Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter five ‘The Dementor’;
“They headed down to
breakfast, where Mr Weasley was reading the front page of The Daily Prophet
with a furrowed brow, and Mrs Weasley
was telling Hermione and Ginny about a Love Potion she’d made as a young girl.
All three of them were rather giggly.”
Urgh. Considering that
Love Potions are now regarded in the HP fandom as the magical equivalent of a
date-r*pe drug, this scene comes across as very
unpleasant. It’s especially weird to see the normally highly moral Hermione
getting all giggly over this.I mean, I’m sure JK
Rowling didn’t intend for Love Potions to later have so many issues surrounding
them when she wrote this little bit in the third book, but (with hindsight)
this joke seems very misguided. Love Potions were the reason for Voldemort’s
conception, as well as making untold numbers of people (including Ron Weasley)
to act outside their nature, violating issues of consent.I can imagine Ron
looking back on this at the end of his sixth year, and feeling very
uncomfortable.As a side note, Hermione
seems perfectly comfortable about Ron seeing her getting giggly over this.
Maybe Hermione’s crush on Ron wasn’t really developed at this point, so it’s
possible that she’s wasn’t bothered about him seeing her giggling over a love
potion story.For some time now, my headcanon regarding “love potions” is that they are a very broad category. The infatuation-inducing kind are just a narrow subset.
On the more adult side of the spectrum, you have wizard!Viagra and similar products plus the wizard versions of things one might buy to “spice up the old relationship.”
There might also be potions designed to temporarily improve one’s attractiveness or confidence.
My favorite is still Aphrodite’s Destiny (from the fic of the same name). It is supposed to reveal to the drinker the identity of their soulmate.
Hmm. Interesting hypothesis. I think that probably makes more sense; after all, it seems unlikely that the moral Mrs Weasley would be giggling with two young girls about the magical equivalent of a date-rape drug.
Like much of anything else, it’s all in how it’s used. Wizard!Viagra for an older warlock who is indulging his wife? Absolutely.
Let’s say Ecstasy. MDMA is known ‘round as a party drug, for the hallucinogenic effects (and makes Raves and House parties much more fun, so I am told.)
But the same drug is used for PTSD therapy by some doctors. (And if it’s proven effective, I’m all on board that train! It’s still in FDA studies, the sods.) It’s also used by some psychotherapists for helping with severe anxiety and other neurotypical issues. (My cousin used X for about 2 months after her father died. I honestly can’t blame her at all after she witnessed it, and her (then boyfriend, now husband) doing CPR for 30+ minutes on him waiting on the ambulance to get there.)
What about flunitrazepam?
For someone with severe insomnia, it’s a useful medication. Used for nefarious means, it’s a date r*** drug.
So in regards to all of this…. I think that Molly, in the earlier era, was thinking more innocently and it’s only later that the dark side of such a product can crop up (especially in regards to consent issues that are now forefront and mandatory.)
It’s all in how it’s used and used with others.
Tag: love potion
Just something I noticed…
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter five ‘The Dementor’;
“They headed down to
breakfast, where Mr Weasley was reading the front page of The Daily Prophet
with a furrowed brow, and Mrs Weasley
was telling Hermione and Ginny about a Love Potion she’d made as a young girl.
All three of them were rather giggly.”
Urgh. Considering that
Love Potions are now regarded in the HP fandom as the magical equivalent of a
date-r*pe drug, this scene comes across as very
unpleasant. It’s especially weird to see the normally highly moral Hermione
getting all giggly over this.I mean, I’m sure JK
Rowling didn’t intend for Love Potions to later have so many issues surrounding
them when she wrote this little bit in the third book, but (with hindsight)
this joke seems very misguided. Love Potions were the reason for Voldemort’s
conception, as well as making untold numbers of people (including Ron Weasley)
to act outside their nature, violating issues of consent.I can imagine Ron
looking back on this at the end of his sixth year, and feeling very
uncomfortable.As a side note, Hermione
seems perfectly comfortable about Ron seeing her getting giggly over this.
