Lizard Legs

• Type: Potion Ingredient
• Owners: Apothecaries and potion-makers
• Maker: Harvested from lizards

Lizard legs are a potion ingredient presumably harvested from various species of lizards. Their specific appearance, such as whether they are used fresh, dried, or powdered, is not detailed in the novels.

Lizard legs are a known ingredient in the Swelling Solution. The sequence of adding ingredients when brewing this potion is critical to avoid a dangerous reaction. According to Professor Snape, porcupine quills must be added to the cauldron before the lizard legs are introduced. Reversing this order makes the potion highly unstable and prone to exploding, as demonstrated by the mishap in a second-year Potions class.

Lizard legs are mentioned in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets during a Potions lesson where second-year students are brewing a Swelling Solution. To create a diversion for Hermione Granger to steal ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Professor Snape's private stores, Harry Potter threw a Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Firework into Gregory Goyle's cauldron. The cauldron exploded, drenching many students in the solution and causing their body parts to swell alarmingly. Amid the chaos, Draco Malfoy told Snape that Goyle had been about to add lizard legs. Snape, irritated, remarked, “If he'd had the sense to add the porcupine quills before the lizard legs, he wouldn't be in this mess.” This comment revealed the proper brewing procedure and highlighted the ingredient's reactive properties. The diversion was successful, allowing Hermione to acquire the Boomslang Skin and Bicorn Horn they needed.

• Lizard legs appear as a collectible potion ingredient in some of the Harry Potter video games, including the game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game).