Cauldron

# Cauldron (Harry Potter)

> Cauldrons have had a magical association for centuries.
>
> Description, Pottermore

A **cauldron** is a vessel similar to a bucket or ***kettle***, which was used to brew and hold ***potions*** and also used to carry supplies. Cauldrons were heated over an open fire and could be hung over a fire from an iron handle.Template:Object

## History

### Early history

Cauldrons were once used by Muggles and wizards and witches alike, being large metal cooking pots that could be suspended over fires. In time, magical and non-magical people alike moved on to stoves; saucepans became more convenient and cauldrons became the sole province of witches and wizards, who continued to brew potions in them. A naked flame was essential for the making of ***potions***, which made cauldrons the most practical pot of all.

### Modern developments

While cauldrons remained classic potion-making utensils, there were attempts to revolutionise the cauldron, like the invention of the ***Self-Stirring Cauldron*** by ***Gaspard Shingleton***, or the ***Collapsible Cauldron***. ***Humphrey Belcher*** once theorised "*the time was ripe for a **cheese cauldron***" (Albus Dumbledore would later comment he had been "*woefully wrong*" in this belief).
The ***Fire Crab***, which resembled a ***tortoise*** with a jewelled shell that shot fire out its back end, was prized for its shell for use as a cauldron. This practice of poaching led to protected colonies in its native habitat of ***Fiji*** island.
All cauldrons were enchanted to make them lighter to carry, as they were most commonly made of ***pewter*** or iron. Modern inventions included the self-stirring and collapsible varieties of cauldron, and pots of precious metal were also available for the specialist, or the show-off.
The ***Felifors Spell*** was a Transfiguration spell which could transform cats into cauldrons. It was taught to ***third-year*** students in Transfiguration during the ***1986–1987 school year*** at Hogwarts by Professor McGonagall.

## Cauldron thickness

> We're trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin — leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year.
>
> Percy Weasley's explanation of cauldron regulation, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In general, cauldrons had to stand up to great wear and usage. As one of his first assignments with the Ministry of Magic, Percy Weasley worked with the ***Department of International Magical Co-operation*** lobbying for a standard for cauldron thickness. Apparently, there was an issue with sub-standard imported cauldrons having defective, thin bottoms. Perhaps this was the cause for Neville Longbottom's knack for melting cauldrons during Potions class. First years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry used pewter standard size 2 cauldrons, as mentioned on the list that accompanied their Hogwarts acceptance letter.

## Types of cauldron

Here is a list of known types of cauldrons, including those created as prank devices:

Brass-cauldron-lrg.pngCopper-cauldron.pngPewter-cauldron-lrg.pngPortableCauldron.jpgSelf-stirring.jpg
* ***Exploding Cauldron***
* ***Sloshing Cauldron***
* ***Cheese cauldron***
* ***Silver Cauldron***
* Solid ***Gold Cauldron***

## Cauldrons in wizarding culture

* The ***Leaky Cauldron*** of ***London*** was a popular pub for wizards and witches.
* ***Cauldron Cakes*** were treats beloved by wizarding children.
* Singer ***Celestina Warbeck*** sang tunes called "***You Stole My Cauldron but You Can't Have my Heart***", and "***A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love***".
* ***Chocolate Cauldrons*** were boxed chocolates (eight to a box) shaped like cauldrons and filled with ***firewhisky***.
* In the wizarding sport Creaothceann, players wore cauldrons strapped to their heads.
* There existed a ***business which fixed cauldrons***.

## Behind the scenes

 File:Melted cauldron.png   File:Cauldron - PAS.png
* In Template:POA, the song ***Something Wicked This Way Comes*** was performed by the Hogwarts Student Choir at the Sorting Feast. The lyrics are taken from the opening scene of ***William Shakespeare***'s *Macbeth*. It was by ***John Williams***.
* Template:PM once allowed users to brew potions, prior the site's revamp in ***2015***. When making them, ingredients are added to the cauldron, sometimes after being crushed with the pestle and mortar. The cauldron must be kept at the right temperature using the buttons below the cauldron on the brewing page; if the temperature is too high, the cauldron will melt and the potion maker will lose five points. When a cauldron melts, it cannot be reused and the potion maker must replace it with a new one from ***Potage's Cauldron Shop***.
* Users of Template:PM were allowed to own only one of every available type of cauldron at ***Potage's Cauldron Shop*** - ***Pewter Cauldron***, ***Copper Cauldron***, ***Brass Cauldron***.
* Due to its low melting point, a real pewter cauldron would be useless.

### Author's comments

"*Cauldrons have had a magical association for centuries. They appear in hundreds of years' worth of pictures of witches, and are also supposed to be where leprechauns keep treasure. Many folk and fairy tales make mention of cauldrons with special powers, but in the Harry Potter books they are a fairly mundane tool. I did consider making Helga Hufflepuff's hallow a cauldron, but there was something slightly comical and incongruous about having such a large and heavy Horcrux; I wanted the objects Harry had to find to be smaller and more portable. However, a cauldron appears both in the four mythical jewels of Ireland (its magical power was that nobody ever went away from it unsatisfied) and in the legend of The Thirteen Treasures of Britain (the cauldron of Dyrnwch the giant would cook meat for brave men, but not for cowards)*."

## Appearances

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