Wolfsbane Potion
The Potion
Wolfsbane Potion is a canon potion, invented in the mid 1970s by Damocles Belby.
Ingredients
According to the HP wiki, one of the reasons the Wolfsbane Potion is difficult for individuals to brew on their own is that most of the ingredients are very expensive and hard to acquire.
- Aconite
- Black Quicksilver, pulverized [1]
- Giant moonwort. "He watched Hannah inspect the giant moonwort. It was usually a really tiny plant, apparently, and these larger palm-sized leaves were better because of how long Wolfsbane Potion had to cook." [2]
- Myrrh, pickled in carrow spider ichor. Not in itself at all illegal, but this particular preparation is only used in Wolfsbane Potion. [3]
Preparation
- It must have ample time to cure/ferment.
Appearance
- Disgusting taste, but rendered useless if sugar is added.
- Emits a faint blue smoke
Effects and Duration
- Must be drank by the goblet-full each day for seven days preceding the full moon.
- Mitigates but does not cure the symptoms of lycanthropy.
- Allows the werewolf to maintain sense of self, making them far less dangerous
Regulation and Skill Level
- Brewing is extremely difficult and the consequences of improper brewing are disastrous.
- As of DATE production is regulated by the Ministry of Magic for quality control purposes.
- It is illegal to brew Wolfsbane Potion without a sanction. However private potioneers do brew and distribute for both altruism, exploitation, and profit.
- Each dose of Wolfsbane Potion created by the Ministry of Magic is marked with a seal and serial number, which can be tracked to the brewer and recipient.
Known Brewers
It is illegal to brew Wolfsbane Potion without approval from the Ministry of Magic which enforces strict standards.
- Dazmond Wiedman operates out of Knockturn Alley with her own recipe that she claims is better than the Ministry's standard, and more palatable. She charges about 5 galleons per month's supply.
- Flynn Hughes has been secretly attempting to improve upon the potion.
- Nicodemus Gunnar is an approved private brewer, and personally provided the potion for Olivia Foley during her time at Hogwarts. Please Take Care of this Werewolf, April 20, 2009
- Hannah Bombay has begun to brew in 2010 or 2011 as part of her and Knox Greyfriar's efforts in Underground Werewolf Clinic. (As of 2011, Knox is not aware.) [4]
- Zelda Sellaphix and Rafe Sellaphix of Sellaphix Apothecary discreetly supply some of the rarer ingredients to brewers. Figaro is aware as of 2011. [5]
Variations
A few variations have cropped up. Only the original classic is sanctioned and distributed by the Ministry of Magic.
- Original
- Tainted Wolfsbane Potion - accidental and totally ineffective version caused by accidentally contaminated ingredients.
- Dazmond Wiedman has an adjustment to the potion that makes it palatable.
- Nicodemus Gunnar also has created Taste Bane, another more palatable version [6]
“I have been able to experiment with the olfactory and flavor factors with this lovely,” he shook the flask, “brew without decreasing its potency.” He quickly turned his gaze to Knox to explain, “There are ways to test such things without requiring someone to drink the beverage you see,” it involved an old kitty with Alzheimer’s and a pickle, but Nico decided not to go into the specifics now.
- Nicodemus is also rumored to have another version in the works known as Quality Gain, but its specifics are unknown.
- Flynn Hughes is working on a more effective variation.
References
- Wolf to the Slaughter, November 9, 2008 - Lexus Dale meets with Dazmond Wiedman to procure black market Wolfsbane Potion.
- In 2009, Tainted Wolfsbane within the Ministry supply was responsible for disastrous, uncontrolled transformations.
- It has been rumored that in 2009 the Department of Mysteries was working on a total cure, which required large quantities of Runespoor Venom. This may have contributed to the rise of Runespoor in Britain which caused so many problems.
