Lovage

• Type: Magical Plant, Potion Ingredient
• Users: Horace Slughorn, Hogwarts students (in Potions)

Lovage is a magical plant whose parts are used as an ingredient in Potions. While its magical variant is not described in detail in the novels, its name and use correspond to the real-world plant, Levisticum officinale. The mundane version of Lovage is a tall, hardy perennial plant that can grow up to two meters in height. It features a basal rosette of leaves and stout stems with further, smaller leaves. Its flowers are yellow to greenish-yellow and are produced in characteristic umbels. The entire plant has a strong, distinctive scent and flavour reminiscent of celery or parsley.

Lovage's primary known use in the wizarding world is as an additive to beverages, likely for flavouring or other subtle magical effects.

• Horace Slughorn offered to add “a spot of lovage” to Harry Potter's Gillywater, suggesting it is a common and pleasant enhancement for drinks.

According to supplementary materials, Lovage is also a key ingredient in several specific potions:

• It is known to be an ingredient in some Love Potions. (Pottermore)
• It is a component of the Confusing Concoction. (Pottermore)
• It is used in the standard Cure for Boils taught to first-year students. (video game, Book of Potions)

Lovage is mentioned once in the primary novels, during a pivotal conversation between Harry Potter and Horace Slughorn in the spring of 1997. After the burial of the Acromantula, Aragog, Professor Slughorn invited Harry to his office for a drink. While pouring Gillywater, Slughorn casually asked Harry, “A spot of lovage in it?” This brief mention serves to flesh out the world of wizarding consumables and further illustrates Professor Slughorn's character as a man who enjoys fine things and creature comforts. The offer is part of the friendly atmosphere Slughorn attempts to create just before Harry, aided by Felix Felicis, successfully persuades the professor to part with his crucial memory about Tom Riddle and the Horcruxes.

• The name “Lovage” is believed to be a folk-etymology corruption of the earlier term “love-ache,” where “ache” is a medieval name for parsley. This origin story connects to the plant's real-world historical use in preparing love charms and aphrodisiacs, which aligns perfectly with its canonical use in magical Love Potions as noted on Pottermore.
• In traditional European herbalism, lovage was often used to create cordials and was believed to aid digestion and treat fevers. This is consistent with Professor Slughorn's casual use of it as a fortifying or flavouring additive in a simple drink like Gillywater.