| Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article. |
- Professor Sprout: "Bubotubers. They need squeezing. You will collect the pus—"
- Seamus Finnigan: "The what?"
- Professor Sprout: "Pus, Finnigan, pus, and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus."
- — Pomona Sprout and Seamus Finnigan in 1994[src]
A bubotuber is a magical plant, the visible part of which resembles a large, thick, black slug. This portion of the plant also squirmed of its own volition. The surface of a bubotuber was covered in shiny protrusions, which when squeezed yielded a thick, yellowish-green pus that has an odour akin to that of petrol.
In 1994, Bubotubers are discussed in Fourth year Herbology classes.[1] They also are described in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.[2]
Habitat
It is unknown where bubotubers originate from, but they can be found in the Forbidden Forest and are kept at the Hogwarts greenhouses.[3]
Use of pus
- "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."
- —Pomona Sprout[src]
Bubotuber pus acts as a treatment for severe acne, but undiluted pus can affect unprotected skin in unintended ways. This suggests that bubotuber pus is a topical treatment, but that the actual salve consists of the pus either diluted in a solution or mixed with other ingredients.
History
During the 1994–1995 school year, Hermione Granger was sent a letter full of bubotuber pus by an unknown person who evidently believed the slanderous Rita Skeeter article that claimed that Hermione was toying with the affections of both Harry Potter and Viktor Krum.[4]
Harry using Carpe Retractum against a bubotuber
Etymology
- The name "Bubotuber" seems to be a compound of the words "bubo", the swelling of the lymph nodes seemingly like a large blister that accompanies infections like the bubonic plague, tuberculosis, or syphilis, and "tuber", referring to the fleshy, thickened underground stem of a plant, usually containing stored starch, like a potato. Both seem to be in reference to the appearance of the plant.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
- Pottermore
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 13 (Mad-Eye Moody)
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Side Quest "Trouble wit Tonks"
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr Crouch)
