The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Chocolate!

With the premiere of the long awaited and much anticipated final Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) only days away, your beloved summer intern is squirming with excitement like a hippogriff at an all you can eat stoat buffet. So, I decided that in honor of this joyous event, I would write a post all about the extensive, tasty, and sometimes bizarre world of Harry Potter chocolate and candy! For those of you who are rolling your eyes and saying "Pssh, this Harry Potter nonsense is such rubbish. Why should I care?", I respect your opinion. However, before you poo-poo this post and the strange delicacies within, remember you could one day be on a trivia game show and one of these things could come up! Knowing what Honeydukes is or what the side-effects of fever fudge are could win you a million dollars. Plus, many of the candies listed below are actually available for sale and can make awesome presents for the Harry Potter love in your life or simply make a delightful gag gift! So, solemnly swear that you're up to no good and discover some of the delightful treats of Harry's World!

Chocolate! Let's begin with the most appropriate--this is a chocolate blog after all! Like muggles, wizards love chocolate! Not only is it a delightful treat, it also serves practical purposes as well. Chocolate has a place in any hospital or wizarding first aid kit as it is the perfect cure for a run-in with a dementor. According to J.K. Rowling, she was inspired to create the dementors after battle severe depression before her success with Harry Potter. Chocolate curing depression? Who'd have thought. As Remus Lupin tells Harry in the third book, "Chocolate. Eat. It will help". Popular Wizard Chocolate:

Chocolate Frogs: Frog shaped chocolates that are enchanted to hop and jump around like the real thing. Includes a famous witch or wizard collectible card. It was a chocolate frog card of Albus Dumbledore that led Harry and his friends to discover the story of Nicolas Flamel and the sorcerer's stone in the first book. Want to buy some for yourself? Click here!

-Chocoballs: Filled with strawberry mousse or clotted cream filling! Can be found on the Hogwarts Express Trolley or in Honeydukes candy shop in Hogsmeade.

-Chocolate Cauldrons: Cauldron shaped chocolates filled with firewhisky.

-Chocolate Cake: Well....the name says it all. Nothing too magical here except for the yumminess that can be found in any chocolate. My favorite appearance of the tasty dessert is the chocolate cake Hagrid made for Harry for his 11th Birthday. It was sweet in more ways than one!

-Fever Fudge: A sweet created by Fred and George Weasley. Charmed to give the eater a high fever within seconds of eating the chocolate. Would be the perfect device for skipping class, except the side effects include large pus filled boils in "places unmentionable in public". Probably won't have these at Chocolate Fest.

-Cockroach Clusters: Cockroaches covered in a chocolate coating. After looking up so much information about chocolate covered bugs, these really don't seem too far fetched.

-Cornelius Fudge: Not exactly chocolate, although I suppose he is technically edible. In fact, he was the Minister of Magic until he was dismissed for failing to acknowledge that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (aka Voldemort for those of you living under a rock) had returned. I just thought his last name was appropriate.

Candy!

Chocolate or not, Young Audiences and the Wizards of Hogwarts both have a sweet tooth. Here are some notable candies from Harry's World:

-Acid Pops: Will burn a hole right through your tongue if you're not careful!

-Blood Flavored Lollipops: Hermonie briefly considered buying one of these for Harry as a gift, but then decided they were only for vampires.

-Canary Creams: Created by George and Fred Weasley. Have the appearance and taste of ordinary custard creams, but transform the eater into a giant canary. The effects wear of quickly and after molting, the eater returns to his or her state. Best not to eat anything offered to you by George or Fred Weasley.

-Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans: These infamous and popular jelly beans have been a wizard and muggle favorite since the very beginning! Flavors range from the normal everyday (blueberry, cherry, cinnamon, watermelon) to the weird and downright disgusting (think grass, dirt, rotten egg, booger, and vomit). Proceed with caution! Only for the most daring Harry Potter Fan or makes an excellent gift. Click here!

-Ton Tongue Toffee: Another invention by Fred and George, these toffees first made their appearance in the Fourth book when Harry's gelatinous cousin greedily devours one and moments later finds his tongue swelling up like a giant slug. Again, probably should avoid these.

And of course I couldn't write about the delectable treats in Harry Potter without mentioning everyone's favorite wizard drink: Butter Beer! It can be served cold or warm (as most Hogwart's students prefer to drink it on a cold winter's day) and can be highly addictive to house elves. Want to make your own? Here's a sugary sweet recipe!

Just as in the muggle world, the wizarding world has hundreds of different varieties of candies, chocolates, and sweets. I would need some sort of Reducio charm to fit everything in here! Alright, yes I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd, but even those of you who aren't have to admit that some of these magical treats look pretty good! So, grab your wand and a couple of galleons, and we'll see you at Hogsmeade....or maybe just Chocolate Fest (the next best thing)!

Mischief managed.