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"The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases of dried flowers, each resting on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again."
— Harry observes the foul kitten plates[src]

The Frolicsome Feline[2] range of magical ornamental plates featured colourful, moving kittens, each wearing a unique bow around its neck.[1]

History[]

Umbridge office

Frolicsome Feline ornamental plates on display in Umbridge's office at Hogwarts

Dolores Umbridge collected plates from this line, due to her liking for cats (though she found the real thing to be too troublesome).[2] During the 1995–1996 school year, while teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she hung Frolicsome Feline plates in her office. Harry Potter found them to be extremely foul.[1]

Umbridge's office at the British Ministry of Magic also had these plates placed upon the wall. Harry Potter though that her office looked identical to her one at Hogwarts, whilst he was infiltrating the Ministry.[3]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In the novel, the kittens are described as being large, technicolour and foul in appearance, each wearing a different bow around its neck. In the film, the plates depict actual kittens.
  • In the film, the kittens occasionally make soft mewing noises.
  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, one of the kittens leaves its plate through a door in the background and alerts Umbridge when Harry attempts to use her fireplace to contact Sirius Black. In the novel, Umbridge is alerted by Stealth Sensoring Spells placed on her office door.
  • Over two hundred ceramic plates were created in total for the film, a few empty to depict cats that had "wandered away." A total of forty feline models were filmed for two days, many wearing hand-knitted outfits.[4] After filming was completed, the kittens used were adopted, and their current owners are unaware of their role in the Harry Potter series.[5]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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