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"Sir. I was just admiring your hourglass."
Harry Potter[src]

Slughorn's Hourglass[1] was a clock made of two glass vessels connected with a narrow passage through which sand and a green fluid flowed, and green serpentine features adorning the outside. The serpent imagery in its design symbolised Slytherin house, of which Slughorn was the Head of. It was kept in Slughorn's Potions classroom on his desk, though it is presumed to also reside in his office.

Description

The sand runs accordingly with the quality of the conversation: if stimulating, the sand runs slowly. 

History

Halfblood-03321

Tom Riddle tapping Slughorn's hourglass

Little is known about how or when Slughorn acquired this object, but it is known that he already owned this object by the time that teenage Tom Riddle was studying at Hogwarts.

Horace Slughorn had this hourglass in his possession during the 1996-1997 school year, during which when he is explaining the properties of the hourglass to Harry Potter the sand runs quickly (as it isn't a very deep conversation) but later as they discuss Lord Voldemort and what he was like at school the sand moves so slowly that it seems to freeze.

Behind the scenes

  • This hourglass is never mentioned in the books.
  • The sand inside the hourglass seen in the films is white, however the replica hourglass offered by the Noble Collection contains green sand.

Appearances

Notes and references

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