The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood

[OwlPatronus]

Well, other than oven cleaner and as something for Slughorn to splash on his wall. Rowling said in an interview (30 October, 1999: "Harry Potter's Wizard: Creator of children's book series tours Bay Area." The San Francisco Chronicle.) that she has a very good reason not to tell us what the other 11 uses are (the twelth really is oven cleaner). Any theories?

[ravclawprefec]

I seem to recall Hermione saying what one of them was at some point. I am going to try and remember (I've just been re-reading all the books in order and can't recall which one it was in. I want to say PoA or Gof). I think it may be significant, because didn't Dumbledore discover them?

[OwlPatronus]

Dumbledore did discover the twelve uses of dragon blood. In fact he was famous for it: it was on his chocolate frog card. Hermione said that dragon blood was incredibly magical, and Rowling said that the twelth use was Oven Cleaner. Other than that . . .

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by ravclawprefec

I seem to recall Hermione saying what one of them was at some point. I am going to try and remember (I've just been re-reading all the books in order and can't recall which one it was in. I want to say PoA or Gof). I think it may be significant, because didn't Dumbledore discover them?

I think that quote was just Ron and Hermione having a bit of banter over the usefulness of the skrewts curing sea sickness, but i am not sure.

As for the dragon blood, i had completley forgotten about it and wouldn't be surprised if JK threw it back in our faces by having it destroy a horcrux or something...

What if one of the uses is an expanded life, DD was 150ish after all. I know that is a bit philosipher stone esque but what the hey!

[OwlPatronus]

No, Rowling said that wizards just live much longer than normal people and Harry hasn't found that out yet. But hmm, destroying a Horcrux with dragon blood: it must be highly caustic if you can use it as oven cleaner, maybe you could dissolve the locket in the stuff XD.

[ravclawprefec]

Originally Posted by ravclawprefec

I seem to recall Hermione saying what one of them was at some point. I am going to try and remember (I've just been re-reading all the books in order and can't recall which one it was in. I want to say PoA or Gof).

Well, I haven't found it yet, but I'm still looking.

Anyway, I love the idea that it could come in handy for destroying a horcrux, though clearly Dumbledore would have known about that. I'm sure (I shouldn't say that because every time I do, my theory turns out to be incorrect) that we will see it again. After all, dragons play a big part in the series. Also, Charlie was missing from HBP, presumably doing something important with dragons.

[Hermione Snape]

One of the uses is that it is good on chips!

[RavenEye]

It seems to have some healing or painkilling properties, given that Hagrid used a dragon steak to soothe his injuries inflicted by Grawp in OotP.

[MoonCrystal]

Originally Posted by RavenEye

It seems to have some healing or painkilling properties, given that Hagrid used a dragon steak to soothe his injuries inflicted by Grawp in OotP.

I agree, probably something like that.

Hey, maybe you can go through fire or something like that once you drink it.
Or fly - I don´t know, could be anything.

[Desraelda]

Originally Posted by RavenEye

It seems to have some healing or painkilling properties, given that Hagrid used a dragon steak to soothe his injuries inflicted by Grawp in OotP.

Putting a steak on a black eye is an old muggle remedy. Hagrid's "cure" may just be a reflection of that.

[Hermione Snape]

This may be one of those things we'll never know unless Hermione chooses to tell us!

[Books_4_eva]

err i think one of them was an oven cleaner or somthinglike that

[dranjo]

The reason why i ask this is I am currently rereading half blood prince (for the 3rd time) and came across something interesting in Horace Slughorn the dragons blood is dark red where as in order the dragon steak which hagrid puts over his eye oozes green blood so am wondering some dare i say it mistake or does it vary (hopefully) with speices

[unconvinced]

I think this was picked up on in the mistakes part of mugglenet.

[RaspberryJam]

In OOTP Hagrid uses GREEN dragon blood to heal is cuts, but in HBP Slughorn uses RED dragon blood on his walls to try to get rid of Dumbledore and Harry, on mugglney they called this a mistake, but it very well might vary through species, I guess JKR is the only one who really knows.

[xyrax]

Originally Posted by RaspberryJam

In OOTP Hagrid uses GREEN dragon blood to heal is cuts, but in HBP Slughorn uses RED dragon blood on his walls to try to get rid of Dumbledore and Harry, on mugglney they called this a mistake, but it very well might vary through species, I guess JKR is the only one who really knows.

I think it counts as a mistake, unless we have two very different animals that are both called dragons. Unless we simply explain off this inconsistency with magic, which is cheap imho, blood color difference would indicate something very basic that's different in the two dragons. So basic that it would probably alter them being a dragon or not. ...not so clear but oh well it's not the key of the series right?

