Potions notes

Knotgrass

A low, creeping weed with small leaves, grown for use in potions.

• It is one of the ingredients of Polyjuice Potion.
• It grows almost anywhere and spreads quickly.
• Pick whole sprigs and tie them in bunches to dry.

Teaching tip: Ask students to find it in a weedy bed. It teaches that a useful plant can look like nothing at all.

Also on: Herbology

Shrivelfig

A fig tree from Abyssinia, whose purple fruit is peeled and used in the Shrinking Solution.

• Second-years learn to prune it.
• The fruit must be skinned before it goes into a potion.
• It comes from a warm country, so it is kept in a heated greenhouse.

Teaching tip: Run a pruning lesson. Students say which branches they cut and why, and you say how the tree looks afterwards.

Also on: Herbology

Wormwood and asphodel

Two plants that together make the Draught of Living Death, the strongest sleeping potion.

• Wormwood is a bitter, grey-green herb, used as an infusion.
• Asphodel is a pale lily, and its root is dried and powdered.
• Each is harmless enough on its own.

Teaching tip: Use the pairing as a memory test: which two plants make the strongest sleeping potion?

Also on: Herbology

Nettles

Common stinging nettles, dried and used in simple potions such as the Cure for Boils.

• Wear gloves, because they sting.
• Drying takes the sting out.
• They grow wild almost everywhere.

Teaching tip: A first-lesson plant. Have students gather it properly gloved, then explain how to dry it.

Also on: Herbology

Valerian

A tall plant with a strong smell. Its roots and sprigs are used in sleeping potions.

• The root is the strongest part.
• Cats are very fond of the smell.
• Too much makes a sleeping potion dangerously strong.

Teaching tip: Ask why a calming plant has to be measured carefully. It leads into why dose matters in every potion.

Also on: Herbology

Sneezewort

A plant whose dried leaves make you sneeze. It is used in potions that confuse and befuddle.

• It is often used with scurvy-grass and lovage.
• Handle the dried leaves gently, or the whole class will be sneezing.
• In the wrong dose it makes a person hot-headed and reckless.

Teaching tip: Let a student sniff it in a scene and play the sneezing fit. Then ask what else it does in a potion.

Also on: Herbology

Sopophorous bean

A shrivelled bean whose juice is used in the Draught of Living Death.

• It is slippery, and tends to shoot out from under the knife.
• Crushing it with the flat of a blade gives more juice than cutting it.
• A silver knife is the usual tool.

Teaching tip: Have students try cutting and then crushing an imaginary bean. Ask which gives more juice and why.

Also on: Herbology

Harvesting ingredients

When and how you pick a plant decides how well it works in a potion.

• Some plants are picked at a certain time: at dawn, at dusk, or under a full moon.
• Take only what you need, and leave the plant able to grow back.
• Label everything as you pick it. Dried leaves all look alike.

Teaching tip: Have students plan a harvest for a named potion: what, when and how. Then check it against the moon.

Also on: Herbology

Cure for Boils

A simple potion that clears up boils. It is usually the first one a class brews.

• It is made with dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs and porcupine quills.
• Take the cauldron off the fire before you add the quills.
• Get that wrong, and the potion melts the cauldron and causes boils instead.

Teaching tip: The classic first potion. Have students brew it in posts, and catch whoever adds the quills too early.

Forgetfulness Potion

A potion that makes the drinker forget things for a while.

• It is taught in first year, and often set in the end-of-year exam.
• It is made with river water, mistletoe berries and valerian.
• The effect is mild and wears off.

Teaching tip: Good for a first-year exam scene. Students must remember the steps, which is the joke.

Swelling Solution

A potion that makes whatever it touches swell up.

• It is taught in second year.
• A splash on the skin swells that part of you to a huge size.
• A Deflating Draught reverses it.

Teaching tip: Splash a little on a prop and let students describe what happens. Then ask for the cure.

Sleeping Draught

A potion that sends the drinker into a deep sleep for a short time.

