The Weasley family ghoul transfigured to look like Ron Weasley suffering from spattergroit.
- "We're going to put out the story that I'm seriously ill with spattergroit, which is why I can’t go back to school. If anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum or Dad can show them the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules. Spattergroit’s really contagious, so they’re not going to want to go near him."
- — Ron Weasley[src]
Spattergroit is a highly contagious wizarding disease. It may be a type of fungus, as Ron Weasley mentions that being unable to talk is a common effect of spattergroit “once the fungus has spread to your uvula”. A person sick with spattergroit will also get purple pustules over his or her skin and be bedridden, suggesting that fatigue is another symptom. It is potentially fatal.
Harry first learns of the disease in 1995 when he visits Mr. Weasley in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. While heading for the hospital's tea room, a Healer in a magical portrait calls that Ron has the disease, given the "unsightly blemishes" on his skin; Ron counters that they are only freckles.
Ironically, Ron later transfigured the family ghoul to resemble himself infected with the affliction, in order to explain his absence from school. Hence, when he did not appear at Hogwarts for his seventh year, his family could claim that he was too ill to attend.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)