Deluminator

> It looked like a silver cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a simple click.
>
> Description, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The **Deluminator**, also known as the **Put-Outer**, was a magical device used by Albus Dumbledore (the first known owner and designer of the one Deluminator known to exist) to remove light sources from the Deluminator's immediate surroundings, as well as bestow them. It looked like a standard ***silver*** cigarette lighter.Template:ObjectDumbledore left the Deluminator to Ron Weasley, in his will (presented by ***Rufus Scrimgeour***), after his death.

## History

### Albus Dumbledore's usage

> He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn’t be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.
>
> Dumbledore using the Deluminator to darken Privet Drive in 1981, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 File:Deluminator GIF.gif
On ***1 November*** 1981, after the murders of James and Lily Potter by Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore used the Deluminator to darken ***Privet Drive***, where the ***Dursley*** household was located. Dumbledore was expecting Rubeus Hagrid to transport the infant Harry Potter to Privet Drive, where Dumbledore would leave him at the Dursley household. Dumbledore's Deluminator allowed Hagrid to arrive with added security.

### Ronald Weasley's usage

> That is a valuable object. It may even be unique. Certainly it is of Dumbledore’s own design. Why would he have left you an item so rare?
>
> Rufus Scrimgeour about Dumbledore's gift to Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 File:Ron using deluminator.gif
In ***1997***, the Deluminator was left to Ron Weasley in Dumbledore's will. It seemed to also act like a homing device. Whenever Hermione and Harry mentioned Ron's name, he could hear snippets of conversation before and after, even though he was far away. It then acted as a guide, leading Ron back to Harry and Hermione after he left them following an argument. Ron speculated that this was the true reason that Dumbledore left him the Deluminator: so that he could find his way back to his friends if he ever left them.In ***1998***, Ron Weasley used the Deluminator in the ***Malfoys***' cellar, so that ***Luna Lovegood***, Ollivander, Ron and Harry could see inside the cellar, releasing light that he had earlier taken from the lamps within ***Perkins's tent***. And when Peter Pettigrew came down into the cellar, Harry told Ron keep the lights on, and leave as it is. The lights, being unable to rejoin their sources, simply remained in the room.
During the ***Calamity*** which affected the wizarding world in the late ***2010s***, the Deluminator was among the many magical items which became ***Foundables***, being guarded by ***Confoundables***.

## Function

The main use of the Deluminator was to take, or release light. There was a button on it, and when pressed, would absorb the nearest light source and a light ball would fly towards the Deluminator. If light was already taken, the Deluminator could also release light. The light would go back to their sources if the original source was nearby, otherwise the light would stay at the Deluminator.
There seemed to be another use as demonstrated by Ron Weasley. Whenever the user's name was mentioned in a conversation, the Deluminator would play the snippet of conversation just before and after the user's name was said. Activating the Deluminator after this allowed the user to Apparate to the location of those speaking about the user even when their exact location was unknown; Ron speculated that Dumbledore specifically left the Deluminator to him for this reason, so that Ron could find his way back to his friends if he ever left them.
In 1932, Dumbledore used the Deluminator to transport and fight both ***Credence Barebone*** and ***Gellert Grindelwald*** to a mirror dimension inside the Deluminator, but on separate occasions. This was to avoid damaging buildings and hurting or killing innocent bystanders in Berlin (with Credence Barebone) and Bhutan (with Gellert Grindelwald).

## Behind the scenes

* In its first and second appearances in Template:PS, the Deluminator was called a *Put-Outer*.
* In the film Template:DH, the Deluminator is able to turn off electric appliances, as seen in Luchino Cafe when Ron put out the lights and the TV turned off.
* In Template:DH, Ron explains that the Deluminator creates a blue light which, after entering his chest near his heart, allows him to disapparate to where his love interest (Hermione) and his best friend (Harry) are located. The ability to transport a wizard, via a light through the heart, to where his or her favourite (or most treasured) people are is curiously similar to the epitaph Dumbledore selected for his mother and sister: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
* The ***Noble Collection*** sells an exact replica of the device, which even includes a small light inside.
* The Deluminator may have been inspired by the Phial of Galadriel in J. R. R. Tolkien's *The Lord of the Rings*, with the exception that, unlike Galadriel's gift to Frodo, the Deluminator can remove light in addition to bestowing it.
* Once Ron is gifted the Deluminator in year seven, his character will lose the ability to perform the Wand-Lighting Charm (as well as *Lumos Solem*), as the Deluminator will take the spell's former place on his ability wheel, since it is his light-based ability.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:PS Template:1st Template:C
* Template:DH
* Template:DH Template:1st ID
* Template:PM
* Template:WW
* Template:WU

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Template:DH
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Template:PS, Chapter 1 (*Doorstep-Delivery*) Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "PS1" defined multiple times with different content
3. ↑ Template:WU
4. ↑ Template:DH