• It is much weaker than the Draught of Living Death.
• Valerian and lavender are the usual ingredients.
• The drinker wakes on their own after a few hours.

Teaching tip: Ask students how they would test their draught safely. The answer should never be 'on a classmate'.

Strengthening Solution

A potion that makes the drinker stronger for a time.

• It is brewed by fifth-years.
• It has to be left to mature for several days between stages.
• The first stage should turn a clear turquoise.

Teaching tip: A fifth-year brew that takes more than one lesson. Pick it up again next class and see who kept good notes.

Invigoration Draught

A potion that gives the drinker a burst of energy and alertness.

• It is brewed by older students.
• It is useful when you are worn out.
• It lends you energy for a while. It does not replace sleep.

Teaching tip: Ask whether it is fair to take it before an exam or a match. Students usually split on that.

Wit-Sharpening Potion

A potion that helps the drinker think more clearly.

• It is made with ginger root, armadillo bile and ground scarab beetles.
• It is useful against confusion.
• It sharpens the wits you have. It will not give you knowledge you never learned.

Teaching tip: Have students predict what it would do to their own character. Then ask whether they would trust an answer given under it.

Confusing and befuddling potions

Potions that muddle the drinker's mind, making them confused or reckless.

• Sneezewort, scurvy-grass and lovage are the usual ingredients.
• A Wit-Sharpening Potion helps to counter them.
• Giving one to someone without their knowledge is a serious offence.

Teaching tip: Let a student play a befuddled character for one scene. Agree the limits first.

Elixir to Induce Euphoria

A sunshine-yellow potion that makes the drinker very happy.

• Too much brings on singing and nose-tweaking.
• A sprig of peppermint tones the side effects down.
• It is advanced work, for older students.

Teaching tip: Have a student describe the side effects with enthusiasm, then brew the improved version.

Murtlap Essence

A soothing yellow liquid for cuts and sore skin.

• It is made from the strained and pickled tentacles of a Murtlap, a rat-like sea creature.
• You soak the injury in a bowl of it.
• It eases pain, and helps a wound to heal.

Teaching tip: Use it after a practice duel. A student soaks a scraped hand, and describes the relief.

Also on: Creatures

Antidotes

An antidote undoes a poison. Each poison needs its own, which is why they are hard to brew.

• You have to work out what is in the poison first.
• A blended poison needs more than the antidotes to its parts added together.
• When there is no time, a bezoar deals with most poisons.

Teaching tip: Hand out a made-up poison with three ingredients and have students reason out what the antidote must deal with.

Invisibility Potion

In some tellings, a potion that makes the drinker impossible to see for a short while.

• It is said to be brewed from leaping toadstool caps and knotgrass.
• It wears off quickly.
• Using it to sneak about the castle is rule-breaking.

Teaching tip: Decide how long it lasts in your scenes, and say so. Unseen is not unheard, so other players still get a chance to notice.

Edurus Potion

In some tellings, a potion that hardens the drinker's skin like rock for a short time, so that blows do less harm.

• It is said to be brewed from ashwinder eggs.
• It protects you. It does not make you stronger.
• The skin goes back to normal as it wears off.

Teaching tip: If your group allows potions in duels, both sides must agree before the duel starts.

Also on: Dueling

Maxima Potion

In some tellings, a potion that makes the drinker's spells hit harder for a short time.

• It is said to be brewed from leech juice and spider fangs.
• It strengthens your spells. It does not improve your aim.
• Check whether your duelling club allows it.

Teaching tip: Ask whether a duel won with it really counts. It is a good argument about fairness.

Also on: Dueling

Focus Potion

In some tellings, a potion that helps the drinker cast one spell after another with less rest between.

• It is said to be brewed from lacewing flies and fluxweed.
• It sharpens concentration for a short time.
• It wears off, leaving you as tired as you were.

Teaching tip: Have students describe what sharper focus feels like for their character. It makes a good in-character moment.

Also on: Dueling

Thunderbrew

In some tellings, a potion that surrounds the drinker with a small storm, striking anything close by.

