Quaffle
A round red seamless leather ball, 12 inches in diameter - that is, about the size of a Muggle football - one of the four balls used in playing the game of Quidditch. The Quaffle is the ball with which Chasers score goals, and due to the nature of the game must be caught and thrown one-handed, since the player must at the same time control his or her broomstick (PS10, QA3, QA6).

• The design of the modern Quaffle dates back to the first half of the eighteenth century. Originally Quaffles were not enchanted objects, but were ordinary leather balls, sometimes with finger holes or straps (QA6).

• The red colour of the Quaffle was first applied in the winter of 1711 to make it easier to see when dropped to the ground. Ironically, soon afterward the modern Quaffle - technically named the Pennifold Quaffle after its inventor - was developed, making the colour change unnecessary: Daisy Pennifold had the idea of bewitching a Quaffle to slow its fall through air to about the speed of falling through water, so that Chasers had a better chance of catching the ball in mid-air rather than continually retrieving it from the ground (QA6).

• In 1875, Gripping Charms were discovered, and afterward applied to the standard Quaffle to make it possible for a player to keep a one-handed grip on the ball (QA6).

Quidditch items

• balls
  There are three types of Quidditch balls, each of which is magically enchanted to behave in a particular way. The enchantments are very powerful to prevent tampering.

  • Bludger

  • Quaffle

  • Snitch, Golden

• bat, Beater's

• broomsticks
  Broomsticks designed for Quidditch, often refered to as "racing brooms," contain a number of special features and enchantments to make them faster and more agile than a standard flying broomstick. More information can be found on the broomsticks page.

quill
Members of the wizarding community use quill pens and parchment for writing rather than modern Muggle pens and paper. Various birds' feathers may be used to create such quill pens, including magical birds. In addition, specific kinds of quills may have spells placed on them (see further entries under each specific type of quill, below).

Various kinds of feathers have been mentioned as being used for quill pens in the wizarding world.

• Harry uses an eagle-feather quill (GF2)

• One Auror dictates to his quill (OP7).

• Mundungus attempted to charge the twins six Sickles for a bag of knarl quills, which they considered extortionate (OP9).

• Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop sells pheasant-feather quills; Hermione bought a black-and-gold one during the first Hogsmeade visit of the 1995 - 1996 [Y15 - Y16] school year (OP16).

• Lockhart used a peacock-feather quill for book signings and giving out autographs generally; he still has it (OP23).

• Dumbledore had a "handsome scarlet quill" on the desk in his office; since it matched the colour of Fawkes' body feathers, it might have been a phoenix-feather quill (OP37).

quill, anti-cheating
Students at Hogwarts are given quills charmed with Anti-Cheating spells for doing written exams (PS16).

Quill, Auto-Answer
An Auto-Answer Quill presumably automatically answers a question asked in its presence.

• Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall during tests at Hogwarts (OP31).

quill, magical (Hogwarts)
A magical quill at Hogwarts detects the birth of each magical child, then writes his or her name down in a large parchment book. Every year Professor McGonagall checks the book, then uses this information to send out owls to these children as they approach their eleventh birthdays (Sch1).

Quill, Quick-Quotes
A quill that is enchanted to be set up on a sheet of paper without human support, which when activated will write an exaggerated account of whatever is said in its presence.

• Rita Skeeter carries an acid-green Quick-Quotes Quill in her crocodile skin handbag. When she wants to write, she sucks briefly on the tip of the quill, then sets it up on a sheet of paper (GF18, OP25).

Quill, Self-Inking
Presumably, a quill that inks itself without needing to be manually dipped in an inkwell.

• Sold at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (HBP6)

Quill, Smart-Answer

• Sold at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (HBP6)

Quill, Spell-Checking/Spell-Check
A quill that corrects the writer's spelling of words.

• Sold at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (HBP6)

• Ron used one for a while during his sixth year, but the charm was wearing off by April. After that, its spelling was worse than he would have managed on his own (HBP21)

quill, Umbridge's detention
A long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point, this quill does not use ink. Instead, when used to write, it magically slices into the back of the hand holding it and draws blood in place of ink. The cuts at first heal immediately, but over a long session the damage will be repaired more and more slowly, until the hand is finally left raw and bleeding.

This horrific quill is owned by Dolores Umbridge. She forced students to use it when they did lines in detention with her, to make sure that the message of the lines "makes an impression" (OP13).

• Harry often did lines with this quill in detention during the 1995 - 1996 [Y15 - Y16] school year, always writing the same words: I must not tell lies. (OP13, OP15).

• By the time the D.A. held its first meeting, the back of Harry's right hand was scarred from the use of this quill (OP18).

Quod
A modified Quaffle used in Quodpot which explodes if it is in play too long before being placed in the "pot" of Quodpot solution which serves as a kind of goal in the game (QA8).