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"At the precise moment that a child first exhibits signs of magic, the Quill, which is believed to have been taken from an Augurey, floats up out of its inkpot and attempts to inscribe the name of that child upon the pages of the Book."
— Description[src]

The Quill of Acceptance,[1] also known as the Magical Quill,[2] was a magical quill at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that detected signs of magic by magical children and wrote their births and names down in a large parchment book[2][3] known as the Book of Admittance.[1]

History[]

BookofAdmittanceWU

The Quill of Acceptance with the Book of Admittance

The Quill of Acceptance was created by the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was created sometime before the completion of Hogwarts Castle, as it and the Book of Admittance were ready to be placed inside the small locked tower they resided in upon the castle's completion.[2] The exact nature of the spells placed on the quill was unknown. It was believed to be an Augurey feather, yet was capable of writing despite the fact that the silver ink pot it sat in had no ink inside, and Augurey feathers repelled ink regardless. Though some wizards may have known the secret of the quill, none ever divulged it. Albus Dumbledore was implied to have known how both the quill and book work, but noted that divulging such information would cause needless, tedious explanations to wizarding parents who would be furious that their child was not selected.[1]

During the Calamity in the late 2010s or early 2020s, Hogwarts students started trying to intentionally focus on the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance in order to make the Calamity take them as Foundables, making school registration impossible. The school asked a Calamity Investigator working for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force for help, with the investigator helping look into a second back-up system for registration.[4]

Nature[]

The Book and Quill's decision was final and no child was admitted into first year whose name had not first been inscribed on the book's yellowing pages.[1] However, there were various examples of transfer students who arrived from other wizarding schools in later years. At the precise moment that a British or Irish[5] child first exhibited signs of magic, the Quill floated up out of its inkpot and attempted to inscribe the name of that child upon the pages of the Book.[1] The Quill's sensitivity, coupled with the Book's implacability, never made a mistake.[1]

Use[]

QuillOfAcceptanceBookOfAdmittance

The Quill of Acceptance along with the Book of Admittance

Since this record contained the name and birthdate of every magical child, it was used to determine who was eligible to attend Hogwarts, and when. Every year, at least during her tenure as Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall would check the book and send an acceptance letter by owl to children who were approaching their eleventh birthdays, letting them know of their place at the school.[2][3]

The quill activated at the slightest hint of magical ability in a child, attempting to write in the book on this instance. The book, however, would snap shut, and refused to allow the quill to write in it until sufficient evidence of a child's magical ability has been manifested. This system ensured that no Squib (who will sometimes have a faint magical aura from their parents) was ever admitted to Hogwarts.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

  • It is assumed (though not confirmed) that this quill only records births of magical children who have displayed magical abilities and have a residence in Great Britain and Ireland.
  • It is unknown why Professor McGonagall is the one to check the book, possibly due to her status as Deputy Head (and later Headmistress).
  • On Pottermore, the Magical Quill was used as a way to register people on the website early, from 31 July to 6 August 2011. People had to to solve a riddle on the homepage and add the answer to the riddle to the end of the special, otherwise inaccessible URL http://quill.pottermore.com/ to obtain a chance at early registration for the site. If they answered the riddle correctly, then they were normally redirected to a Harry Potter related website to search for the Magical Quill. If they found it, they had to do something to it, such as click on it or levitate it. If they were successful, they were allowed to register for the website prior to the scheduled public launch. There were seven riddles, one each day for the duration of the week. Each one related to one of the different Harry Potter books. Day one's riddle was about Philosopher's Stone, day two's was about Chamber of Secrets, and so on. The riddles became progressively easier as the week went along, with the riddles for the first three days being more difficult than those for the last four days.
  • The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance can be found together in Hogwarts Legacy at the top of the grand staircase tower. A Revelio page can be found near them which states: 'The Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance were placed here by the founders and have not been touched since. They record the name of every prospective Hogwarts student the moment they first show signs of magic - although the quill is more lenient than the book, which will sometimes snap shut before a name is written if the evidence of magic is not dramatic enough'.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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