The Rare Cloaks

[Diana]

No: HPFGUIDX 87001

 <justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> Diana L. asked:
> ><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?  
> 
Carol replied:
> I can't answer your first question, but the second was answered in 
the
> October 19, 2000, AOL chat interview:
> 
> Q: Where did James get his Invisibility Cloak?
> 
> JKR: That was inherited from his own father -- a family heirloom! 
> 
> Here's the link:
> http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/2000/1000-
aol-chat.htm
> 
> To speculate a bit about the apparent rarity of the cloaks: Maybe 
the
> original maker and his family died out in VW1 or earlier and the
> secret of their making has been lost. It would be rather like Mr.
> Ollivander dying childless and leaving the British witches and 
wizards
> to find wands elsewhere in Europe or settle for used ones. (I hope 
he
> has at least one heir!) Obviously there's no canonical evidence for
> this guess, but the wizarding population does seem to have been
> drastically reduced in VW1. I also think Spy!Snape would own one if
> they were readily available and we wouldn't see so many people who
> aren't animagi or metamorphagi resorting to disguises. 
 

Diana L. responds:
   That's an interesting answer from JKR. I had not heard that 
interview, so that's new info for me!  :)  I like your theory that 
the maker(s) of these cloaks died out and no one has taken over the 
practice.  It would make Harry even more special for having one.  
And Moody having three would be extraordinary.  I would guess that 
Moody took some or all of those cloaks from the dark wizards he 
caught when Voldemort rose the first time.  After all, if 
Voldemort's followers are all pure-blood wizards, those long lines 
of wizarding families would have all kinds of interesting heirlooms 
to pass down to future generations, such as invisibility cloaks.  
    And the rampant speculation as to a pure-blood wizard family 
that James was part of grows more likely if one of James's 
inheirited items was an IC!  Like other posters have written, if 
James was part of pure-blood wizard family, and all pure-blood 
families are related, then James's (and Harry's) connections to 
other families must exist and have yet to be revealed.    

Diana L.