The Harry Potter Compendium
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"Crystal-gazing is a particularly refined art."
Professor Trelawney describing the art of reading crystal balls.[src]

A crystal ball (or, as Seers prefer to call it, the Orb) is a crystal sphere which Seers gaze into for the purpose of Divination.

Sybill Trelawney introduced all third year students to this device and its proper use in 1994. However, most students, Harry Potter and his friends in general, saw nothing more than the white blank swirl in it, and Ron joked about how that night would be very foggy. In their end of year exam, the third years had to look into a crystal ball and predict the future. Harry lied and said that he saw Buckbeak getting off his trial that night. Professor Trelawney then made a prediction, one of the two proper ones she had ever made.

These objects were used by Professor Sybill Trelawney in the Battle of Hogwarts, against the Death Eaters; she threw one at Fenrir Greyback as he attempted to fiercely maul Lavender Brown, knocking the werewolf out.

There was a Healer in Diagon Alley that kept what appeared to be a crystal ball on her desk.

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. See this image


Divination
Professors: Sybill Trelawney · Firenze
Known Seers: Calchas · Cassandra Vablatsky · Cassandra Trelawney · Inigo Imago · Mopsus · Professor Mopsus · Unidentified female Seer · Unidentified male Seer
Textbooks: The Dream Oracle · Unfogging the Future
Methods: Astrology · Cartomancy · Tarot cards · Crystal-gazing · Crystal ball · Dream interpretation · Fire-omens · Heptomology · Palmistry · Ornithomancy · Tessomancy
Divination at Hogwarts: Divination (class) · Divination Classroom · Divination staircase · Sybill Trelawney's office · Classroom 11
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