From Pepper Imps (which make you smoke at the mouth) to Fizzing Whizzbees (Ron’s a fan of this levitating sherbet) to Peppermint Toads (minty creams that promise to ‘hop realistically’ in your stomach) there is a magical treat to suit every sweet tooth.
The selection on the Honeydukes shelves might be extensive but there are also plenty of treats which appear in the story which we have eaten. Here are a few of our favourite sugar-coated themes in Harry Potter.
Chocolate
Who hasn’t gone running to the local newsagent hoping to find great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, large chunks of nougat, sparkling pink squares of coconut ice and fat, honey-coloured toffees? It’s always disappointing when Mars Bars, Snickers and Chocolate Buttons don’t quite live up to expectations.
Yet, chocolate has its very own special properties in the wizarding world. Why else would Professor Lupin have produced a great hunk of chocolate when Dementors stormed the Hogwarts Express? In fact the idea of Madam Pomfrey’s block of chocolate, so big she had to smash it with a hammer, does makes us think a spell in the hospital wing might be just the break we need.
Dumbledore
Dumbledore showed his good taste in sweets with his fondness for sherbet lemons. The Hogwarts headmaster even had a packet of these fizzy treats on the night Harry was left with the Dursleys at Privet Drive.
The password to Dumbledore’s office often reflected his favourite sweet treat of the moment. Maybe Dumbledore should have stuck to the sherbet lemons though – visiting Harry in the hospital wing, the headmaster braved an Every-Flavour Bean only to realise his mistake, ‘Alas, earwax.’
Friendship
Many of Harry’s early friendships were built on the foundations of cake and sweets. Hagrid had barely uttered the words ‘Harry –yer a wizard,’ before he was offering up a sat-upon chocolate cake with green icing spelling out the words ‘Happy Birthday Harry’. And Ron and Harry broke the ice on the Hogwarts Express by sampling every kind of sweet treat the refreshment trolley had to offer, from Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans to Chocolate Frogs.
Mischief-Making
Chocolate Cauldrons provided drama when Romilda Vane spiked them with a love potion, hoping Harry would fall for her, only for Ron to eat them by mistake and put his (already shaky) relationship with Lavender Brown at risk. And that was before he almost killed himself with a poisoned glass of Slughorn’s oak-matured mead. Just say no, Ron!
Fred and George took advantage of Dudley Dursley’s sweet tooth when they tested out their Ton-Tongue Toffee on him, resulting in his tongue growing to epic proportions.
We might not really fancy one of the Weasley twins’ Puking Pastilles or Nosebleed Nougats, but we’re pleased for students that such a convenient and tasty way of excusing themselves from lessons has been invented.
Now, someone pass a Sugar Quill, and what’s the spell for letting out these tight jeans?