Potions

**Potions** is a magical field of study regarding the brewing of concoctions. Though they are magical in nature and require some magic to brew, potions generally draw their intended effects from the ingredients used rather than the intent of the brewer's magic.

## Brewing

The most basic potions simply involve adding ingredients and stirring them into a heated mixture. Other steps include filtering and re-heating.

A number of measures should be taken in order to effectively brew potions.

### Treating the cauldron

The inside of the cauldron can be treated with oil in order to provide certain beneficial effects. For example, a non-acidic moisture-catching oil should be used when brewing a Blood-Replenshing Potion.

### Stirring

The direction that the brewer must stir in is either clockwise or counterclockwise, and potions may require a certain pattern be followed.

### Indirect Stirring

Indirect stirring is a vital technique that allows potioneers to make layered brews. Linseed oil is often used to separate layers. Tubes are affixed to the inside of the cauldron and the cauldrons are turned transparent to better monitor the mixture.

### Imbuing

With enough awareness of your conscious magic, you can extend your sensing ability to include the potion as you might for any magical object. If ones magic is connected to the potion, you will be able to sense when the potion's threshold has been reached and stop funnelling magic in.

Magic in potions generally makes things more stable, not less. Dangerous and complicated potions such as Wolfsbane can be…soothed by imbuing them with a great deal of magic. It holds the more reactive ingredients together safely. However, some potions theoretically will react negatively if imbued with too much magic, "but the amount of magic needed to provoke such a reaction would be too much for anyone not a Lord-level wizard to manage to put in. For practical purposes, the only consequence would be wasted magic and exhaustion for the brewer."

It is important not to use purposeful magic on potions, like charming potions to be weightless, as it can stick to and interfere with some potions.

### Substituting ingredients

It is possible to substitute one ingredient for the ideal ingredient. However, it is not possible to subsitute a substituted ingredient without the potion becoming useless or poisonous.

### Freebrewing

Freebrewing is a dangerous potions technique in which the brewer does not follow a recipe. It can result in revolutionary discoveries of new potions, but it requires large amounts of magic to be done relatively safely. Even so, it is the cause of most deaths among skilled potioneers. Few masters freebrew.

Safety measures include reinforcing walls and floor with containment spells, and voice-activated wards around the cauldron stand. There is an inertifying mixture with the appearance of a "vial of black sludge" one can carry on their belt.

### Shaped Imbuing

A method invented by Harriett Potter and developed on during her internship at the potions guild, Shaped Imbuing imparts a spell into the potion by shaping the magic before sending it into the potion. The technique is difficult, because not only does it require more magic, it also requires both an awareness of the magic as well as the control to shape it within the core (similar to wandless magic).

She watched interestedly as the magic in her core burned into visibility as she activated it. Thanks to the ward, she could see the general sphere of her core's magic through her own body, though the details of her core's primary and secondary layers remained blurred. She monitored the magic from the outside even while guiding it internally in filling the pattern for the Hover Charm. Once the magic had a solid shape, it left her core and traveled in an orange globe from her gut to her hand and along the stirring rod to the potion itself.

## Equipment

There are brewing robes. For freebrewing, one should wear a full-body protective apron, which covered one from chin to knees. Recipe stands, which look like muggle music stands, may be used.

Other safety equipment includes gloves, sleeve-catchers, and face masks.

Brewing boots are treated with certain spells, such as being fire-retardant. In the lab, parchment might also be charmed to be fireproof.

### Knives

Different materials of knives have different reactivities and sensitivities, which may influence their use in various potions. Platinum knives are more expensive and are valued for being less reactive and able to handle heat better. Silver is more reactive, but is suitable for beginner-level potions, and silver-lined steel knives are generally used by first-years. Mercury is more susceptible to heat changes.

### Cauldrons

A size 4 cauldron can be used for brewing large batches. Harry has a smaller platinum cauldron "for experimentation".

## Safety

Basic safety precautions while brewing include tying back all loose articles of clothing and putting away unnecessary materials. Some ingredients also require gloves to be worn while handling them, like adder stingers.

