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Harry Potter: "What are Skiving Snackboxes?"
George Weasley: "Range of sweets to make you ill. Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a class when you feel like it. Fred and I have been developing them this summer. They're double-ended, colorcoded chews. If you eat the orange half of the Puking Pastilles, you throw up. Moment you've been rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you swallow the purple half —"
Fred Weasley: "— which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to unprofitable boredom. That's what we're putting in the adverts, anyway."
— The twins explaining Skiving Snackboxes to Harry Potter[src]

Skiving Snackboxes were a range of sweets that made the consumer appear ill. They were among the many products developed by Fred and George Weasley and sold at their joke shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.[2] The user developed various symptoms depending on the type of snackbox eaten.[1]

The main purpose of skiving snackboxes was to enable students to get out of undesirable lessons, and most types came in doubled-ended, colour-coded parts: one half that would cause the malady and one that would cure the pupil once they had left class.[1]

History[]

"We're not going to make them ill, we've already tested them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone reacts the same —"
— Testing the Snackboxes on first-years[src]

By as early as the 1990–1991 school year, Fred and George had developed a prototype for the Skiving Snackbox. Jae Kim snuck into their room at Hogwarts to look at the prototype, which Jacob's sibling uncovered with legilimency.[3]

Skiving Snackbox revealed

Fred and George preparing to sell their product to students

In 1995, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan handed out various sweets to younger students after testing them on themselves to see if the reactions were the same. They apparently did not warn the younger students what the sweets would do. This made Hermione Granger furious; while Ron Weasley, her fellow Prefect, refused to interfere, Hermione immediately told the twins and Lee off for experimenting on unsuspecting children. George and Lee tried to reassure her that it was not dangerous, while Fred claimed it was fine since they had paid their subjects, but Hermione insisted that they stop. Fred and George initially scoffed at her attempt to stop them but immediately backed down when she threatened to tell their mother. Hermione was quite annoyed with Ron for not supporting her in standing up to the twins.[4]

"He stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: Here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Harry noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf."
Harry Potter notes that the Skiving Snackboxes were popular items[src]

After Fred and George departed from Hogwarts, many students used these snackboxes to feign illnesses, so they could leave Dolores Umbridge's Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, claiming they had "Umbridge-itis", all the while driving her furious.[5] The Snackboxes were also a popular item at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It was noted by Harry Potter that the Nosebleed Nougats were the most popular.[2] After Ron began helping George managing the store, he introduced the Snackboxes to a visiting student and recalled his brothers' development process, which seemed like duelling to their mother.[6]

Known types of Skiving Snackboxes[]

Behind the scenes[]

Skiving Snackbox WU

A Skiving Snackbox as seen in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

Open Skiving Snackboxes WU

An open Skiving Snackbox as seen in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

  • 'Skive' is a British slang term meaning to 'avoid work or duty by staying away or leaving early'; a synonym would be 'shirk'[8]
  • In Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, the Skiving Snackbox was available as a 2021 Christmas gift.

Translations[]

  • Chinese (Simplified): 速效逃课糖
  • Croatian: Zabušantska zbirka
  • Czech: Záškolácké zákusky ("School skipping confections")
  • Danish: Skulkeslikposer ("candy bags for skiving")
  • Dutch: Spijbelsmuldozen (spijbelen "to skip school", smullen "enjoying [food]", dozen "boxes")
  • Estonian: Siidivenna Söögikarp
  • Finnish: Pinnauspurtava
  • French: Boîte à Flemme
  • German: Nasch-und-Schwänz-Leckereien ("eat-sweets-and-skip-school treats")
  • Greek, Modern: Πονηρά Ζαχαρωτά ("Mischievous sweets")
  • Hebrew: החטיפים למבריזים ("Ha`Hatifim Le`Mavrizim")
  • Hungarian: Maximuláns Termékcsalád (roughly translates as "Maxi-simulation product family")
  • Indonesian: Kudapan Kabur
  • Italian: Merendine Marinare
  • Japanese: 削りだしスナックボックス (kezuri dashi sunakkubokkusu)
  • Norwegian: Skulkesnask
  • Polish: Bombonierki Lesera ("Lazybones Candy")
  • Portuguese (Brazil): Kit Mata-Aula (matar aula "to skip class")
  • Portuguese: Lancheirinhas Skiving (literal)
  • Russian: Забастовочные завтраки ("strike breakfast treats")
  • Serbian: Забушантске бомбоњере (Zabušantske bombonjere) ("Shirker's chocolate box")
  • Slovak: Ulievačky
  • Spanish: Surtidos Saltaclases
  • Turkish: Kaytaran Çerezkutusu
  • Ukrainian: Спецхарчування для спецсачкування (Spetsharchuvannya dlya spetssachkuvannya) ("Special nutrition for special idleness")

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 6 (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco's Detour)
  3. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 7, Chapter 35 (The Auror Programme)
  4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 13 (Detention with Dolores)
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 30 (Grawp)
  6. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened - Ron's birthday (see this video)
  7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 18 (Dumbledore's Army)
  8. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/skive
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