Tarts

• Type: Food (Pastry)
• Notable Makers: Hogwarts house-elves, Molly Weasley, Kreacher

Tarts are a type of baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top. In the wizarding world, as in the Muggle world, they are a common dessert and comfort food. They appear frequently during feasts at Hogwarts and are also made in domestic settings like The Burrow. The most prominent variety mentioned in the series is Treacle Tart, a traditional British dessert made with shortcrust pastry and a golden syrup filling. Other varieties, such as jam tarts, are also noted. They are typically served as individual portions or as a larger tart cut into slices.

While generally a non-magical food item, tarts—particularly Treacle Tart—have a significant connection to magical effects and character motivations.

• Consumption: Their primary use is as a food, often served during celebratory feasts or as a comforting dessert.
• Amortentia: The powerful Love Potion smells differently to each person according to what attracts them. For Harry Potter, one of the distinct scents he identifies from Amortentia is Treacle Tart. This links the dessert directly to his deepest feelings of comfort, home, and affection.
• House-Elf Magic: The ability of house-elves like Kreacher to produce excellent tarts with magic is a recurring feature, demonstrating their powerful and often underestimated magical capabilities.

Tarts appear consistently throughout the series, often marking moments of comfort, celebration, or character revelation.

• In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Treacle Tart appears during the Start-of-Term Feast, where Harry Potter discovers it is his favourite food.
• In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a plate of jam tarts is present in the Slytherin Common Room. Ron Weasley, disguised as Vincent Crabbe via Polyjuice Potion, is chastised by Draco Malfoy for his eagerness to eat them.
• In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry smells Treacle Tart when he is introduced to Amortentia in Professor Slughorn's Potions class, highlighting its personal significance to him.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, after being given Regulus Black's locket, a much kinder Kreacher begins cooking meals that Harry enjoys, including Treacle Tart. This culinary gesture serves as tangible proof of the house-elf's change of loyalty.

Beyond being a simple food item, tarts serve an important thematic function in the series, primarily through Harry Potter's connection to Treacle Tart.

• Symbol of Home and Comfort: For Harry, who grew up without love or comfort at the Dursleys, Treacle Tart represents the warmth, security, and happiness he finds at Hogwarts and with the Weasley family. It is a consistent source of simple pleasure in a life filled with hardship.
• Indicator of Love and Affection: The scent of Treacle Tart in Amortentia is a powerful clue to Harry's emotional core. It symbolizes his longing for a true home and family, which becomes intrinsically linked with his growing feelings for Ginny Weasley and his place at The Burrow.
• Marker of Redemption: Kreacher's decision to make Treacle Tart for Harry is a pivotal moment in the house-elf's character arc. It is an act of service born not of obligation but of genuine care, signifying his redemption and his acceptance of Harry as his new master.

• In a 2000 interview, J.K. Rowling stated that Harry's favourite food is Treacle Tart simply because she is very fond of it herself (J.K. Rowling interview).