## List of Potions

* Amortentia
* Ancestry Potion
* Animagus Revelation
* Ardor Increasing Potion
* Aurora's Breath: "named for a girl who was cursed into an enchanted sleep. She had three nursemaids dedicated to keeping her alive; one kept her muscles from atrophying, one kept her heart circulating, and one kept her breathing regular."
* Blood-Replacement Serum: This potion is as hard to work with than the Wolfsbane Potion.
* Blood-Replenishing Potion
* Boil-cure Potion
* Calming Draught
* Cough Remedies: Cadsworth's Cough and Congestion Remedy (marketed more heavily and more expensive) and Wheezer's Relief (thick because of the honey, red because of the clover)
* Coquere Cerebrum: a torture potion which continually raises a person's internal temperature until their brains became scrambled eggs.
* Doggart's Dram: A recovery potion that helps with disorientation, which works on those with sentiment minds( including recorded incidents on banshees and centaurs). Active magic is not required.
* Draught of Living Death
* Dream Walking Potion
* Dreamless Sleep: Bad in excess. Very expensive, so it is tightly sealed with a shiny cork. Shimmers when you hold it up to the light, making a rainbow when the light goes through it.
* Euphoria Inducer
* Fever Reducer
* Hair-Replacement Serum
* Intestinal Regulation Potion
* Liberespirare
* Nutrient Potion
* Merlicide
* Monistra's Malediction: "could cut off any of the five senses depending on how it was brewed"
* Morning Sickness Remedy
* Muscle Cramp Relief Potion
* Paternity Potion
* Pepper-up Potion: Pepper-up can have disastrous long-term effects on both neurological and magical pathways.
* Restorative Draught
* Polyjuice Potion
* Potter's Portable Protection Potion
* Prisoner's Poison: "It was once a popular potion in law enforcement, before the runic sequence to bind a person's magic to their skin was discovered. Prisoner's Poison deprived sight and hearing both, in addition to cutting off the conscious use of a person's magic. It didn't prevent accidental magic, which was part of why it fell out of favor."
* Restorative Draught
* Seifer's Solution
* Sand-skin Smoother: A Medical Potion.
* Scooner's Remedy: A Medical Potion.
* Shrinking Solution
* Skele-Gro  and its knockoff,
* Snowhit Draught: "named for Snow White, who fell into a magical coma after ingesting poison. It's called a Draught, but it is usually administered intravenously or in vaporized form, because rarely can one in need of it drink the potion. It is essentially a nutrient potion designed for long-term dependence and used to keep coma patients from wasting away due to starvation or dehydration."
* Sobering Draught: Leads to sensitivity to light after drinking.
* Sweat Inducer: Uses hellebore in the 5th stage. Adding feverfew thistles in the third step is particularly finicky. Magic must be consciously imbued. Each batch takes an hour to brew, and a cauldron produces six beaker-sized samples, amounting to 4-5 smaller doses.
* Swelling Solution: It is non-transferrable after it cools, and so is used as a practical test for the correspondence course. The difficulty is closer to a second-year's level than a third-year's.
* Tissue-Repairing Creams
* True Determinant: brewed with hawthorn berries, though Snape thinks he might be able to substitute with crushed rhododendron petals because they are from the azalea family[*citation needed*]
* Thief's Downfall
* Weakening Solution: as with the Strengthening Solution, "the stronger the brewer, the more effective it will be."
* Wolfsbane