Maybe Hermione’s crush on Ron wasn’t really developed at this point, so it’s
possible that she’s wasn’t bothered about him seeing her giggling over a love
potion story.For some time now, my headcanon regarding “love potions” is that they are a very broad category. The infatuation-inducing kind are just a narrow subset.
On the more adult side of the spectrum, you have wizard!Viagra and similar products plus the wizard versions of things one might buy to “spice up the old relationship.”
There might also be potions designed to temporarily improve one’s attractiveness or confidence.
My favorite is still Aphrodite’s Destiny (from the fic of the same name). It is supposed to reveal to the drinker the identity of their soulmate.
Hmm. Interesting hypothesis. I think that probably makes more sense; after all, it seems unlikely that the moral Mrs Weasley would be giggling with two young girls about the magical equivalent of a date-rape drug.
The funniest thing about the love potion theory is that like I really don’t think a love potion would even work on Harry. He resisted the Imperius curse at fourteen and he can even resist Veelas. They only affected him the very first time he ever saw them and only for a minute. I honestly think if Harry did consume a love potion he wouldn’t react the way Ron did. He would fight it and know something was wrong. Harry has proven that he cannot be controlled by something like that.
You are very right Nonny. As you may know, i firmly believe that even entertaining the notion of a love potion in connection to Harry/Ginny shows a complete lack of critical thinking about a number of things:
The very nature of Love Potions: JK didn’t just introduce us to love potions without making sure we knew exactly how to recognize their presence. As exemplified by Merope and Riddle, love potions are not a “one dose and we’re done” kind of situation. They wear off and have to be re-administered constantly (see the polyjuice potion). When Merope decided to stop poisoning her husband with the love potion, it wore off and after coming to his senses, he left her. JK then conveniently made sure that Harry and Ginny were separated for the better part of a year, with no opportunity to re-administer any love potions; during which, Harry constantly thought of Ginny anyway.
Even Romilda Vain and all the other girls plotting to slip Harry the love potion in HBP recognized that it wasn’t a permanent solution to anything. They were trying to slip Harry the love potion for the specific purpose of getting Harry to take them to Slughorn’s party. Even they didn’t erroneously believe that they would slip him a love potion and one war and nineteen years later, he’d still be in love with them!
The effect a love potion has on its victim: Apart from providing comic relief and getting Ron poisoned, Ron’s love potion experience shows us exactly how someone under the influence of a love potion acts. Ron under the influence of a love potion was irrational, obsessive, and couldn’t hold two thoughts together if they didn’t concern Romilda. This clearly tell us that someone under the influence of a love potion cannot fly under the radar. People will notice. However overwhelming Harry might have found his chest monster, his turmoil remained internal, with most people being none the wiser (i’m looking at you Hermione).
The identity of this particular (supposed) victim- As you so aptly put it nonny, Harry Potter, famous resister of Veela charms and unforgivable Imperius curses, would most likely not have fallen victim to a love potion.
Also, really? Is Ginny so bad that you’d rather imagine Harry spending the entirety of the rest of his life being the victim of a love potion?
Finally i’d like to conclude by entreating everybody on these here interwebs not to fall into the “love potion must be the answer” trap. Don’t do it. You loose all credibility.
Good post. However, I’d just like to add something else: Ron has shown to respond strongly to emotional magic (Moody/Crouch JR’s curses, the Locket, Veela magic, etc.) That doesn’t make him weak and it doesn’t make him worse than Harry. It shows that both Harry and Ron are powerful wizards with different strengths. (Sorry, for hijacking the post, and my apologies if you didn’t mean that, but I had to defend my son, even if he didn’t need defending.)
The Love Potion theory is probably one of the worst theories this fandom has come up with. The level of hate that the Anti Hinny crowd have for Ginny Weasley is unbelievable. Ironic because many anti Hinnys are Dr/rry shippers. Never mind the fact that Ginny is NOT an obsessive fangirl, if you’re a Dr/rry shipper, don’t you dare use the “she’s a fangirl/she’s obsessed with Harry” argument with me. If there’s anyone is this series who had an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter, it was Draco Malfoy.
@ronandhappiness Glad you came in with the point about Ron’s sensitivity to emotional magic. I like the OP’s post as well, of course.
Headcanonsandmore 