Powdered Moonstone

• Type: Potion Ingredient
• Known Potion Uses:
  • Draught of Peace
  • Love Potions (Pottermore)
  • Wolfsbane Potion (Pottermore)

As its name suggests, Powdered Moonstone is the result of a moonstone gem being crushed or ground into a fine powder. While its exact appearance is not described in the novels, it is likely a pale, shimmering powder, reflecting the opalescent and pearly qualities of the raw gemstone from which it is derived. It is a standard ingredient found in the Hogwarts Potions classroom and available for students to use.

Powdered Moonstone is a versatile potion ingredient known for its calming and stabilizing properties, often associated with clarity of mind and emotional balance. Its known applications demonstrate its influence over mental and emotional states.

• Draught of Peace: Powdered Moonstone is a key ingredient in this advanced potion, which is designed to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. The instructions for its inclusion are very precise; the brewer must add the moonstone, stir three times counter-clockwise, and allow the mixture to simmer for a specific duration before adding other ingredients like syrup of hellebore. This precision suggests its properties must be released under specific conditions to be effective.
• Wolfsbane Potion: This complex potion allows a werewolf to retain their human mind during their monthly transformation. The inclusion of Powdered Moonstone likely contributes to the mental stability the potion provides, helping to control the beast within. (Pottermore)
• Love Potions: Its use in various Love Potions indicates that its magical properties also extend to influencing emotions of affection and infatuation. (Pottermore)

The common thread across these uses is the ingredient's ability to stabilize a volatile or agitated state, whether it is general anxiety, the mind of a transforming werewolf, or the emotions of a person targeted by a Love Potion.

Powdered Moonstone is mentioned explicitly in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. During a fifth-year Potions class, Professor Snape tasks his students with brewing the Draught of Peace, with the recipe written on the blackboard. The lesson takes place while Dolores Umbridge is observing and evaluating Snape's teaching. The potion is notoriously difficult, and Harry Potter, who is feeling particularly stressed and agitated, makes a critical error. The instructions require adding the Powdered Moonstone and stirring three times counter-clockwise. Distracted, Harry fails to follow the steps correctly, causing his potion to emit “great billowing clouds of dark grey smoke.” Snape uses Harry's failure to berate him and vanishes the botched potion, highlighting the ongoing antagonism between them as well as the high-pressure environment created by Umbridge's presence at Hogwarts.

• In real-world folklore and crystal mythology, moonstone is often associated with calmness, intuition, emotional balance, and love. Its connection to the moon also makes its inclusion in the Wolfsbane Potion particularly fitting.
• According to the official Wizarding World website, Powdered Moonstone is also an ingredient in the Wolfsbane Potion and various Love Potions, expanding on its uses mentioned in the novels. (Pottermore)
• In the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game, Powdered Moonstone is listed as an ingredient in the Draught of Living Death. This is a deviation from the books, which do not list the full ingredients for this potion. (video game)