Pomona Sprout
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| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
 Pomona Sprout, as portrayed by Miriam Margolyes, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
|
| Pomona Sprout | |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair colour | Grey |
| House | Hufflepuff |
| Allegiance | Hogwarts |
| Actor | Miriam Margolyes |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
Pomona Sprout (b. May 15) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series. She is the Herbology mistress and Head of Hufflepuff House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is described as a petite, dumpy witch with fly-away grey hair who wears a patched, frayed hat and shabby robes. Her clothing is often covered in earth due to the time she spends tending plants in the Hogwarts greenhouses, where she holds her classes. Sprout has a brisk, cheerful disposition and is firm but fair with her students, displaying no prejudice based on blood purity or house affiliation. As she demonstrates throughout the series, she is skilled with and knowledgeable about magical plants.
Professor Sprout was played by British character actress Miriam Margolyes in the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the only film in which the character has appeared thus far.
Sprout is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but she plays no active role until Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in which she teaches her second year students to work with Mandrake plants. She is responsible for raising the Mandrakes to full maturity, at which point their juice is used to revive the Petrified victims of the basilisk. Sprout subsequently appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which she shows her third year class how to collect bubotuber pus for use as a cure for persistent acne. Later on in the school year she comforts Amos Diggory and his wife after the death of their son, Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory, whom she knew well.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sprout is a nonvocal supporter of Harry Potter's story about Lord Voldemort's resurrection. Like many teachers at Hogwarts, she detests Dolores Umbridge's presence and does her best to disobey her. On one such occasion, she awards twenty house points to Gryffindor because Harry passes her a watering can.
After the battle at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Sprout meets with fellow staff Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Horace Slughorn and Rubeus Hagrid to discuss the future of Hogwarts. Sprout is a staunch advocate of keeping Hogwarts open after headmaster Albus Dumbledore's death, stating that Dumbledore would have wanted it so. She also supports the suggestion that Dumbledore should be laid to rest at Hogwarts though no headmaster has ever received a burial there before. Sprout attends Dumbledore's funeral, where she appears cleaner than her students have ever seen her before.
Professor Sprout's first name is not revealed in canon until Professor Slughorn uses it in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Presumably as a reference to the subject she teaches, Sprout shares her first name with Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees and horticulture in Roman mythology. Her last name is equally appropriate; "sprout" is an English verb meaning "to grow (as shoots or buds)". It is also a noun referring to the germinated upper section of a plant.
Until June 1997, Sprout is the only current Head of House whose first and last names are not alliterative, as are the names of Filius Flitwick of Ravenclaw, Minerva McGonagall of Gryffindor, and Severus Snape of Slytherin. The non-alliterative Horace Slughorn takes over as Head of Slytherin after Snape's departure.
| Preceded by Unknown |
Head Of Hufflepuff House Unknown – Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Unknown |
Herbology Professor Unknown – Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
