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"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards inside of them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."
— Description of Chocolate Frogs[src]

Chocolate Frogs were a very popular wizarding sweet made from chocolate in the form of a frog. They came with a collectible card of a famous witch or wizard in each pack.[1] The frogs were made of seventy percent croakoa. Presumably, this substance was what allowed them to magically act like an actual frog.[3]

Chocolate Frogs also came in a white chocolate variety. A popular game for Hogwarts students was to let a bunch of Chocolate Frogs hop around, and to grab the normal ones while avoiding the white ones.[4]

History[]

"What are these? They're not really frogs, are they?"
Harry Potter's first encounter with Chocolate Frogs[src]
Harry opens Chocolate Frog

Harry with his first Chocolate Frog box

Harry Potter bought some Chocolate Frogs to share with Ron Weasley on 1 September 1991. In his first-ever Chocolate Frog, Harry received an Albus Dumbledore Chocolate Frog Card. Gregory Goyle later tried to steal their remaining Chocolate Frogs, but he was bitten by Scabbers and fled.[1]

Hermione gave Harry a large box of Chocolate Frogs for Christmas that year.[5] Harry gave the last Chocolate Frog from this box to Neville Longbottom to reassure him after a run-in with Draco Malfoy in early 1992, and Neville let Harry keep the Albus Dumbledore card inside, unwittingly giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione the clue they needed to discover the identity of Nicolas Flamel.[6]

In June 1992, Harry received "loads" of Chocolate Frogs (among other gifts) from his admirers after he defeated Professor Quirrell, and he offered one to Rubeus Hagrid when he came to visit Harry in the hospital wing.[7]

In January 1994, after Harry's first attempt at summoning a Patronus, Professor Lupin gave him a Chocolate Frog to eat.[8]

Hagrid gave Harry a box of all his favourite sweets, including Chocolate Frogs, for Christmas in 1994,[9] and later that year, Harry guessed "Chocolate Frog" was the password to Dumbledore's office, though it was in fact Cockroach cluster.[10]

Harry gave Ron a Chocolate Frog to eat on the Hogwarts Express after his first prefects' meeting.[11] George Weasley helped himself to a Chocolate Frog from either Ron or Harry's presents on Christmas 1995.[12] Fred and George later sent Ron a "small mountain" of Chocolate Frogs after he was injured in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He shared them with Harry, Ginny, and Neville.[13]

Later on, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were placed on Chocolate Frog cards for their efforts in defeating Lord Voldemort.[14] Both Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore considered being put on Chocolate Frog cards as their proudest moment.[15][16]

Chocolate Frog cards[]

PS C6

A Chocolate Frog with the Albus Dumbledore card

Chocolate Frog Cards came in Chocolate Frog packages (along with a chocolate frog). Hogwarts students collected and traded them.[1] The faces on some of the cards were famous even to Muggles, although their magical abilities were not always recognised by the non-magical community.[17][18][19]

The Chocolate Frog collectible cards played an important role in Harry, Ron, and Hermione's first year at Hogwarts, as Dumbledore's card enabled them to ascertain the identity of Nicolas Flamel.[6]

Some notable cards were: Albus Dumbledore, Ptolemy,[1] Circe, Paracelsus, Merlin, Morgan le Fay, Cliodna, Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion,[17][18] Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley,[14] and Agrippa.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Chocolate frog

An alternate packaging for Chocolate frogs, found in sweet shops in the United States

ChocolateFrogNobleCollection

The Noble collection replica

PAS Chocolate Frog

A Chocolate Frog as seen in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells

