later moved to the Room of Requirement and in 1997, Draco Malfoy successfully repaired it to allow a group of Death Eaters, including Fenrir Greyback, to enter Hogwarts from the Borgin and Burkes Vanishing Cabinet, to accomplish his plot to assassinate Albus Dumbledore.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, when Vincent Crabbe released Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement, likely the Vanishing Cabinet was destroyed, along with many other artefacts hidden there.

During the Calamity which affected the wizarding world in the 2010s, Vanishing Cabinets were among the various magical items which appeared as Foundables in the world. The cabinets were guarded by Pixies, in which volunteer wizards and witches of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to overpower using the Slowing Charm, allowing the cabinets to return to their rightful place.

Repair

If one cabinet was broken, a transferred object was trapped in a kind of limbo; repairing it seemed to be a very difficult task, as Draco Malfoy spent an entire school year with instructions from Borgin to accomplish.

The incantation used for the repair process was Harmonia Nectere Passus, which would require tremendous and repeated efforts, as Draco demonstrated throughout a year. And it was more than simply saying the incantation, proven by the apparent yearly effort required. The repairing process was, admittedly, hampered because Draco was working on Borgin's instructions; Borgin claimed that he might have had an easier time if Draco could have brought the damaged cabinet to let Borgin see it firsthand.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Appears in flashback(s))
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter