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"But she may already know, that excellent clock of hers."
Albus Dumbledore on the Weasley's clock[src]

The Weasley Clock[3] was a magical clock owned by the Weasley family which individually monitored each of their whereabouts. Located in the living room at The Burrow, the clock had nine golden hands, one for every member of the household.[2]

In place of hours on the clock's face were a series of possible locations, including "home," "school", "work", "travelling", "lost", "hospital", "prison", and "mortal peril".[2][4]

History[]

Weasley's clock

The moving face of the Weasleys' family clock

During the Second Wizarding War, all of the hands constantly pointed at "mortal peril". Harry reflected at one point that he liked the clock as, while it was useless if you wanted to know what time it was, it was otherwise very informative.[4]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Weasley family clock is referred to as a grandfather clock. However, this is likely an error made by J. K. Rowling as shown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as Mrs Weasley is taken with carrying the clock around with her everywhere she goes in the house. Unless she magically reduced the clock to portable size, it is probable that Rowling made an error in the text of Book 4. Harry further backs this up by noting that the family clock used to hang on the Weasleys' living room wall.
  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the clock has grey hands with family names on it and photographs of family members on silver hands. The clock is yellow and is surrounded by a piece of parchment (with a green background), and the text is red. The locations are: GARDEN, SCHOOL, HOME, DENTIST, PRISON, LOST, QUIDDITCH TRAVELLING and MORTAL PERIL. The clock also appears to be weight driven.
  • It is ironic that Dentist is listed on the clock in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It is implied a few times in the series that wizards have no use for dentists. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Hermione Granger tells the Slug Club that her parents are dentists, she has to explain what a dentist does. To which Professor Slughorn replies, "Is that considered a dangerous profession?" Although it is highly likely that Arthur Weasley added it, due to his fascination with Muggles.
  • In 2012, a group of students at the University of Munich replicated this clock via smartphone apps and microcontroller technologies.[5]
  • It is unknown what happened to Fred Weasley's hand after he died.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery - When playing Gobstones with Charlie Weasley, one of the questions is "What item is in the Burrow?" and one of the correct answer choices is "Clock that tracks the family." meaning the clock was already there by the time Jacob's sibling befriended Charlie in the 1987–1988 school year.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 3 (The Burrow)
  3. The Making of Harry Potter (see this image)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco's Detour)
  5. Magic Clock

See also[]

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