- "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 was a highly-contagious wizarding disease caused by an infectious fungus.
Symptoms
Spattergroit caused the skin of those infected to break out in purple pustules.[1][2] Once healed, these blisters could leave scars, particularly on the face.[1] Sufferers were rendered unable to speak once the infection reached the uvula.[2] The disease could leave people bed-ridden for several months.[2]
Contact with individuals suffering from spattergroit was avoided as much as possible due to the extreme contagiousness of the disease.[2] Parents with afflicted children pulled them out of school until they got better.[2]
Cerebrumous Spattergroit, an especially virulent sub-strain of the fungus, had the additional symptoms of severe confusion and memory loss.[3]
History
Harry first learned of the disease in 1995 when he visited 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 diagnosed Ron with the disease, given the "unsightly blemishes" on his skin that would leave him uglier than he already is. The portrait suggested that Ron "take the liver of a toad, bind it tight about his throat and stand naked by the full moon in a barrel of eels' eyes". Ron took this diagnosis as a great offence, and countered that they were only freckles. It is unknown if this treatment actually works.
Ironically, the family ghoul was later transfigured and given purple pustules by Arthur, Fred and George Weasley to resemble Ron with the affliction. This ruse was spread 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, due to the fact that attendance at school was mandatory for that year.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
- Pottermore (Mentioned only)