10 Technologies We Want to Steal from Harry Potter

Perhaps the most enticing bits of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding universe? The unbelievably awesome gadgets.

From flying cars to portable alarm systems, the tech from the Harry Potter series is a serious lure to the franchise – not to mention one heck of a daydream instigator. Though our chance to live out our magical fantasy is dwindling with this week’s release of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2, the last among the long-running Potter films, we’re still holding on tight to our wish list.

Here are our picks for the best pieces of wizard tech we wish we could take with us.

Quick Quote Quill

It’s the floating quill that scribbles down a perfect dictation of your conversation while you listen. Think of it as the digital recorder that courteously does the transcription work for you.
Though in Rita Skeeter’s case, the Quill takes certain artistic liberties during conversation. Here’s hoping it’s got more than one setting.


Flying Ford Anglia
 

The brain child of the muggle-obsessed collector Arthur Weasley, the flying Ford Anglia is a respectable muggle-wizard hybrid mode of transportation. Aside from its ability to fly, the Anglia can shield itself from being seen by unsuspecting muggles with insta-invisibility. Even better? It never runs out of gas.

Remembrall
 

For anyone who has ever walked out of the door without their keys, we offer up a collective “Want!” for a Remembrall. A glass ball filled with a white smoke that deepens to a red hue when you’ve forgotten something, a Remembrall can be as much a blessing as a curse seeing as it won’t tell you exactly what you’ve forgotten.

Invisibility Cloak

The legendary cloak from the Potter series passed down to Harry from his late father, the Invisibility Cloak renders whatever it covers unseeable.Normally we wouldn’t delude ourselves, but now that science is one step closer to developing metamaterial, we might be closer to cloaking technology than we think.

Time Turner
 

The hourglass-shaped necklace that allowed Hermione to travel back in time, would come in handy for anyone who’d ever wish there was more time in the day. And let’s be honest, who hasn’t? Whether you’re an overachiever, or just need a few more hours of sleep, a time turner would be marvelous.

Omnioculars
 

Omnioculars are standard binoculars with a twist. Put them up to your eyes for a zoomed-in look at your favorite sporting event or us the bonus features: instant replay, slow motion and instant player ID. Nosebleed seats, here we come.

Weasley Family Clock
 

For your Mother’s Day consideration: the family-tracking clock. Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the red-haired clan, kept tabs on her brood with this special clock with nine golden hands, one for each member of the family. In place of hours were her loved ones’ locales, including “home,” “school”, “work”, “traveling”, “lost”, “hospital”, “prison”, even “mortal peril.”

Sneakoscope
 

Walk a little taller with the Sneakoscope, a portable alarm system that alerts you when untrustworthy folk are about. It whistles when danger is near.

Two-Way Mirror

This could reinvent the baby monitor. Surveillance cameras are expensive, and even the mildly affordable ones are bulky. Two-way mirrors, found in the Potterverse, are used as communicators between the owners of two mirrors, as if looking straight through a window.

Portkeys
 

Disguised as ordinary objects, a portkey transports anyone who touches it to a preset location. Easy as that. Imagine what you’d save in airfare.