Love Potions

• Type: Potion
• Known Makers: Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Laverne de Montmorency (pioneer) (Famous Wizard Card)
• Known Users: Merope Gaunt, Molly Weasley (in her youth), Romilda Vane

Love potions are magical concoctions that cause the drinker to become powerfully infatuated or obsessed with the person who administered the potion. Their appearance can vary, but the most powerful love potion known, Amortentia, is noted for its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen and its steam, which rises in characteristic spirals. The most powerful feature of Amortentia is its scent, which is unique to each individual. It smells of whatever that person finds most attractive. For example, when smelling Amortentia, Hermione Granger detected the scents of freshly mown grass, new parchment, and the smell of Ron Weasley's hair. Harry Potter smelled treacle tart, the woody scent of a broomstick handle, and something flowery he later identified with Ginny Weasley.

The primary function of a love potion is to create an artificial and powerful infatuation, not genuine love. As Professor Horace Slughorn explained, it is “impossible to manufacture or imitate love.” The feelings induced by a love potion are more akin to a deep obsession. The effects are temporary and require the potion to be administered continuously to maintain the magical hold over the victim. If the doses cease, the victim's feelings will fade, and they will return to their normal state, often with a clear memory of their unnatural behavior. An antidote for a love potion exists and can be brewed by a skilled potioneer like Horace Slughorn. Love potions are considered dangerous and are banned at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite this, they are a popular product sold at joke shops like Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Love potions play a significant and often dark role throughout the history of the wizarding world and the events of the Harry Potter series.

• Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr.: The most consequential use of a love potion was by Merope Gaunt, who used one to bewitch a handsome and wealthy Muggle, Tom Riddle Sr., into marrying her. When she became pregnant, she stopped administering the potion, hoping he had genuinely fallen in love with her. He had not, and he abandoned her and their unborn child. Their son, Tom Marvolo Riddle, grew up to become Lord Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore theorised that Voldemort's inability to understand or feel love stemmed from this loveless, magically-enforced union.
• Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes: In Harry Potter's sixth year, Fred and George Weasley sold a popular range of love potions in their Diagon Alley shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, much to the disapproval of their mother, Molly Weasley. These potions were marketed under their “WonderWitch” products line, targeted at young witches.
• Romilda Vane's Attempt: A Gryffindor student named Romilda Vane developed an obsession with Harry Potter and attempted to give him a love potion hidden inside a box of Chocolate Cauldrons. Harry, forewarned by Hermione Granger, did not eat them.
• Ron Weasley's Accidental Ingestion: Ron Weasley later accidentally consumed the Chocolate Cauldrons meant for Harry. He immediately became intensely and comically infatuated with Romilda Vane, insisting he had to find her. Harry was forced to take him to Professor Horace Slughorn for an antidote. Slughorn successfully cured Ron but the incident indirectly led to Ron being poisoned by a drink meant for Dumbledore.

• Laverne de Montmorency (1823-1893) was a famous potioneer credited with inventing many love potions. (Famous Wizard Card)
• In an interview, J.K. Rowling discussed the conception of Voldemort under a love potion, clarifying it was a “symbolic” act representing a loveless union, rather than a magical curse preventing him from feeling love. She stated that if Merope Gaunt had survived to raise and love her son, his life could have been entirely different. (J.K. Rowling interview)