Topazes

• Type: Gemstone, House Point Counter
• Owners: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Maker: Unknown

Topazes are yellow gemstones used within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They are small, polished jewels that fill the giant hourglass dedicated to Hufflepuff house, which stands in a niche in the wall of the Great Hall. These topazes, along with rubies for Gryffindor, sapphires for Ravenclaw, and emeralds for Slytherin, serve as the visual markers for the House Point system. The Hufflepuff hourglass contains a vast quantity of these stones, each representing a single point.

The primary function of the topazes is to magically represent the accumulated House Points for Hufflepuff. The jewels are enchanted to move in response to the awarding or deduction of points.

• When a member of Hufflepuff house earns points, an equivalent number of topazes magically and silently rise from the bottom bulb of the hourglass to the top chamber.
• Conversely, when points are deducted from Hufflepuff, topazes fall from the top bulb back into the bottom.

This magical process provides a constant, public tally of the standings in the competition for the House Cup. The topazes, therefore, act as an integral component of the enchanted scoring system within the House Point Hourglasses.

The specific origin of the topazes used in the Hufflepuff hourglass is not recorded. Their history is intrinsically linked to the creation of the House Point Hourglasses themselves, which are presumed to be ancient magical artifacts, likely dating back to near the founding of Hogwarts. They have served as the method for tracking Hufflepuff's points for generations of students.

The topazes, as part of the Hufflepuff hourglass, are a recurring feature of the Great Hall setting. They symbolize the current standing, morale, and successes or failures of Hufflepuff house. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the low level of topazes in the Hufflepuff hourglass is explicitly noted by Harry Potter. He observes that the topazes and Gryffindor's rubies are severely outnumbered by the jewels of the other houses. This visual detail reinforces the oppressive and biased atmosphere at Hogwarts under the control of High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge, who frequently and unfairly penalized students from houses other than her own. The state of the topazes serves as a barometer for the school's overall fairness and morale at that time.

The choice of topaz for Hufflepuff corresponds with the house's signature color, yellow. In real-world gemology and folklore, the topaz is often associated with friendship, loyalty, and gentleness, traits that align perfectly with the core values promoted by Hufflepuff house.