Wolfsbane Potion

**Wolfsbane Potion** is an upper-level potion (higher than a NEWT potion) made for werewolves, invented by Damocles Belby. The ingredients are very expensive and dangerous. It can't be brewed without a license. It is extremely difficult, and the slightest mistake can be very dangerous. It is more volatile than Aconite Alleviation, its precursor.

**New Wolfsbane** is a modified version of the Wolfsbane, developed by Severus Snape. It is cheaper and works better.

## Function

It calms werewolves during their transformation, making them more docile.

The potion works only for one night.

Even on Wolfsbane, it is difficult for a werewolf to resist their instincts to chase or slay something pure, like a unicorn.

### New Wolfsbane

If taken before the sun set on the first night of the full moon, it would remain potent for all three nights of potential transformation. It also lessens the pain of transformation by an average of sixty percent, and significantly decreases tiredness, nausea, and irritability. Some ingredients are influenced by the cycle of the moon, which make the side effects stronger during the night and weaker during the day.

They are some drawbacks. The New Wolfsbane acts as a sedative, making the wolf extremely docile and sleepy, so the werewolves have to find a secure place before transforming, as their ability to defend themselves is reduced.

## How to Brew

It is difficult to brew and time-consuming. It requires a considerable magical strength to brew the potion, meaning that the average person would have a hard time brewing it. (This is one of the reason for its expensive price.) The imbued magic helps to sooth the potion, holding reactive ingredients together safely.

The brewing process and the majority of its ingredients are extremely similar to Aconite Alleviation.

The stasis charms on the vials must be strong to keep the potion at its freshest for the full moon, as it spoils very quickly.

### New Wolfsbane

In his breakthrough of the summer of 1993, Severus Snape manages to reduce the brewing time by a full 15 minutes, and provides several alternate instructions for ingredient preparation. A recipe is detailed on the last page.

The fire slugs must be heated before being mashed, which results in a significantly higher potency.

## Uses

It must only be administered to werewolves, or it would poison the person.

The potion helps keeping the wolf at bay, but werewolves still require having the will and the strength to fight the wolf.

Remus says it makes him feel disoriented after he wakes, but he hardly feels the call of the moon most months. He heals faster from the transformations, and his appetite is greatly increased in the days leading up to the full moon. It makes him feel more vulnerable.

## Known users

* Remus Lupin
* Fenrir Greyback

## History

The precursor to the Wolfsbane Potion is Aconite Alleviation. It was the building block upon which Wolfsbane was able to be built. It's Damocles who came up with the Wolfsbane alternative. Until Master Snape improved it, it had significant drawbacks in the level of sanity it granted to the drinker.

It's because Harry read an article in *Potions Quarterly* about the Wolfsbane potion that she started to worship Severus Snape. He has made significant improvements to it and is the one responsible for the most recent breakthroughs.

### 1991-1992

Severus Snape gives an assignment to Oliver Wood on Potion Fusion, in which he has to find a way for someone to drink Amortentia and Wolfsbane at the same time.

Snape forbids Harry to attempt to brew it until he deems her ready.

### 1992-1993

Harry inspects the potions that Remus just bought to see if there are no undissolved particles, and says she hasn't learned how to brew it yet. Remus then says that for the price he is paying, they are made by Master Hurst himself.

Snape starts doing research for the Wolfsbane, beginning the process from Aconite Alleviation, as it is easier to work with. He asks Rigel for help for the magical input, and forbids him, making him swear, to never brew Wolfsbane without a licensed Master.

### 1993-1994

Harry wants to be mentored by Master Whitaker who occasionally worked with Snape on Wolfsbane. But he chooses Caelum Lestrange. When she asks Master Thompson to work on Polyjuice or Wolfsbane, he refuses, saying they are too complex to make significant experimental progress in the months of the internship. Caelum, however, is authorized by Whitaker to research on Wolfsbane. Later, he asks her for information on specific werewolves to learn about the impact on the long term for werewolves, but she refuses out of jealousy.

Master Hurst says that interns usually want to study the "Big Five": Amortentia, Wolfsbane, Polyjuice, Draught of Living Death and Felix Felicis. They talk about Lestrange and, out of shame, Harry decides to give him the information he needed.

Master Snape's breakthrough on the Wolfsbane is published in a special edition of the Guild's journal in the summer, drawing the attention of all the wizarding society, even internationally. The headline is "Taming the Wolf". In the paper, called "Argument for a New Modification of the Wolfsbane Potion", he thanks Rigel Black for his help for his research (putting Archie in trouble as he has to answer questions from their family). Some of the modifications call for more expensive ingredients, but it is balanced by the decreased amount of imbued magic necessary to bond the potion in the final stages, so cost-wise, the improved version is approximate to the original. With this modification, Snape single-handedly changed the way werewolves manages their illness. It also reduced the price by two-third.

During the intern's presentation at the Potion Guild, Lestrange explains his research on the effects of Wolfsbane on long-term users. Snape feels obligated to ask one question. Later that day, during a dinner with Harry, Lestrange says that he is not going to continue his research on Wolfsbane.

It's thanks to the New Wolfsbane that Remus can be the Defense teacher during the year.

During the debacle of Halloween, Remus don't act as a rogue werewolf because he is under the New Wolfsbane, making him only hurt and confused, but not dangerous. Rigel is afraid that this event will discredit Snape's work.

### 1994-1995

After making Seifer's Solution, Harry says that she will no longer say that Wolfsbane is the most difficult potion she ever participated in brewing, making it look like a NEWT potion.

During the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, a werewolf (Fenrir Greyback) enters unknowingly the arena to attack Rigel, including Hermione who was with her, on the order of Barty Croupton Jr. He is under the Wolfsbane, but not the New Wolfsbane as he is very alert and aggressive, and is somewhat able to resist chasing the unicorn made by Hermione.

In an article named "Champion of Charity: Black gives back", the reporter reminds their readers that Rigel was cited by Severus Snape for his help on developing the latest improvement to the Wolfsbane.

### 1995-1996

Harry sells Wolfsbane at cost in Krait's shop, cheaper if it's ordered ahead, because she can buy ingredients in bulk. There is an additional discount if it is purchased with a week's worth of Potter's Protection Potion. She is licensed to brew it, and it's the first thing she tested for after Seifer's Solution.

## Trivia

* Remus gets all the profits from the Marauder's Joke Line to be able to afford the potion, though he is not aware of this fact.
* Wolfsbane is part of the "Big Five", the other four being Amortentia, Polyjuice, Draught of Living Death, and Felix Felicis.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Futile Facade: Chapter 3
2. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 7
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 8
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 11
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 5
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Futile Facade: Chapter 8
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 17
8. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 18
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 12
10. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 3
11. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 12
12. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 12
13. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 1
14. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 8
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 2
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 4
17. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 6
18. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 8
19. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 9
20. ↑ The Malignant Masquerade: Chapter 1
21. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 15