Dittany

Basic Information
Usage Herbology
Healing
Potion-Making
Wand Core
Sentience non-sentient

Overview

Dittany was a magical plant that was used to make potions. It was a potent restorative and therapeutic herb. Using it caused a wound to regenerate new skin, and the wound seemed to be several days old following application.
Its stems and leaves are green in colour, while the flowers are purple. One of the plants in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi was dittany. It was a herb that was both healing and restorative. Dittany's uncooked plant could be used externally to treat superficial to moderate wounds, in addition to being ingested.
It may be used to treat werewolf bites when combined with silver. Although it wouldn't stop the victim from dying from the bite, it wouldn't treat their lycanthropy. One of the ingredients in the Wiggenweld Potion was shredded dittany. It was also called Burning Bush and occasionally emitted combustible vapors. It's possible that applying dittany healed a sick infant.

Due to Hermione's limited success in obtaining a little bottle of Essence of Dittany for Harry and Ron's travels, Dittany may have been extremely rare. Alternatively, maybe a little went a long way because little amounts were required to treat the different wounds the three of them sustain. When Dittany's essence was used, it generated greenish smoke.

History

1920s

Newton Scamander used dittany, which was once held by the Circus Arcanus, to treat a wounded Zouwu in 1927.

1980s

Professor Pomona Sprout taught fifth-year Herbology students about dittany during the 1988–1989 academic year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in order to get them ready for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels that year. That year's Practical Herbology O.W.L. examination included the care and handling of this plant. Later, in the 1990–1991 academic year, Professor Sprout went over this plant with her seventh-year students.
Jacob's sibling approached Professor Sprout in the Herbology Classroom during the 1989–1990 academic year at Hogwarts, asking for herbs that could be given to the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest to gain entry to the Centaur Camp. She gave them sage, lavender, and dittany, explaining the benefits of each plant and letting them take whatever one they liked.

1990s

Severus Snape recommended Draco Malfoy to use dittany in 1997 after Harry Potter's attack on him with Sectumsempra, stating that if taken right away, it might not leave any permanent scars.
Ron Weasley's arm splintered later that year, and Hermione Granger used Essence of Dittany to fix it. This was shortly after the trio's 1997 escape from the British Ministry of Magic. She used it again to treat the snake bite that Nagini had given Harry on his arm when they were ambushed in Godric's Hollow. She then used it again after the Gringotts break-in to treat the burns they had sustained from the burning treasure within the Lestrange Vault.
The companion of Mathilda Grimblehawk used dittany to dress wounds on a Mountain Troll that had been sent from the Alps to London by mistake.

2010s

Volunteers from the Statute of Secrecy Task Force collected and used dittany as a potion ingredient a lot during the 2010s wizarding world Calamity. This was especially useful when making the Healing Potion, which helped the volunteers restore any health or stamina they might have lost while searching for Foundables and fighting enemies.

Credits/References

Harry Potter Wiki – Dittany

Written by Emil Crim.
Base code by Andrew Sutherland, edited by Iselin Merilä and Desmond Gray.