The Apothecary

• Type: Shop (Apothecary)
• Location: Diagon Alley, London, England
• Owner/Residents: Unknown
• Key Features: Sells a wide variety of potion ingredients; has a powerful, unpleasant smell.

The Apothecary is a shop located in Diagon Alley that serves as the primary supplier of potion ingredients for witches and wizards, including students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The shop is described as fascinating, though it possesses a horrible smell, which Harry Potter likened to “a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages.” The interior is crowded with its wares. Barrels filled with slimy substances stand on the floor, while the walls are lined with jars containing herbs, dried roots, and brightly coloured powders. Hanging from the ceiling are bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and gnarled claws. Some of the specific ingredients available for purchase include:

• Silver Unicorn Horns, which cost twenty-one Galleons each.
• Tiny, glittering black Beetle eyes, sold for five Knuts a scoop.
• Other ingredients mentioned on the Hogwarts first-year list, such as Bat spleens and Eel eyes, are also presumed to be sold here.

The Apothecary is one of the first magical shops Harry Potter visits, and it plays a key role in his introduction to the wonders of the Wizarding World. His experience there establishes the strange and sometimes gruesome nature of potion-making, a core subject at Hogwarts. The high price of items like the Unicorn Horn also introduces the concept that rare magical ingredients have significant monetary value. Throughout the series, students from Hogwarts purchase their school supplies from the Apothecary. In their second year, Hermione Granger buys some of the simpler ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion, such as Lacewing flies and Leeches, from the shop. However, more advanced and restricted ingredients like Bicorn horn and Boomslang skin had to be stolen from Snape's private stores, highlighting that apothecaries operate as legitimate businesses with potential restrictions on certain goods.

The shop appears to consist of a single room where all business is conducted. The space is described as being filled from floor to ceiling with barrels, jars, and hanging bundles of potion ingredients, leaving little room for anything else. No back rooms or storage areas are ever mentioned in the novels.

• The word “apothecary” is an archaic term for a pharmacist or chemist who would prepare and sell materia medica, or medicinal materials. This historical term perfectly suits the shop's function in the magical world.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the shop is explicitly named Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. This name, while not present in the original novels, was later adopted and used on the Pottermore website (now Wizarding World). (film), (Pottermore)