Potions Ingredients

• Type: Raw materials used in the art of Potion-making.
• Primary Users: Potioneers, Apothecaries, Healers, and students of Potions, particularly at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• Sources: Generally derived from three main categories: parts of Magical Creatures, magical and mundane Plants, and various minerals.

A Potions Ingredient is rarely used in its raw state. The magical properties of ingredients are unlocked and harnessed through precise preparation and combination according to a potion's recipe. The process of brewing is a delicate art that requires not only the correct ingredients but also their proper handling. Key aspects of preparation include:

• Method: The manner of processing is crucial. As seen in Professor Snape's advanced instructions for the Draught of Living Death, crushing a Sopophorous Bean with the flat side of a silver dagger releases more juice than simply cutting it. Other methods include dicing, mincing, stewing, and powdering.
• Quantity: Measurements must be exact. An incorrect amount of an ingredient can lead to an ineffective or even dangerous result, such as when Harry Potter's addition of extra Porcupine quills caused Neville's cauldron to melt during their first Potions lesson.
• Timing: Ingredients must often be added in a specific sequence, at precise intervals, and while the mixture is at a particular temperature. Stirring must also be done correctly, often for a set number of times and in a specific direction (e.g., clockwise or counter-clockwise).
• Freshness: The potency of many ingredients is dependent on their freshness or specific harvesting conditions, such as Fluxweed needing to be picked at the full moon for the Polyjuice Potion. Ingredients are typically stored in the Potions Classroom stock cupboard or, for rarer items, in a Potions Master's private stores.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of known ingredients mentioned in the novels. Plant-Based Ingredients

• Aconite: Also known as Monkshood or Wolfsbane. A key component of the Wolfsbane Potion.
• Asphodel: The root is a primary ingredient in the Draught of Living Death.
• Belladonna: Essence of Belladonna is a poisonous ingredient kept in the student stock cupboard.
• Bubotuber: The pus is a treatment for severe acne, though it must be handled with care.
• Daisy: The roots are a component of the Shrinking Solution.
• Dittany: The essence is a powerful healing agent that can regrow skin and staunch bleeding.
• Fluxweed: Used in the brewing of Polyjuice Potion.
• Gillyweed: When eaten, it allows a person to grow gills and webbing to breathe and navigate underwater.
• Knotgrass: An ingredient in Polyjuice Potion.
• Mandrake: A vital component of the Mandrake Restorative Draught, which cures Petrification.
• Mistletoe berries: An ingredient in the Antidote to Common Poisons.
• Nettles: Dried nettles are a common, basic ingredient.
• Shrivelfig: A magical plant that must be skinned for use in the Shrinking Solution.
• Sopophorous Bean: A difficult-to-prepare ingredient for the Draught of Living Death.
• Valerian sprigs: An ingredient in the Draught of Living Death.
• Wormwood: An infusion of wormwood is used in the Draught of Living Death.

Creature-Based Ingredients

• Ashwinder eggs: Frozen eggs from an Ashwinder are used in Love Potions.
• Bat spleens: A common ingredient stored in the classroom cupboard.
• Bicorn horn: Powdered horn is a required ingredient for Polyjuice Potion.
• Billywig stings: Used in the popular sweet Fizzing Whizbees and other potions.
• Boomslang skin: Shredded skin from this snake is an essential part of the Polyjuice Potion.
• Dragon blood: A substance with twelve discovered uses, one of which is as an oven cleaner.
• Dragon liver: A traded commodity, priced at sixteen Sickles an ounce.
• Erumpent horn: A highly explosive ingredient used in powerful potions.
• Graphorn horn: A very rare and expensive ingredient used in the Antidote to Uncommon Poisons.
• Horned Slugs: A basic ingredient for first-year students.
• Jobberknoll feathers: Used as a key ingredient in Truth Serums and Memory Potions.
• Lacewing Flies: Must be stewed for twenty-one days for the Polyjuice Potion.
• Leeches: Used in both Polyjuice Potion and the Shrinking Solution.
• Murtlap essence: A solution of pickled Murtlap tentacles that soothes magical cuts and bites.
• Occamy eggshells: The pure silver from the shells is a component of Felix Felicis.
• Phoenix tears: Possess immense healing powers, capable of reviving someone from the brink of death.
• Porcupine quills: Used in the Boil Cure Potion.
• Puffer-fish eyes: An ingredient in the Swelling Solution.
• Rat spleens: Used in the Shrinking Solution.
• Snake fangs: A basic ingredient that must be crushed for use.
• Unicorn blood: Can keep a person alive even if they are an inch from death, but at the cost of a cursed life.
• Unicorn horn: A powerful ingredient with purifying properties, used in antidotes.

Other and Mineral-Based Ingredients

• Bezoar: A stone taken from the stomach of a goat that acts as an antidote to most poisons.
• Moonstone: A mineral used in the Draught of Peace and other potions.

The procurement and use of Potions Ingredients are central to many plot developments throughout the series.

• Polyjuice Potion: The quest for ingredients such as Bicorn horn and Boomslang skin, stolen from Snape's private stores by Hermione Granger, was a major undertaking that allowed the trio to infiltrate the Slytherin common room.
• Gillyweed: This ingredient was crucial for Harry Potter's success in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, allowing him to breathe underwater for an hour.
• Bezoar: Harry's memory of the Bezoar from his very first Potions lesson enabled him to save Ron Weasley's life after he was poisoned by mead intended for Dumbledore.
• Dittany: The Essence of Dittany proved to be a critical healing item for the trio while they were on the run, most notably used to treat Ron's splinching injury after the escape from the Ministry of Magic.
• The Half-Blood Prince's Textbook: The Prince's annotations on ingredient preparation, such as how to properly handle the Sopophorous Bean, allowed Harry to excel in Potions and win the vial of Felix Felicis.

• Many of the ingredients used in the Harry Potter universe, such as Aconite (Wolfsbane), Belladonna, and Mandrake, are drawn from real-world botany, folklore, and historical alchemy, where they were often associated with magical or medicinal properties.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Neville Longbottom provides Harry with Gillyweed after learning about it from a book given to him by Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Mad-Eye Moody). In the novel, it is Dobby the House-Elf who steals the Gillyweed from Snape's office after overhearing Crouch Jr. talking to Professor McGonagall.
• During the planning for the Polyjuice Potion, Hermione Granger speculates that it might contain Yeti hair, though this is not mentioned in the final recipe she reads aloud. (CoS)