• It is said to be brewed from leech juice and shrivelfig.
• It is dangerous to everyone near you, friends included.
• It is not for use inside the castle.

Teaching tip: Treat it as one to know about. It is far too dangerous to brew in class.

Ashwinder eggs

The glowing red eggs of the Ashwinder, a thin grey serpent born from a magical fire left burning too long.

• The eggs give off great heat, and can set a house alight.
• They must be frozen before they can be used.
• They are an ingredient in love potions.

Teaching tip: Tell the story of an unwatched fire, then ask students how they would search a room for the eggs.

Also on: Creatures

Lacewing flies

Small, delicate flies, stewed for use in potions.

• For Polyjuice Potion they are stewed for twenty-one days.
• They are kept dried, in jars.
• They are a common ingredient.

Teaching tip: Use them to teach patience. Ask what else must be ready by the time the flies are done.

Moonstone

A pale, milky stone. It is ground to a powder for calming potions and love potions.

• Powdered moonstone goes into the Draught of Peace.
• It must be added in exactly the right amount.
• It is a stone, so it keeps for years in a dry jar.

Teaching tip: Link it to the Moon notes. Ask why a stone named for the Moon might be thought calming.

Also on: Astronomy

Common potion ingredients

A student's store cupboard holds plants, creature parts and minerals. Each is prepared in its own way.

• Plants: nettles, knotgrass, valerian, fluxweed, dittany.
• Creature parts: lacewing flies, leeches, snake fangs, porcupine quills.
• Minerals: moonstone and bezoars.
• Rare ingredients are locked in the teacher's own stores.

Teaching tip: Start the year with a store-cupboard tour. Each student picks one ingredient and says what it is for.

Reading a potion

Colour, smell and steam tell you whether a potion is going well.

• Each stage has a colour it should reach. The wrong colour means a mistake.
• Steam should rise the way the recipe says: in spirals, in puffs, or not at all.
• A foul smell or thick smoke means stop and call the teacher.

Teaching tip: Describe three cauldrons at the same stage and ask which one has gone wrong. Students must say what they noticed.

Bottling and labelling

A finished potion goes into a stoppered phial with a clear label, and a sample goes to the teacher for marking.

• Label it with the potion, the date and your name.
• Some potions spoil, and some grow stronger as they sit.
• Never keep anything in an unlabelled bottle.

Teaching tip: Mark down an unlabelled sample every time. Students learn the habit quickly.

Brewing in roleplay

Write a brew step by step: prepare, add, stir, wait. Then let the professor say how it turned out.

• Describe what your character does. Do not write the result.
• Let small mistakes happen, such as a splash or a miscount.
• A potion that fails for a clear reason is good roleplay.

Teaching tip: Call the stages one at a time and let students post between them. Decide results from how carefully they described each step.

Also on: RP Tips

Potions class setup

The potions classroom is in the dungeons, with each student at a cauldron and a shelf of labelled ingredients.

• Read the whole recipe before you start.
• Measure everything before you heat anything.

Teaching tip: Before brewing, have students lay out their station out loud: cauldron, scales, knife, ingredients. It builds good habits and cuts accidents.

Cauldrons and tools

Potions use cauldrons, scales, knives, ladles and stirring rods, each for a specific job.

• Pewter is the standard cauldron material.
• Never use a dirty cauldron, since old residue can ruin a new potion.

Teaching tip: Ask students to choose which tool they would use for a given task: scales, knife, ladle or stirrer. Link it to a potion.

Preparing ingredients

Ingredients are often sliced, crushed or ground before they go in, and the method matters.

• Cut evenly so the pieces cook at the same rate.
• Crush gently to release oils without making a mess.

Teaching tip: Have students describe how their character slices, crushes or grinds an ingredient. Precise verbs make for good roleplay.

Stirring and timing

Many potions depend on exact stirring directions and timing.

• Stirring the wrong way can ruin a batch.
• Never walk away from a potion that needs constant stirring.

Teaching tip: Run a timed brew: students stir clockwise for five counts, then anticlockwise for three. Discuss what happens when you rush.

