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The Harry Potter universe introduced the world to a new dimension of magic, and potion-making was one of the most interesting subjects at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was a subject that required razor-sharp precision and intense concentration, and it was extremely difficult to master.
Severus Snape, Lily Evans, Horace Slughorn, and Hermione Granger were skilled at making these potent magic brews, proving that only the smartest could whip up potions. However, some potions were extremely complicated, with long preparation times, intricate methods, and rare ingredients. They were also the ones that usually had deadly or highly restorative properties.
10 Polyjuice Potion Contained Rare Ingredients
Found in a book in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library, the Polyjuice Potion was the most well-known in Harry Potter. It was concocted with some of the rarest potion ingredients, like Fluxweed, Boomslang skin, and Horn of Bicorn, and it took nearly a month to be brewed to perfection.
Even these ingredients had to be picked and used in a specific manner. The Fluxweed had to be collected under moonlight, and lacewing flies had to be stewed for 21 days beforehand. The potion then had to be made in two parts, the final of which involved obtaining the hair of the person who the drinker wishes to impersonate. Polyjuice Potion’s steps and directions made it quite complex.
9 Felix Felicis Aka Liquid Luck Had Several Complicated Steps
Harry Potter‘s Liquid Luck was a sought-after potion for its good fortune. Preparing it was a time-consuming process with very specific instructions. After mixing together ingredients like an Ashwinder egg, Occamy eggshells, and squill bulbs in a specific order, wizards had to cast the Felixempra spell with figure of eight motions.
The work didn’t end here. Liquid Luck had to be stewed for nearly six months before it was usable, and getting it wrong could spell disaster for the drinker. It only made sense that such a powerful potion would be complicated to brew.
8 Mandrake Restorative Draught Used A Difficult Ingredient
The Mandrake Restorative Draught was vital in Chamber of Secrets, as it was used to revive Hermione, Justin, Mrs. Norris, and Colin from their petrified state. The Draught took the better part of the school year to make because fully-matured Mandrakes were the main ingredient in it.
The potion was made by Severus Snape, as nobody else was capable of perfecting it at Hogwarts. Lockhart did claim to be an expert at it, so it was safe to assume that the potion was difficult to make, as the professor loved to make tall claims. It was challenging to grow and take care of Mandrakes, as their cry could knock humans out.
7 Harry Could Only Make The Draught Of Living Death When He Had The Half-Blood Prince’s Tips
Used to send the drinker into a death-like sleep, the Draught Of Living Death was one of the toughest potions that Harry and his class had attempted to make, according to Slughorn. Year six N.E.W.T students were assigned this task to win a vial of Felix Felicis, which further proved how complex it was.
The Draught Of Living Death was so difficult that even Hermione, who was top of the class, struggled to make it correctly. Harry was only able to achieve any success in the potion’s preparation because of the Half-Blood Prince’s notes in his textbook.
6 Drink Of Despair Had Unique And Terrifying Qualities
Easily one of the weirdest potions in the franchise, the Drink of Despair was the emerald-colored potion that Dumbledore was forced to drink while he and Harry were looking for one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. The Drink of Despair had several unique and horrifying qualities, like inducing excruciating pain and delirium, which indicated that it would have had a complex method of preparation.
The potion managed to bring the great Dumbledore to his knees, and kept Voldemort’s soul safe. Its exact ingredients and instructions aren’t known, but its unforgiving nature made it clear that Voldemort’s concoction was a tricky one.
5 Voldemort’s Regeneration Potion Used Dark Magic
Like most of Voldemort’s weapons of choice, the Regeneration Potion that brought him back to the physical plane was full of cruelty and violence. The ingredients for the potion consisted of the bone of the father taken unwillingly, the flesh of the servant surrendered willingly, and the blood of the enemy taken forcibly.
In order to execute this potion, Voldemort, Crouch, and Pettigrew had to hatch an elaborate plan to capture Harry. Then, they had to forcibly take his blood. Creating a new body for a wizard was not easy, and this potion relied on very old, very dark magic.
4 Elixir Of Life Was Incredibly Powerful
The potion that originated from the infamous Philosopher’s Stone was easily the most powerful magic to exist in the Harry Potter universe, as it granted its user immortality. Nicolas Flammel had benefited from the Elixir of Life for over 600 years, so it was no surprise that Voldemort wanted it for himself.
The Elixir of Life was a mix of conventional magic and alchemy, which meant that it was not easy to create, especially because there was only one known Philosopher’s Stone. In fact, the potion should have been illegal because of how dangerous it could be in the wrong hands.
3 Only Advanced Potion Masters Could Make Veritaserum
Veritaserum was the strongest truth serum in Harry Potter, and brewing it was incredibly time-consuming and convoluted. Considered a very practical potion in the Wizarding World, only three drops of Veritaserum were enough to make someone tell the truth. However, it took over a month to stew and become perfect.
Not only did Veritaserum require a lot of time, but it also had to mature over the course of one full lunar cycle in order to be effective. Only an advanced potion master could make this correctly, which is likely why it wasn’t used more in the Harry Potter movies.
2 Amortentia Wasn’t Allowed At Hogwarts
The most formidable love potion, Amortentia, was considered so dangerous that it wasn’t allowed at Hogwarts. Only Slughorn was allowed to bring it in, and that was only for educational purposes – to show his N.E.W.T students its power and technique. It was clearly an advanced potion because sixth years were introduced to it.
Amortentia had given rise to a number of unfortunate situations, including Voldemort’s birth. His mother had used the potion on his father, so he was conceived under false pretenses. This much-feared potion was also studied extensively at the Ministry of Magic.
1 Wolfsbane Potion Was So Complex That Most Werewolves Couldn’t Attain It
Horace Slughorn had stated that immense effort would have gone into creating the Wolfsbane Potion by its inventor Damocles Belby because of how intensive the making process was. The Wolfsbane Potion did lycanthropes a huge favor by easing their transformations, but the ingredients in the concoction were extremely expensive and rare.
In fact, Wolfsbane Potion was so complex that it was actually inaccessible to most werewolves, who could have benefited from it. Lupin was only able to get his dose when he came to Hogwarts because Dumbledore asked Snape to brew it for him. Lupin even told Harry how grateful he was that Snape brewed the potion for him, claiming that “many wizards aren’t up to making it.”
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