Overview

A pair of Vanishing Cabinets would act as a passage between two places. If an object was placed in one, it would appear in the other.

The cabinets seemed to ward off all known defensive spells, as people were known to have been successfully transported into Hogwarts or from Hogwarts, and even Apparating out of it, despite all the protection spells of the school. They were highly popular during the First Wizarding war as a way of escaping Death Eater attacks.

There existed a pair of Vanishing Cabinets between Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley and the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts. It was unknown when or why they were there.

Before the 1992-1993 school year, Harry accidentally arrived at Borgin and Burkes via Floo Powder. He hid inside the Cabinet without fully closing the door, to avoid Borgin, Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Later Peeves damaged the Cabinet at Hogwarts when he was persuaded by Nearly Headless Nick to drop it in a classroom right above Filch’s office to get Harry out of trouble.

In 1996, Fred and George Weasley shoved Graham Montague headfirst into the Cabinet on the first floor of Hogwarts when he tried to take points away from them. Montague eventually escaped by Apparating out of it, although he nearly died in the attempt and was confused for some time after escaping. Draco Malfoy found him in a toilet and summoned Professor Snape for help.

After this, Draco realized that the cabinet could potentially help transport people directly into the school without being detected or discovered. In the 1996-1997 school year, Draco spent the entire school year repairing the broken cabinet, so that he could bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts to help him assassinate Albus Dumbledore. He also threatened Borgin for assistance and instructions, and ordered him not to sell the counterpart in his store. Repairing the cabinet proved to be difficult, but he eventually succeeded towards the end of the school year.

During the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, Vincent Crabbe released Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement. It was unknown whether the Vanishing Cabinet was destroyed in the incident.

Credits/References

Written by Erland Lundberg
Base code by Andrew Sutherland, edited by Iselin Merilä and Desmond Gray.