As we look at the series across this site, we have identified several places that struggle with the reality that the series is intended for children. This reality causes adults to be portrayed poorly. It has left holes in our understanding of the Government structure. And it forms the basis for why we in fact have Nineteen Missing Years. This attempt to keep the books as children’s books has caused Mrs. Rowling to “fade to black” fairly quickly any time to story starts to veer into romance and relationships. We see remarkably little of the typical teen obsession with and curiosity about the opposite sex. There are a couple of allusions to it, for example when Harry says it is a good thing that Ron does not know the contents of his dreams,1 but it is largely worded in such a away as to easily go unnoticed by younger readers, and the narrative quickly moves on.
Given this context, of how carefully romance & related topics are handled, and how limited a window we have into them, it is remarkable how frequently love potions (such as amortentia) come up across the text. There are seven mentions of them in the primary cannon, only one depicts them as in any way a serious threat, and even in that event, there is remarkably little discussion.
This is truly a remarkable omission, one I think possible only because in every case that love potions are mentioned, the victim is male. From Molly’s story in book three, to Fred and George’s WonderWitch product line in book six (which will eventually be used against Ron), to Merope’s use of them also in book six, in each case it is a guy whose feelings are manipulated by a girl. It is equally remarkable, that Molly finds them amusing, perhaps herself unknowingly providing the impetus for the fact that the twins would later consider them for the WonderWitch line of products. It is equally notable that it is a joke shop that is selling these to the girls, not some sketchy no-name potion shop in a quiet add in “Teen Witch” magazine, the sort that might change name every few years to stay under the radar because it is mildly disreputable. Society simply does not consider love potions to be a serious issue. Girls use them on guys, and its rather funny when guys make a fool of themselves as a result.
However, while the novels largely shy away from serious topics, we do have that one instance where Ron ingested the love potion infused chocolates intended for Harry that we get a reasonably detailed view of. Pause a moment and think about this one. Ron was in a romantic relationship with Lavender. We, the readers, know that Ron is already starting to regret this relationship, but we do not know that they would have broken up soon without this event. Nor do we know that he would have acted substantially different had their relationship been on a firm footing. In fact, consider the description of amortentia, and our reasonable suspicion that Fred and George used an amortentia based potion in their chocolates, one that (we are told) certainly aged and grew stronger with time. Given all of this, it is in fact quite likely that even if Ron and Lavender had in fact had a strong and healthy relationship, Ron still would have been compelled to act equally besotted and obsessed with Romilda.
So we have a potion that will cause a guy, in this case Ron, to be emotionally unfaithful to his partner, in this case Lavender. Again, we have no indication that the strength of their attachment in any way matters. It may be (and stands to reason) that ability to withstand veela powers and/or the imperius curse either or both (they may in fact be related) would provide some immunity to the potion. Both of these are reportedly rare, so we must assume that most people are vulnerable to this influence. While Ron and Lavender were an unhealthy relationship headed towards typical teen shipwreck, and while the narrative certainly biased readers towards seeing this shipwreck as both inevitable and a good thing, it need not have been. Consider an alternate case.
Consider the case where some young girl is in a relationship that she actually cares a great deal about. She has genuine affection for her partner, and he for her. But they are teens, and so both are fairly insecure, and need to grow as persons and as a couple before they will be ready for more than the dating relationship they currently have. But someone is jealous of her affections; he wants her for himself. Valentine’s day, or her birthday, or some other significant date is coming up, and it is easy enough for this jealous young man to send an owl with a gift of chocolates cleverly disguised as a gift from her boyfriend. All he has to do is use a bespelled quill to mask the handwriting, or perhaps this can be done with some spell after the fact with some other charm. Or send it without a note at all, using a school owl and let her simply assume her guy has done something for her. Who else would be sending her chocolates when everyone knows she’s in a relationship? It is one thing to yell “Constant Vigilance” after all, but most people would struggle to maintain that level of suspicion in practice. Perhaps nine out of ten girls at Hogwarts might be suspicious of such a package, but the girl in this example has been a bit sheltered growing up. Or she is a first generation witch and is less aware of the threat landscape. Or both. Do we really care if it is slightly uncommon?
Whatever the reason, she is not suspicious, and she eats the potion-laced chocolates. Suddenly she is head over heels infatuated with this other guy, and utterly ignoring her boyfriend. Her inhibitions have been artificially lowered - we don’t know by how much. She certainly wants to kiss him; she might be willing to go farther. That might be true even if she normally wouldn’t, even if she hasn’t with the guy she actually cares for and has been in a serious relationship with. And one can easily see how even if the potion is discovered, her relationship with her boyfriend might not recover. They are young, insecure, and the events involved can easily introduce doubts and fears that would separate them even after the potion is removed from her system. Sounds scary doesn’t it? I have essentially described a magical date rape drug.
Because that is what love potions are. That is precisely what happened with Merope and [Tom Riddle]. He was dating some non-magical girl, until he drank a love potion. Some months later, he wakes up from a stupor to find that he’s apparently married to someone he had never paid any attention to, did not feel anything for, and had no desire to be with. An annulment would be trivial if he could only prove that he had been drugged, but how can he explain the mental fog that’s replaced his ability to reason for the last few months? She claims she is pregnant, but how is he supposed to know that she really is (did she wait until it was physically obvious? We do not know that she did.) or that the child is really his (this is roughly 1926)? He cannot recall any of his decisions for the last few months. Including the decision to (euphemistically) be with her. It is all rather vague in his head, as if someone else has been doing it. It is a nightmare and while I do not condone his abandonment of the child, one understands the doubts that lead him to do so. And to complete the parallel to my imaginary girl, [Tom Riddle]’s reputation is now shattered, no one believes that he did not actually run off with the young tramp girl. Fifteen or sixteen years later, he is still single, still living with his parents, no longer able to sustain a dating relationship (and then of course his illegitimate son will kill him).
And I can only think that if the victim had been female, people would be outraged. That the failure to recognize love potions as the absolute moral horror that they are is because we think the role reversal of guys being victims is vaguely funny. As if guys deserve this somehow. The lack of outrage is disgusting.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. “The Unbreakable Vow”. Bloomsbury 2006.
- Mrs. J. K. Rowling.↩