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Herbology is the study of magical and mundane plants and fungi. In Herbology, students learn to care for and utilize plants, and learn about their magical properties, and what they are used for. Many plants provide ingredients for potions and medicine, while others have magical effects of their own right.

Class location

These classes are held in the grounds of Hogwarts, in the greenhouses. The greenhouses are located below the two main Bell Towers of the castle. Classes are held in different greenhouses depending on the students' year, with more advanced and dangerous plants typically reserved for O.W.L. or N.E.W.T.-level study.

Class information

Professor Sprout greenhouse 1

Professor Sprout teaches a second year Herbology class in 1992.

Herbology is a mandatory class at Hogwarts for the first five years of a student's education. Herbology lessons in a student's first year at Hogwarts consist mainly of lectures relating to plants and their uses. Students cover Devil's Snare, and learn to cast Incendio to deal with them.

It is not until their second year, when they move to greenhouse three, that the students receive more hands-on experience. During their second year, students study and care for Mandrakes, Leaping Toadstools, and Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. They learn how to cast the Diffindo spell. During a student's third year of Herbology, their lessons included Puffapods and how to harvest them.

In a student's fourth year at Hogwarts, their Herbology lessons include learning of the properties of bubotuber pus and how to safely collect it.

Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations are taken at the end of a student's fifth year; as such, much of the year is spent working with a variety of more dangerous plants like the Fanged Geranium, as well as revisiting the past four years of lessons. As part of their Herbology O.W.L, students must sit a written exam, and then complete a practical exam, during which the students work with a wide selection of plants.

Normal promo neville plant

Neville in Herbology class.

Students who receive an 'Exceeds Expectation's' grade or higher in their Herbology O.W.L. will be allowed to continue Herbology during their sixth year at Hogwarts, where they will prepare for their N.E.W.T.s in their seventh year.

Pomona Sprout was at Hogwarts as Herbology professor in the 1990's; by 2014, however, she had either been replaced by, or was working alongside Neville Longbottom, who was likewise a professor. Neville was one of her students in the past, and a gifted herbologist.

Known equipment

  • Dragon dung – used as fertiliser (Professor Sprout's fertiliser of preference).
  • Dragon dung compost – used for planting.
  • Dragon-hide gloves – worn when handling dangerous plants.
  • Earmuffs – worn by students and the professor when repotting Mandrakes, so they could not harm students with their sound.
  • Mooncalf dung – used as fertiliser, makes magical plants grow well.
  • Wand - to cast Herbology-related spells, such as Diffindo or Incendio.

Required textbooks

Known O.W.L.s

Behind the scenes

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Chapter 8 - The Potions Master) (pg. 99 UK edition)
  2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Nineteen Years Later) (pg. 606 UK edition)
  3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Chapter 14 - Felix Felicis) (pg.283 American edition)
  4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chapter 6 - Gilderoy Lockhart) (pg. 72 UK edition)
  5. Pottermore - Hogwarts School Subjects (J.K. Rowling's thoughts)
Wizarding education
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Hogwartscrest
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The eleven schools
Beauxbatons · Castelobruxo · Durmstrang · Hogwarts · Ilvermorny · Koldovstoretz · Mahoutokoro · Uagadou
Specialised schools
Academy of Broom Flying · Charm School · Euro-Glyph School of Extraordinary Languages · Merge School of Under-Water Spellage · The Naaszcademy of Magizoology · Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts · Young Wizards Daycare Center
Herbology
Pottedmandrake
Herbologists
Astrid Cole · Clifford Cromwell · Marmaduke Dale · Blossom Degrasse · Miranda Goshawk · Alfred Lawley · Olgae Marinus · Beaumont Marjoribanks · Nepali wizard · Gethsemane Prickle · Sanjay Shanker · Selina Sapworthy · Phyllida Spore · Yubert Thorne · Tilden Toots · Hadrian Whittle · Winogrand
Herbology at Hogwarts
Herbology Award · Herbology Lesson Cup · Herbology Race Cup · Herbology Store · Hidden Herbology Corridor
Greenhouses One · Two · Three · Four · Five · Six · Seven · Professor's office
Professors Mirabel Garlick's predecessor · Mirabel Garlick · Herbert Beery · Pomona Sprout · Neville Longbottom
Textbooks Flesh-Eating Trees of the World · Ingredient Encyclopedia · One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi · Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants
Plants studied and grown at Hogwarts
Aconite · Alihotsy · Asphodel · Belladonna · Bouncing Bulb · Bubotuber · Bubotuber pus · Chinese Chomping Cabbage · Cowbane · Dandelion · Devil's Snare · Dirigible Plum · Dittany · Fanged Geranium · Fat cactus-like plant · Fire seed bush · Flitterbloom · Floo · Flutterby bush · Fluxweed · Gillyweed · Ginger · Greenhouse Tree · Hemlock · Honking daffodil · Ivy · Knotgrass · Lady's Mantle · Lavender · Leaping Toadstool · Lovage · Mandrake · Mimbulus mimbletonia · Mistletoe · Moly · Nettle · Peppermint · Puffapod · Raspberry · Rose · Sage · Screechsnap · Scurvy grass · Self-fertilising shrub · Shrivelfig · Snargaluff · Sneezewort · Sopophorous plant · Sopophorous Bean · Spiky Bush · Spiky Prickly Plant · Stinksap · Sugar Shrub · Toad-eating plant · Tormentil · Umbrella Flower · Valerian · Vampiric vegetation · Venomous Tentacula · Walking plant · Wax vegetables · Whomping Willow · Wiggentree · Wild rice · Wormwood
Spells taught in Herbology at Hogwarts
Fire-Making Spell (Incendio) · Herbivicus Charm (Herbivicus) · Incendio Duo Spell (Incendio Duo) · Lumos Solem Spell (Lumos Solem) · Severing Charm (Diffindo)
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