[lupislune]

I have to agree. I think the blood that Slughorn is referring to as being red is a mistake, unless it isn't Dragon Blood and Slughorn was lying to try and fool Harry for some reason. He could have also changed its color for some reason. I agree though it would seem cheap if that were the explination. I think that it is most likely a mistake.

[Cornerstander]

I do not believe that JKR would have made a mistake as large as:

{snip}...Underneath was a raw, bloody, green-tinged steak slightly larger than the average car tire.
"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" said Ron, leaning in for a closer look. "It looks poisonous."
"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid said....{snip}
and
{snip}...Greenish blood trickled down into his beard as he gave a soft moan of satisfaction...{snip}
and
{snip}...on the few inches of face that were not obscured by beard or green steak...{snip} OotP Ch 20 Pg 422/424 US hardback

One comment about green blood could be a mistake, but these descriptions seem too specific and numerous to be unintentional.

Now, in Half-Blood Prince, Harry sees:

{snip}...upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wall paper...{snip}
and
{snip}...Harry suggested, trying not to imagine how badly wounded a man would have to be to leave those stains spattered halfway up the walls...{snip} HBP Ch 4 Pg 63 US hardback (Since Harry connected the stains with "a man", it would indicate red.)

Harry didn't mention the difference in color of dragon's blood when Dumbledore asked what kind of blood it was, and Slughorn replied:

{snip}..."On the walls? Dragon." shouted the wizard called Horace,...{snip}
..."Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable."
He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, examining the thick liquid within.
"Hmm. Bit dusty."...{snip} HBP Ch 4 Pg 65 US hardback

It seems that Harry doesn't remember that he found out only last year that dragons have "green-tinged" blood, but perhaps that is because he is so distracted by the dramatic repairs being performed by Dumbledore and this new wizard he has yet to meet. However, it could also be a ploy by the author to distract the reader so that we don't notice.....

...another thing:

Dragon's Blood
Daemonorops draco

MEDICINAL:
The resin of Dragon's Blood is used externally as a wash to promote healing and stop bleeding. Internally it is used for chest pains, post-partum bleeding, internal traumas, and menstrual irregularities.

GROWING:
The resin comes from the Dragon Tree of Indonesia and the Canary Islands. The ripe scaly fruit produces the resin that is used as Dragon's Blood.

Quoted from the internet - here.

This definition from an herbal encyclopedia gives us an interesting bit of information.

Has Harry been introduced to this herb in his potions class?
and perhaps even more significantly, are we certain which kind of dragon's blood Dumbledore has discovered 12 uses for?

While searching for "12 uses of dragon's blood" on the internet, only after a dozen or so entries concerning Dumbledore, here I found:

{snip}...Western Medicine, perhaps, rooted its beliefs in mythology. The Norse story of Sigurd and the dragon showed that dragon's blood could allow a special kind of knowledge, such as the understanding of the language of the birds. Other uses included increased bravery. However, dragon blood was also believed to help remove kidney stones as well as the curing of blindness...{snip} (Emphasis added.)

Which leads to this:

{snip}...In the Norse legend of Sigurd (Siegfried), the hero accidentally ingests dragon blood and is instantly gifted with knowledge of the language of birds. (A condition which proves to be most valuable, as the birds tip him off to situations which would otherwise have endangered his life.) In the Danish saga of Hrolf, ingestion of dragon blood also has a radical transformative effect: the cowardly friend of a dragon slayer drinks the dragon's blood and eats its heart and becomes brave and strong as a result. Other uses for dragon's blood included the expulsion of kidney and bladder stones and the curing of blindness...{snip} (Emphasis added.)

Does this information point to a different sort of dragon's blood than we have assumed?

[maebelle]

Good point, Cornerstander. Jo may be referring to both kinds of 'dragon's blood'. If the tree form is red, then that is what Slughorn used, I suppose. As Hagrid's dragon steak was clearly green tinged and Slughorn's blood spattering is deep red, this could be the explaination we have been looking for. Or Jo made a mistake. Imagine trying to keep everything straight for a series of 7 books. Hopefully, Jo was referring to the dragon's blood from the tree.

[kingwidgit]

I think that perhaps different breeds of dragons have different colors of blood, with differing properties...just like the skins are different.

The 12th use of dragon's blood is as an oven cleaner, according to an Oct. 30, 1999 interview JK gave to the San Francisco Chronicle.

There are 10 breeds of dragons, though hybrids do occur.