Pepper

Pepper is a common plant-based substance known in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. While it serves as a mundane culinary spice, it is more notable for its use as a key ingredient in magical Potions, where its properties are associated with generating heat and counteracting the effects of cold and dampness. Its most famous application is in the Pepperup Potion. The name is also used for a type of wizarding sweet, Pepper Imps, which shares a similar heat-producing effect.

The primary magical application of pepper is as a potent ingredient in Potions. Its properties are consistently linked to generating warmth and producing steam, making it invaluable in remedies for illnesses like the common cold.

• Pepperup Potion Ingredient: Pepper is the essential, name-giving ingredient in the Pepperup Potion, a remedy designed to rapidly cure colds. The potion is highly effective, but it has a very distinct and unavoidable side effect: the drinker will have steam pour from their ears for several hours after consumption. This side effect makes its use easily detectable.
• Pepper Imps: These are small, jet-black wizarding sweets sold at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. When consumed, they cause the eater to smoke at the ears and nose. This effect strongly mirrors that of the Pepperup Potion, suggesting that pepper or a magical derivative of it is used in their creation to achieve this “peppery” heat.

In addition to its magical applications, pepper is used in the wizarding world as a standard culinary seasoning, just as it is by Muggles. It is a common fixture on the dining tables in the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is used in the preparation of food.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: After being drenched by a flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, several students, including Ginny Weasley, are taken to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey administers Pepperup Potion to them, and Harry Potter later observes Percy Weasley chiding Ginny about it.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Pepper Imps are listed as one of the sweets available for purchase at Honeydukes, described as making one “smoke at the ears and nose.”
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Following a particularly difficult first Apparition lesson where Susan Bones is splinched, several shaken students are given Pepperup Potion to calm their nerves and ward off shock. Harry notes the tell-tale sign of steam coming from their ears.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Harry contemplates taking a dose of Pepperup Potion to feign a bad cold and miss Horace Slughorn's Christmas party. He decides against it, realizing the ear-steaming side effect would instantly reveal his ruse to Slughorn.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: While on the run in a cold, damp forest, Ron Weasley wishes they had some Pepperup Potion. Hermione Granger replies that she cannot brew any because they are missing an ingredient, confirming it is a potion that can be made with the right supplies and not just purchased.

The name for the Pepperup Potion is likely a simple portmanteau of its main ingredient, “pepper,” and the common English phrase “to pep up,” which means to make someone more lively or cheerful. In some video games, such as Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, players can learn to brew Pepperup Potion themselves. (video game)