The Rare Cloaks

[yolandacarroll]

No: HPFGUIDX 86978

spang_b wrote:
> Hi,
>   We know that Harry has an invisibility cloak. And so does Moody. 
> But it seems nobody else( at least in the order) has one, because 
> they are always talking of borrowing Moody's cloak. Are they 
really 
> that rare?
> Bye
> Adi

Yolanda here:
Yes.  It seems that they really are that rare.

"Fantastic Beasts..." says  that the animal 
whose hair/fur their made from is very hard to 
find and catch, so that alone would make the 
cloaks very rare and expensive.

We know that Harry has one and Moody has two, 
but those are the only ones that have been 
mentioned so far.

In PS/SS, Dumbledore had James cloak.  I always 
thought that he had borrowed it from James to 
use.  I know Dumbledore said he doesn't need a 
cloak, but that was in PS/SS.  Maybe 10 years 
earlier he *did* need a cloak to turn invisible.  
Then again, he may have borrowed it for the Order 
to use and he, the leader, was responsible for 
borrowing it, assigning it out when necessary, 
and giving it back safely to James.

Adi wrote in 86902:
> I would guess they are very rare. Moody actually has two cloaks,
> which is probably even rarer, but he does say one is 'better' than
> the other. I'm not sure what makes one better than the other.
<snip>

Yolanda again:
I assumed that better means that it is in 
"better" shape than the other.  Since it is 
a cloak, it is probably subject to wear and 
tear just like other garments.  The invisibile 
properties of the cloak comes from the fabric 
that the cloak is made of so if that gets damaged, 
then I assume there could be possible distortions. 

Of course, "better" could mean that it actually 
does more.  All invisibility cloaks may not be 
equal.  Perhaps the "better" ones can do more 
than the "plainer", cheaper ones.  For example, 
maybe the "better" cloaks can expand to cover 
more people and things, but the "plainer" ones 
have one set size and that's it.

Adi wrote in 86902: 
<snip>
> If these cloaks can be bought, like at Diagon Alley, I wonder how
> much they'd cost? And, of course, the off-repeated question, where
> did James get the cloak he left to Harry? Will we ever find out?
<snip>

Yolanda again:
I always thought that James inherited it just 
like Harry did.  James had it with him while he 
was at Hogwarts.  Rich or not, I don't see him 
as having access to the kind of funds needed to 
buy something that rare.  However, if one was 
already lying around his parents' house, I can't 
see a "marauder" passing up packing it in his 
school trunk.

Tom wrote in 86920: 
> Draco *knows* that Harry has an invisibility cloak. In PoA at
> the Shreaking Shack he sees Harry's head and runs to tell Snape.
<snip>

and Beverly wrote in 86951:
<snip>
> So it seems to me that when Draco went to rat on Harry after the 
> mud-throwing incident in PoA, Snape knew from Draco's description 
> that Harry had an IC and may have told Draco or muttered something 
> about it in Draco's presence. 
<snip>

Yolanda again:
Actually, Draco was pretty freaked out about 
seeing Harry's head and he didn't figure it 
out by the time he reached Snape's office.
Draco may have put two and two together by 
now or as Beverly suggested Snape may have told 
him or mentioned in front of Draco that Harry 
has an invisibility cloak, however we do not
know from canon that Draco *knows* about Harry's 
invisibility cloak.

Melissa wrote in 86933:
> I think an interesting question is the nature of the cloak itself.
> How does it know what to make invisible? How is it that the cloak 
> is not invisible itself, but rather silvery, until it is put on a
> person? Does the cloak magically 'know' when to start making
> something invisible? Does it have to be in physical contact with a
> human? When the cloak is folded in Harry's trunk, does it render
> the objects beneath it invisible? the floor of the trunk? the floor
> under the trunk? How does this all work?

Yolanda again:
When Harry first gets the cloak, it doesn't 
"activate" until after he put it on.  Also, 
whomever or whatever is under the cloak with 
the wearer is also invisible.  Based on the 
above facts I assumed that the cloak renders 
people and what they are carrying invisible 
once the cloak is on.

When the cloak is held or folded it appears 
silvery.  So far, we've had no mention of it 
turning things invisible when it isn't on.  
You would think Harry would have noticed that 
by now as often as he's rummaged through his 
trunk.

Yolanda who is now caught up on this post.  Yay!