Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
THE FASCINATING AND IMPORTANT study of herbology has helped us to use plants to treat illnesses for thousands of years. People carry out this practice to promote health and to uncover the medicinal properties held by plants.
Herbology is a core subject for all Hogwarts students. During these lessons, students learn how to care for plants and explore their magical properties and what they can be used for. Countless plants in the wizarding world are packed full of magical uses and can provide ingredients for potions. Mandrakes, Bubotubers and Gillyweed are among the many plants that form an essential part of any young witch or wizard's education.
FACT
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Many modern medicines are based on plants. Digoxin, used to treat heart conditions, was originally obtained from foxgloves. The painkillers morphine and codeine both come from the opium poppy. Quinine is still used to treat malaria. Aspirin is based on the chemical salicin, which is found in the bark of willow trees.
PROFESSOR POMONA SPROUT
PROFESSOR OF: HERBOLOGY
APPEARANCE: Professor Sprout is described as a squat little witch with grey, flyaway hair whose clothes are usually covered in earth.
DID YOU KNOW: Professor Sprout was tasked with fixing up the Whomping Willow after Harry and Ron flew Mr Weasley's old Ford Anglia into it in their second year at Hogwarts.
DID YOU KNOW?
Rubbing a dock leaf on a nettle sting will soothe it. People used to think this was because a chemical in the dock leaf reacted with the stinging chemical in the nettle. However, it's just the cool sap from the dock making the sting feel better.
Portrait of Professor Pomona Sprout by Jim Kay Bloomsbury
BLOOMSBURY