The Smell of Love
b'Love is obviously a powerful theme of the Harry Potter novels, but today I\\u2019d just like to talk about the powerful love potion amortentia, and how it induces the smell of what most attracts us.
\\nWe first encounter amortentia in Slughorn\\u2019s classroom during his first potions lesson, and for Harry it smells like treacle tart, the woody scent of a broomstick handle, and something flowery that he thought he might have smelled at the Burrow. Now of course, we know that the \\u2018something flowery\\u2019 was Ginny. In fact, later that same day when Ginny joins the Gryffindor table at dinner, Harry gets a whiff of the flowery scent he\\u2019d smelled earlier, and at the end of the book when Ginny leads Harry away from Dumbledore\\u2019s body at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, he realises it\\u2019s her from the trace of flowery scent on the air.
\\nThe broomstick handle presumably refers to Harry\\u2019s love of flying and Quidditch, and we know that treacle tart is Harry\\u2019s favourite dessert. Additionally, it could be representative of Hogwarts in general and the feeling of home and being cared for, in much the same way that Pumpkin Pie might be synonymous with family for some Americans.
\\nFor Hermione, we know that amortentia smells like freshly mown grass, new parchment, and something else she was too embarrassed to admit to in the moment. There\\u2019s a scientific reason why people tend to like the smell of freshly mown grass, and it has to do with chemical compounds that are released into the air when plants are damaged, such as by a lawnmower, but for Hermione, could it be a smell she associates with the Burrow? New parchment is a very Hermione-like smell to find attractive, and I\\u2019m sure many of us could relate. Who doesn\\u2019t love the smell of a new book?
\\nIn an interview in July 2007, J.K. Rowling confirmed that the third thing Hermione smelled was Ron\\u2019s hair, although it seems unlikely she would have recognised it as such in the moment. Similarly to Harry\\u2019s vague \\u2018flowery scent\\u2019 perhaps Hermione smelled something that reminded her of Ron\\u2019s hair, which begs the question, what kind of shampoo does Ron use?
\\nWhat would amortentia smell like to you? Leave your ideas in the comments.
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