FANDOM


"What did you expect? Pumpkin Juice?"
Poppy Pomfrey on the foul taste of Skele-Gro[src]

Skele-Gro (alternately spelled Skelegro)[4] is a dreadful-tasting potion which restores bones. It is able to mend broken bones,[4] or even regrow entire bones that have vanished or been otherwise lost. For regrowing entire bones, the process is a notably slow and painful process that can take over a full day.[1]

Effects

"It burned Harry’s mouth and throat as it went down, making him cough and splutter"
—The unpleasant effects of the potion[src]

When regrowing an entire bone, Harry Potter described the sensation as having large splinters lodged in his arm. The potion comes in a large bottle and smokes as it is dispensed. Swallowing it burns the throat, and, according to Harry, it tasted awful and he spat it out when he first tried it. For a magical treatment, Skele-Gro is surprisingly slow working when regrowing whole bones, taking most of the night to regrow the bones in Harry's arm. However, since he required thirty-three bones to be regrown outright, it is likely that its effects vary with the amount required to be healed or regrown.[1]

History

Linfred of Stinchcombe, an ancestor of the Potter family, is known for having created many medicinal potions, one of which would be used as the basis for Skele-Gro.[3]

Though she usually bought it, Madam Pomfrey had to brew Skele-Gro herself in the 1985–1986 school year, and was assisted by Jacob's sibling.[5]

Due to a Skele-Gro shortage in the 1987–1988 school year, Madam Pomfrey tasked Professor Severus Snape with producing more for her supplies. Hence, the Potions Master conscripted his fourth year Potions students to concoct this particular brew and taught them how to do so, warning them that Madam Pomfrey would not accept subpar Skele-Gro.[6]

Linfred's descendant Harry Potter needed a dose of Skele-Gro after the bones in his right arm were broken during a Quidditch match in the 1992-1993 school year. Despite Harry's wishes, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart foolishly attempted to mend the bones, accidentally causing them to disappear instead.[1] Later that school year, when Lockhart completely redecorated the Great Hall as a morale-booster for Valentine's Day, Professor Severus Snape, being one of the teachers, was disgusted by this action, and looked as though he was fed a large beaker of Skele-Gro.[7]

Draco Malfoy mentioned in the 1994-1995 school year that he had previously attributed Rubeus Hagrid giant-like stature to a possible accidental overdose of Skele-Gro as a child. However, it is unknown if the potion could have such an effect, and it is known that Hagrid's size is as a result of being Half-Giant.[8]

Griphook was administered Skele-Gro by Fleur Delacour after escaping from Malfoy Manor in 1998, at her home Shell Cottage.[9]

On 22 May, 2014, during the final match of the first round of the 427th Quidditch World Cup between Wales and Germany, the quick administration of Skele-Gro saved German Seeker Thorsten Pfeffer's life after he failed an attempt at the life-threatening Wronski Feint. Pfeffer collided with the ground at what onlookers estimated to be sixty miles per hour, broke most of his bones and was left believing himself to be a budgerigar called Klaus.[4]

Behind the scenes

  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, according to the label on the Skele-Gro bottle: "1100 drops. Bone Regenerator. Bone-fide results every time. Sold only by Reubens Winkius and Company Inc.".
  • The top part of the bottle is shaped like the rib cage and arms of a human skeleton. The lid of a bottle is shaped like a human skull.
  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry actually spat the potion out when he first tasted it, leading Madam Pomfrey to chastise him. In the film's following scene, Dobby hits himself in the head with the bottle of Skele-Gro when Harry questioned him about what terrible thing was going to happen to the school.
  • In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Madam Pomfrey is out of Skele-Gro, and must make more with the help of Ron and Hermione. Also, the potion appears to work instantly.

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 10 (The Rogue Bludger)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
  3. 3.0 3.1 Writing by J.K. Rowling: "The Potter Family" at Wizarding World
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Pottermore - WALES VERSUS GERMANY (Archived)
  5. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
  6. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 16 (The Forest Vault) - Potions Lesson "Skele-Gro"
  7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 13 (The Very Secret Diary)
  8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 24 (Rita Skeeter's Scoop)
  9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 24 (The Wandmaker)
*Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Fandom will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

Fandom may earn an affiliate commission on sales made from links on this page.

Stream the best stories.

Fandom may earn an affiliate commission on sales made from links on this page.

Get Disney+
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Skele-Gro
harrypotter.fandom.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2020-24
234942
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:4W65RN5ROXHKJ3J5PEOM3TYGZAPCMKKQ
<urn:uuid:2b159558-321c-4297-8f4b-a4c16df152c4>
2020-05-29T23:19:48Z
151.101.64.194
text/html
sha1:6AL2VKTI3OJBHSQCHEB7G32EEETRND3F
<urn:uuid:471012f6-fac2-4a83-8d90-39a9d02b623a>
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Skele-Gro
response
<urn:uuid:dead9e10-d6d0-4a89-8315-d16cd37e4824>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-24
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for May/June 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-84.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/