  • The pairing of a sweet with a collectible card may be a reference to the practice of American novelty companies packaging collectible cards, most notably Baseball cards, with bubble gum. The tradition began in the 1950s with Topps and continued into the 1990s when it was discontinued, mainly due to complaints from serious collectors about the gum affecting the quality of the cards.
  • In the original text of the books, Chocolate Frogs receive relatively little description beyond their name, the inclusion of the cards, and the fact that they have heads (well-defined enough that they are occasionally bitten off). Their precise size, shape, behaviour (or even if they are animate at all), and ingredients are not described, and were only specified in subsequent media.
  • The pentagon packaging in the Harry Potter films was designed by Ruth Winick, prompted by Stuart Craig.[20]
  • In some of the video games, chocolate frogs can be found and used to restore lost health during the game. However, in some versions of the games, mainly the PC and console versions, the frogs do not come included with the cards, oddly enough, as both items are collected separately.
    • The GBC and GBA versions of the Philosopher's Stone video game and the GBA version of Prisoner of Azkaban are the only Harry Potter games so far that have Chocolate Frogs included with the cards as a single item, or to have cards received from a Chocolate Frog in some way.
      • The GBA Philosopher's Stone like with many of the console version games also enables the player to cast a Knockback Jinx on them to turn them over, though this only works with the frogs not discovered from chests opened by the Unlocking Charm. Despite this, just like in the PS2 and Xbox versions, they can be collected without needing to be turned over unlike in the other games.
      • In both the GBC Philosopher's Stone and GBA Prisoner of Azkaban, Chocolate Frogs count as items that give Famous Witches and Wizards Cards if they are selected to be eaten from the inventory, and only in GBA Prisoner of Azkaban do all cards, even if found from chests, have their sprite included with a Chocolate Frog.
      • Both the Chocolate Frog and Wizard Cards share one trait, which is to increase Harry's stamina bar length in the console version video games (as well as Ron and Hermione's in Prisoner of Azkaban). However, this differs; Wizard Cards only in the first, second and third games' later gen console versions boost stamina bars, while only in the GBA version of the second game do the Chocolate Frogs do so.
      • In the PC and console versions of Goblet of Fire however, Chocolate Frogs instead act as items that allow for a free revive when either Harry, Ron or Hermione are knocked out. Like the prior console and PC version games, they can be jinxed to be knocked over for easier collection.
  • In the real world, Chocolate Frogs are sold by Hasbro and the Harry Potter Alliance as novelty candies.[21][22]
  • Chocolate Frogs may be an obscure reference to a Monty Python sketch, "Crunchy Frog". The sketch involves a sweet with a small frog in it as opposed to a frog shaped confection.
  • The European Spanish translation by Alicia Dellepiane omits Hengist of Woodcroft and Alberic Grunnion and adds Ramon Llull, who was a Majorcan mathematician and philosopher.
  • J. K. Rowling has said that Chocolate Frogs would be her favourite sweet.[23]
  • Sometimes in the series, in the Danish translation, it is known as Platugler. Plat is a slang word for someone that is stupid, and ugler means owls.
  • At The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, chocolate frogs are sold at Honeydukes. Each frog contains one of the four founding members of Hogwarts.
  • In 2018, Noble Collection made a prop replica of the Chocolate Frog.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 6 (The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters)
  2. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
  3. 3.0 3.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
  4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) - Handheld versions.
  5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 12 (The Mirror of Erised)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 13 (Nicolas Flamel)
  7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 17 (The Man with Two Faces)
  8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 12 (The Patronus)
  9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 23 (The Yule Ball)
  10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 29 (The Dream)
  11. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 10 (Luna Lovegood)
  12. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 23 (Christmas on the Closed Ward)
  13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38 (The Second War Begins)
  14. 14.0 14.1 Harry Potter Secrets: Highlights of J.K. Rowling’s US Book Tour
  15. J.K.Rowling Official Site - Wizard of the Month Archive
  16. Bloomsbury Live Chat with J.K. Rowling
  17. 17.0 17.1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
  18. 18.0 18.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
  19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
  20. "The Original Prop Designer – Exclusive interview with Ruth Winick" - The Rowling Library Magazine Issue #52 The Original Prop Designer · April 2021 (in collaboration with Felipe Gabriel) (p.8-14)
  21. Best Bulk Candy
  22. Harry Potter Alliance
  23. Harry Potter: Meet J.K Rowling | Scholastic
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