I'd like to share my thoughts on Goblin's Silver and hear your opinion on the matter. Please post what you agree with and what you don't, also feel free to comment your own ideas.

Ok, so here's the facts:

1- It is indestructible "Firs' we presented him with a nice battle helmet -goblin-made an' indestructible, yeh know - an' then we sat down an' we talked.'" —Hagrid OotP

2 - It repels mundane dirt "Goblin-made armour does not require cleaning, simple girl. Golbins' silver repels mundane dirt" —Phineas Nigellus DH

3 - It absorbs that which strengthens it "Golbins' silver repels mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens it." —Phineas Nigellus DH

Now, out of the relevant goblin made items the only one that comes to mind is the Sword of Gryffindor.

A bit about the sword:
1 - It was enchanted to present itself out of the Sorting Hat to a worthy Gryffindor.

2 - It absorbed the Basilisk Venom.


Ok, my english is not so good so ill make another list with a few points, rather than a composed text. My personal thoughts will be included in the list.

1 - Notice that the venom did not spread to the whole lake in DH. So you can't simply put a few drops of a healing substance and "multiply it", you would have to rub it or consume the metal.

2 - The Sword is enchanted, so it can be affected by magic, as long as it's not destructive magic or something that would make it weaker.

3 - Just by touching the sword does not poison you, only by the act of cutting, doing what a sword is supposed to do. Based on that, rubbing a Sword that had absorbed Phoenix Tears or any kind of Healing Substance would not heal you.

4 - We must also consider the nature of magic, why phoenix tears have healing properties in the first place? Is it just because of the tears or because the phoenix is willingly crying to heal you? If that's the case then you can't replicate this property.

5 - Is there a limit to how much the silver can absorb? Could it absorb both something that would make it sharper and something that would make it poisonous? My answer is yes as long as the substance would make the item more powerful.

6 - But then again it comes to nature of magic, a Sword would be able to absorb whatever makes it more deadly and effective, so there would be no need to take on something that has healing properties.

7 - A Shield or Armor imbued in Dragon's blood however, most likely would give the wearer Dragon's resistance to stuns and magic in general. I believe that armor alone cannot protect you from a spell, and Goblin's Silver alone won't protect you either, its indestructible yes, but the spell will do what its supposed to do should it hit the target. Avada Kedavra will still kill you even if you are wearing the armor, but the armor will be intact.

8 - But what about the 12 uses of Dragon's blood? Well, as long as it helps the armor fulfill its purpose its going to be absorbed. It might be able to heal you, or better yet, in this particular case (Assuming that Dragon's blood have healing properties) a spell with the intent to harm your body would not affect you as long as the substance can counter it.

9 - So can Goblin's silver absorb spells/charms/etc? No. So it can't become sharper just because somebody hit it with a Sectumsempra curse, because this is an effect that happens with a proper incantation + intent to cast the spell.

10 - Can it absorb the effects of a spell? Hm it depends, magic only happens because of the intent + incantation. However, once the magic is fully cast, say FiendFyre, then it would most likely absorb it's properties because once the fire is conjured it will burn anything, you don't need to focus, its not a spell that burns the target, its pure cursed fire. Now, what the silver would do with it depends on the object, a Sword would burn to ashes anything that it cuts or breaks, an Armor might turn into ashes any material that tries to harm it and so on.

11 - Could a sword made out of Goblin's Silver take on both the Basilisk Venom and FiendFyre? Yes, but in this case it would not absorb any lesser venom or fire, even if they have different properties. Because it already has the the "ultimate venom", even if you put a slow acting venom it would not take on the effect.

12 - "It would make a hell of a weapon, absorbing both Dragon's Blood and Basili..." You can't ! A Sword would only take what makes a sword better, and a piece of Armor would only take what makes an Armor better. If the basilisk venom kill whoever wears the Armor then its no longer fulfilling its purpose, therefore its a weak item. Remember, its magic, it works with different concepts, Goblin's actually made the bloody armor, they might use different enchantments. Its not a computer with one single rule "Absorb whatever substance is more powerful", no, its whatever makes it Stronger. When Harry summoned his firebolt "Accio Firebolt" did it summon every single firebolt in the area? No, cause magic knows what its doing + Harry intent. Or another example, "Accio Rosmerta's brooms" in HbP, i bet he did not know where her brooms were kept, he also didn't have to say the precise location word by word. The firebolt thing is just an example, i doubt that there were more than one in that area.

Anyway, i hope i made my points clear. Please let me know what you think, thank you very much for reading.

Edit: I wanna add that i don't think its possible to transfigure an item made out of Goblin's Silver. Just like you can't transfigure a wand or a legendary item. I believe that if you could do that, the item would lose its powers because you would be fundamentally changing every aspect of it. So it would make the Silver weaker, therefore the effect simply would not happen at all. I'm not saying that this "rule" would apply to any common magic item, you might be able to change a regular one (It will lose its powers) but then you or another person could eventually change it back, possibly regaining the powers, it depends on the Witch or Wizard, the item, enchantments, etc ..

 

Does the sword repel blood on it the same way it repels dirt? Like, say, after stabbing someone, will the blood just slide right off?

 

Woah, were the posts deleted on this thread? 1.5k+ views and only now the first replies are in?

The only thought I've really given to Goblin silver was when I was reading a bunch of fics that were centered around Goblin Jewellery and all.

Is Goblin Silver it's own magical element? Or is it just silver that has been enchanted with Goblin magic, like the doors on the vaults of Gringotts?

 

Only if the blood doesn't have properties that would strengthen the sword.

 

Right, let's assume normal blood then. Stab the person through the chest and withdraw the sword. Normally you'd have to wipe off the blood with a rag or a cloth or something (people usually wipe it off on the clothes of their fallen enemy) but with the SoG, it would slide off on its own and you wouldn't need to clean it yourself then, right? I assume the SoG can also never rust since it's unbreakable.

 

That's what Phinieus Black said in DH.

 

I always thought Goblin Silver was the HP equivalent of Lord of the Rings' mithril, with Goblins and Dwarves being the only races that could get to it or make it, and OP silver (looking) metal that we see forged into weaponry. Is Goblin Silver jewelry canon?

 

I wonder why the Sword of Gryffindor presented itself out of the Sorting Hat.

The Hat belongs to Hogwarts and not one house specifically. So why chose whoever enchanted the SoG the Sorting Hat? Why not an item that represents Gryffindor just as well as the Sword.

Maybe the Sorting Hat is chosen because it can judge the students and elect the worthy Gryffindor.
But I thought that it was only able to see your personality during the Sorting, so how would the Sorting Hat know which student is worthy when it doesn't keep in touch with them?

If it could read the students all the time it could simply vocalise the students misdeeds and Tom Riddle wouldn't have had a chance when he opened the Chamber if Secrets.

Fawkes is the one who carries the Hat to Harry. Without Fawkes Harry wouldn't have gained the Sword. So why is it in the Sorting Hat?

 

Well harry and neville only pull out the sword when they wear the hat so...

 

As far as I'm aware for the magic portion of your lists. In canon I don't believe there's any evidence for magic giving the sword any positive/negative qualities. When I read about the sword originally I felt that it was simply tangible items that could affect the sword, I suppose then you could get into an argument of magically made goods, but eh.

You also have to consider the age of the sword and assuming it wasn't ceremonial, it would've been used in combat alongside magic, likely having been hit/influenced by other spells in combat and yet it's only shown the results of basilisk venom. Overall, I don't think it's very likely magic would have an effect.