## List of Potions Ingredients

* **Abberra leaves:** Used in Skele-Gro when sliced and Nutrient Potion when diced.
* **Aconite:** Its leaves are poisonous, but are used in heart sedatives and Sweat Inducers along with strong neutralizing agents. Also called monkshood and wolfsbane. Its flowers are used in Wolfsbane when crushed. Its stalks are used in a variety of potions when shredded. Its pollinated stamens are used in Ardor Increasing Potions, though this usage is experimental. It must be harvested with silver at the full moon. It is highly reactive to most ingredients. Essence of Aconite, when ingested, leads to dizziness and fluttering heartbeat, and turning your vision purple while incapacitating you.
* **Adder stingers:** It can cause a potion to become extremely hot when too much is used. Used in prank potions to cause rashes or other skin conditions and in Morning Sickness Remedies. It must be handled with gloves.
* **Aesop's Flower:** A hallucinogen used in Dream Walking Potions, addictive.
* **Amber:** A stone that can be added to the cauldron to make a potion last longer.
* **Angel trumpet flowers**
* **Antimony**
* **Armadillo bile**
* **Armadillo scales**
* **Asphodel root:** Used in the Draught of Living Death when powdered.
* **Ayahuasca** a brew made from a vine in the Amazons. " combines DMT with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor." . Used in the Draught of Delirium in the 4th task, with Yohimbe Bark, which is not advisable.
* **Basilisk bones**
* **Basilisk scales**
* **Basilisk tongue**
* **Basilisk venom**
* **Bezoar:** A small stone taken from the stomach of a goat between the ages of 15 months and 8 years. It neutralizes poisons, though it's less effective when dealing with snake venom or nightshade-based toxins. Not necessarily an ingredient.
* **Bicorn milk** Protein-rich milk that might induce acute adrenaline production.
* **Bloodroot:** Used in Blood-Replenishing Potion. Reacts poorly with skullcap flowers.
* **Boomslang skin:** Used in Thief's Downfall.
* **Camphor basil:** Used in Thief's Downfall.
* **Canterberry:** grow in trees, in bunch of vines, like the common grape and the vines like to wrap themself to the widest tree they can find. Is used in bunion cream. Violet gave its name as a reference to Chaucer and his "Canterbury Tales".
* **Cayenne:** A blood-thinner and circulator used in Skele-gro.
* **Chimera eyes** A volatile ingredient. Dried chimera eyes "should only be used in the most basic and least reactive potions. Violent ingredient, they are, one of the few that react with large amounts of magic." A reaction with magic would have had almost no visible warning signs."
* **Chimera milk**
* **Clabbert pustules:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Reacts to **powdered unicorn hair**.
* *Crocus sativus'* plant: Petals and stigma can be used. "The longer they steeped, the stronger the antidepressant effect would be"
* **Curcuma root**: Orange.
* **Dandelion roots:** Used in the Boil-cure Potion when chopped.
* **Dillysprout:** Used in the Boil-cure Potion. If undercooked, it can cause nausea-inducing fumes.
* **Dragon bile:** Used in the Blood-Replenishing Potion when hand-filtered to remove stray pieces of stomach lining.
* **Dragon blood:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Affects potions' color and breaks down fluxweed's magic.
* **Dragon liver**
* **Ephedra oil:** An extremely mild and non-reactive oil that naturally disperses when it interacts with mullein root. It can be used to coat ingredients to prevent them from reacting.
* **Ephedra extract:** Causes one to feel drunk
* **Erumpent horn:** When powdered, can never be mixed with dragon bile without causing an explosion.
* **Erumpent femur:** Signifying ingredient for Shaped Imbued bone-knitting spell Harry is working on
* **Erumpent fluid:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Has a distinct taste.
* **Fae fruit:** Crushed, dulls recollections
* **Feverfew:** A hairy flower with pain-killer properties. It also prevents platelets in blood from clumping. It is grown in southeast Europe.
* **Fluxweed**: Used in Thief's Downfall.
* **Frog spores:** Dissolved in the Boil-cure Potion.
* **Hodag Horn**  used in alertness potions, though it can be dangerously potent.
* **Ginger:** A blood-thinner and circulator used in Skele-gro.
* **Ginseng**
* **Grindylow webbing**A thickener, to make salves. . Same use as plant gum, but restricted and expensive.
* **Hypericum flowers:** Used in Blood-Replenishing Potion.
* **Knotgrass:** A thickening agent with a green color. Used in the Boil-cure Potion and Thief's Downfall.
* **Lavender**
* **Limbus grass:** used in serums of truth. May have been used in a precursor of the Veritaserum. Reference to Neil Gaiman's "Stardust".
* **Mellonite:** It is used in Muscle Cramp Relief Potions when grounded and dried and in many balms and pastes for sore or stiff muscles. It is also used in Intestinal Regulation Potions. It causes a person to lose muscle control, especially in the limbs, if inhaled while stewing in a potion.
* **Mermaid Fluke** The tail fluke regulates body temperature; so it can be used in thermoregulatory medicine. If dried until warped, it is the main ingredient in Coquere Cerebrum.
* **Monkshood:** The same thing as Aconite.
* **Mullein root**
* **Neem oil:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Affects potions' color and softens effects of knotgrass.
* **Nettle leaves:** Have regenerative properties, and are a primary ingredient used in Skele-gro. Will explode if placed in dragon bile.
* **Nightshade:** A classification of poisonous ingredients.
* **Nimue's Breath:** A flower with an alluring scent that is commonly used in poisons. Smells like honey and milk.
* **Oatstraw:** A non-inflammatory with calcium and other vitamins. It can also act as a thickening agent.
* **Parcilia Flower:** is commonly mistaken with Nimue's Breath, which is the same size, shape, and colour. It's not poisonous. One should not check the difference by smell. Smells like lavender.
* **Peeled Shrivelfig:** Used in Euphoria Inducers, and its juice is used in Shrinking Solutions.
* **Pixie Wings:** Calmative magic. Can suppress the amygdala, where anger and fear reside. Pixie Magic and Fairy Magic may react to each other.
* **Porcupine quills:** Used in the Boil-cure Potion. They must be added after taking the potion off the fire, or else it will cause an explosion.
* **Queen Anne's Lace**
* **Rosemary:** Has similar effects to nettle leaves. Reacts poorly with St. Stewart's Bane.
* **Salvia**, a species of mint that includes common sage to chia, not native to Scotland. Subtypes include
	+ Clary
	+ Danshen
	+ '**Salvia Divinorum'**, used in Scrying Potions. Very tall plant, with big, green leaves. Not many flowers.
* **Selkie skin** A controversial ingredient due to the cruelty inflicted in the harvesting process
* **Skullcap flowers:** Used in Skele-gro.
* **St. Stewart's Bane:** Used in the Blood-Replenishing Potion.
* **St. John's Wort:** Volatile ingredient, a powerful anti-depressant
* **Starthistle:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Reacts to concentrated **skyweed**.
* **Stink bug juice:** Either marked red when undiluted, or comes in various colors including red.
* **Trillium:** Used in Skele-gro to prevent the muscles cramping around the growing bones.
* **Valerian root:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Unusually, does not react to demiguise hair.
* **Veela hair:** Silver-coloured.
* **Vervain:** Used in the Blood-Replenishing Potion.
* **Wiggentree sap:** Used in Thief's Downfall. Has a distinct smell.
* **Willow bark** A type of pain-killer.
* **Wolfsbane:** The same thing as Aconite.
* **Wormwood:** Infused with asphodel root in the Draught of Living Death.
* **Yohimbe bark** "an alkaloid commonly taken as a stimulant"  Used in the Draught of Delirium in the 4th task, with Ayahuasca, which is not advisable.