Common brewing mistakes

Most failed potions come from skipping a step, adding too much, or heating too fast.

• Read the instructions twice.
• If something looks wrong, ask for help before adding more.

Teaching tip: Ask students to share one mistake their character made and how they fixed it. It builds humility and humour.

Potions safety

Wear protective gear, keep the workspace tidy and know where the nearest antidote or water is.

• Never taste a potion without permission.
• Tell the professor right away if anything spills or starts to bubble wildly.

Teaching tip: Practice the safety checklist as a quick drill: goggles or gloves on, hair tied back, windows open, a clear path to the door.

Skele-Gro

A potion that regrows missing bones, but the treatment is slow and unpleasant.

• Used in the Hospital Wing.
• It can take a whole night to work.

Teaching tip: Ask students to describe how it tastes and feels. It has a reputation for being unpleasant and slow.

Pepperup Potion

A warming potion that cures colds, with the side effect of steam coming out of the drinker's ears.

• Popular in cold months.
• Harmless but a bit embarrassing.

Teaching tip: Use it as a mild in-character illness scene. A student catches a cold, a classmate fetches the remedy.

Draught of Peace

A calming potion for anxiety and upset, but too much can put the drinker into a deep sleep.

• Brewed carefully and measured precisely.
• A good example of a potion that is helpful only in the right amount.

Teaching tip: Ask students what they would do if a nervous classmate needed it before an exam. Link it to being a good friend.

Shrinking Solution

A potion that makes things smaller, usually used as a lesson in careful dosing.

• Too much, and the object nearly disappears.
• Often used in beginner classes.

Teaching tip: Set up a funny scene: a student's item shrinks. They must describe the scale and what goes wrong or right.

Wiggenweld Potion

A healing potion that helps wake someone who has been put to sleep or is badly hurt.

• Known for restoring energy.
• A good potion for first-aid roleplay.

Teaching tip: Use it in a rescue scene. A student arrives with the potion and describes how they administered it safely.

Wolfsbane Potion

Lets a werewolf keep their human mind through the full moon.

• Taken during the week before the full moon.
• Very hard to brew, tastes awful, and sugar makes it useless.

Teaching tip: Pair it with Werewolf. Ask students to explain why the dose timing is the week before the full moon, not the night of.

Polyjuice Potion

Turns the drinker into another person for about an hour.

• Takes about a month to brew.
• Includes lacewing flies, leeches, knotgrass, boomslang skin, bicorn horn, and fluxweed picked at the full moon.
• Needs a bit of the person, usually hair. Not for animal changes.

Teaching tip: Have students list every ingredient with a timing rule and sort them into fresh, aged and moon-dependent.

Veritaserum

A clear truth potion with no smell. A few drops make the drinker spill their secrets.

• Needs a full moon cycle to mature.
• Its use on students is strictly controlled.

Teaching tip: Run an ethics round: when is it fair to make someone tell the truth, and who should decide? Keep it about rules, not about students.

Felix Felicis

Liquid luck. Makes everything you try go well for a while.

• Takes six months to brew and is disastrous if made wrong.
• Too much causes recklessness. Banned in exams and sports.

Teaching tip: Ask why a luck potion might be unfair in an exam or game. Students propose a rule that keeps things fair.

Draught of Living Death

A very powerful sleeping potion.

• Made with powdered asphodel root and an infusion of wormwood.

Teaching tip: Ask students to explain the difference between deep sleep and the potion's effect, and why precise measuring matters.

Amortentia

The strongest love potion. It smells different to each person, like the things they find most attractive.

• Has a pearly sheen and steam that rises in spirals.
• Creates obsession, not real love.

Teaching tip: Smell exercise in words only: each student describes three scents they find comforting, and what a character might smell in the steam.

Bezoar

A stone from the stomach of a goat that cures most poisons.

• A classic first-lesson question.

Teaching tip: Quick-fire drill: you describe a poisoning, students shout the first thing they reach for. Then discuss why it is not a cure for everything.