Potions & Ingredients

Amortentia is the most frightening potion Ron has ever heard of.

Blood-Replenishing Potion is a potion that Harry has become quite adept at making ever since he started working with Fred and George, much to Snapes surprise.

Calming Draught was something that Madam Pomfrey often ran out of at the beginning and end of each year, what with all the first years away from home for the first time, and the fifth and seventh years taking their OWLS and NEWTS.

Draught of Living Death was often used when Medi-Wizards needed to keep their patient asleep for a longer than normal time to properly heal.

Everlasting Elixirs are both useful and annoying as for as Severus Snape is concerned, they are far too sensitive to everything around the cauldron as they are being brewed.

Fire Protection Potions are something every person working on any dragon preserve in the world knows how to make perfectly, and without looking at the recipe after the first few weeks on the job.

Ginger, who would have thought that this quite tasty root would not only make the Wolfsbane Potion taste better, therefore easier for werewolves to drink each month, but also work better, taking away much of the pain of the transformation.

Hair-Raising Potions are the most irritating potion many long haired people could name; after all, who wants to dust the ceiling with their hair!

Instant Darkness Powder was not something that Hermione would have ever thought would be useful in a potions lab, but she's found that it's the only way to safely add the last two ingredients without it exploding.

Jarvey tongues are a very hard to find, key component for the only known cure to Tarets Syndrome, something that could fatally mess up complex spells. (1)

Kelpie blood is a key ingredient in the little known potion to transform a person into their Animagus form the first time, making it easier to make the transformation on their own later.

Leeches, when live, were a pain to work with, they loved to latch onto to your fingers when you tried to pick them up to add to your potion.

Murtlap Essence, made with the tentacles, may be used to sooth and heal minor wounds; Murtlap Essence made from the skins from the main body however makes a great base for hair coloring potions.

Newt Tongues combined with phoenix saliva and then added to Hiccupping Solution makes the drinker emit multicolored bubbles instead of stopping the hiccups.

Oblivious Unction was an interesting potion, it was mainly used to heal the mind after Legilamentic attack; oddly enough it was also a potion that the Department of Mysteries used liters of it every month.

Puffer Fish Eyes, in Neville's opinion, were in the top five saddest things in potion making, only in the top ten for most disgusting.

'Quills of a porcupine, silk of a black widow, scales from the RIGHT head of a Runespoor, leaves from a Whomping Willow, and pomegranate juice...' now Luna's only problem was finding a Runespoor and figuring out just what pomegranates are and how to get the juice from them.

Runespoor Eggs were not something that Harry had expected to have an abundance of when he rescued two young Runespoors; thank Merlin that Severus Snape had an apothecary with a permit to sell the eggs for potions, and Luna had her pet shop with a permit to sell Runespoors as pets.

Sleeping potions were, unsurprisingly, very dangerous potions; if the person taking them was not very careful to take them properly they could cause comas and even death.

Tebo hair was the final ingredient Draco needed to complete the invisibility potion he'd been working on for the last six months; the only problem, Tebo were extraordinarily difficult to catch let alone pluck hairs from.

Unicorn Saliva is a little know potions ingredient, mainly used in potions to heal the vocal cords and other auditory ailment.

Veritaserum may be the most powerful truth potion around but it has two major flaws; one being that it only makes the drinker tell the truth as they know it, the other being that major amounts of sugar in the drinkers system renders it useless.

Wartcap Powder, oddly enough, totally ruins any kind of skin strengthening potion, even though the powder alone causes the skin of anyone who touches it to form a thick hard crust.

Xeno studies were a subject that many potion masters had found to be most helpful in their work, something that Hermione found very funny when Harry told her and Ron that he was going to try to gain his Mastery in potions. (2)

Yeti Fur was a key ingredient in potions to protect a person from major cold, however it is highly dangerous to hunt (killing is illegal) Yeti, and only those who have been properly trained are allowed to hunt them.

Zebra Tail-Hairs, despite being from a 'muggle' animal, can be added to any hair coloring potion to give the user zebra striped hair in shades of whatever color the potion is for. (3)

Authors Notes:

(1) I found the Jarvey in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It is a real book, but it's out of print so you can only find it second hand or you can search for a PDF copy of it on line.

(2) Xeno - foreign, strange, different

(3) Another homage to T'Key'la, also I could not think of anything else to use as a potion ingredient.