## List of Known Potioneers

### Current

**Masters**

* Severus Snape
* Malcolm Hurst
* Slughorn, who published improvements to Zygmunt Bunge's recipe
* Thompson
* Edgar Whitaker
* Montmorency, the Potions Master at Durmstrang
* Grindel, a potioneer who supplies the law enforcement offices.
* Tallum, the Potions Master at AIM
* Regulus Moonshine
* Liu

**Students**

* Renaldo Casillas
* Caelum Lestrange
* Harry Potter

### Historic

* Menesthes
* Zosimo
* Laverne de Montmorency, known for inventing love potions
* Damocles Belby, the inventor of Wolfsbane
* Zygmunt Budge, publisher of the centennial recipe for Felix Felicis. He also is known for his principle of amplification without interaction

### Gender in the Potions Guild

Women make up around fifteen percent of the Adepts and only five percent of the Master level of potioneers. Most of the women who make it to Mastery level become independent brewers, and don't often get published in the major potions periodicals. There are presently only two Potions Mistresses in the country, neither of which are with the guild.

## Connections with other fields

Brewers have made a great many contributions across wizarding society. One field which works closely with potioneers is that of Healing.

* A brewer invented the cure for Speckled Fever, though he patented it for profit before someone reverse-engineered it.
* A brewer invented the Eternal Ice spell to keep the top of his potion cold.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 7
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 6
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 The Futile Facade: Chapter 3
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 18
5. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 20
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 The Futile Facade: Chapter 6
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 The Futile Facade: Chapter 10
8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 8
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 9
10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 12
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 The Futile Facade: Chapter 5
12. ↑ The Malignant Masquerade: Chapter 1
13. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 14
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 The Futile Facade: Chapter 9
15. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 16
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 1
17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 The Malignant Masquerade: Chapter 2
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Futile Facade: Chapter 8
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 The Futile Facade: Chapter 12
20. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 4
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 9
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 13
23. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 3
24. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 1
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 14
26. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 13 Author's Notes
27. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 2
28. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 11
29. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 17
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 2