Chameleon cloaks are magical cloaks which conceal the wearer, apparently by changing colour or pattern.
When Puddlemere United was considering new uniform robes their manager, Philbert Deverill, specifically denied the rumour that they were looking into using chameleon cloaks (DP1).
Notes and interesting facts
The Disillusionment Charm that Mad-Eye Moody put on Harry Potter had a chameleon effect - making Harry blend into the background of whatever was behind him (OP3).
A Chameleon Ghoul is supposed to be able to disguise itself by pretending to be something else, such as a suit of armour (CS11).
Commentary
Etymology
Chameleons are a type of lizard, some of which can change the colour of their skins for camouflage (Oxford English Dictionary).
Notes
While having chameleon cloaks could work on the Quidditch pitch because the other team could not see the players (only the stadium and crowd behind them), it is likely that they would be quite quickly banned by the International Confederation of Wizards Quidditch Committee as an unfair practice, because they give the cloaked team an unequal advantage over their opponents.
Although the date printed on the first Daily Prophet Newsletter (DP1) is 31 July 1998, the timeframe for this event is 1992-1993.
From the Web
Writing by J K Rowling on Pottermore:
Pottermore features:
- The British and Irish Quidditch League
- British and Irish Quidditch teams to support
- Quidditch collection
Harry Potter Wiki: Quidditch
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