Polyjuice Potion is a very complicated potion that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else. While it can account for both age and gender, Polyjuice Potion cannot be used for a human to take an animal form or for a half-breed to assume human form. It was used many times in the events leading up to, and during, the Second Wizarding War (and possibly the First Wizarding War, although there are no documented instances of it).
Ingredients
1. 12 lacewing flies that have been stewed for 21 days
2. 1 ounce of crude Antimony
3. 4 leeches that have been "unsucculated" (which presumably means their suckers have been removed)
4. 16 scruples of fluxweed that was picked at full moon
5. 3 drachms of pulverised Sal Ammoniac
6. Pulverised blades of knotgrass
7. 1 pinch of powdered horn of a Bicorn that has been "lunar extracted" (which presumably means that, like the fluxweed, its collection time coincided with certain lunar conditions)
8. Filings and rasplings of Salpeter, Mercury and Mars ("filings of Mars" may mean iron filings, as the symbol for the planet Mars, ♂, is also used to signify the element of iron )
9. Shredded dried skin of a Boomslang
10. Extract of The-Transfigured-Being-To-Be (which means a piece of the person one wants to change into, typically hair)
It takes at least two to three months to brew properly.
A piece of the person who is to be imitated — usually hair — is needed for the transformation. Before this final ingredient is added, Polyjuice looks like thick, dark mud that bubbles slowly. When the piece of the person to be imitated is added, however, the potion changes colour; it seems to react according to the nature of the person to be imitated, once even described as the 'essence' of the person. Good-hearted people result in more attractive colours and tastes, while mean people cause the opposite effect.
Questions on the upcoming test will be on what the potion DOES, not on the ingredients. Make sure you remember that.
Ingredients
1. 12 lacewing flies that have been stewed for 21 days
2. 1 ounce of crude Antimony
3. 4 leeches that have been "unsucculated" (which presumably means their suckers have been removed)
4. 16 scruples of fluxweed that was picked at full moon
5. 3 drachms of pulverised Sal Ammoniac
6. Pulverised blades of knotgrass
7. 1 pinch of powdered horn of a Bicorn that has been "lunar extracted" (which presumably means that, like the fluxweed, its collection time coincided with certain lunar conditions)
8. Filings and rasplings of Salpeter, Mercury and Mars ("filings of Mars" may mean iron filings, as the symbol for the planet Mars, ♂, is also used to signify the element of iron )
9. Shredded dried skin of a Boomslang
10. Extract of The-Transfigured-Being-To-Be (which means a piece of the person one wants to change into, typically hair)
It takes at least two to three months to brew properly.
A piece of the person who is to be imitated — usually hair — is needed for the transformation. Before this final ingredient is added, Polyjuice looks like thick, dark mud that bubbles slowly. When the piece of the person to be imitated is added, however, the potion changes colour; it seems to react according to the nature of the person to be imitated, once even described as the 'essence' of the person. Good-hearted people result in more attractive colours and tastes, while mean people cause the opposite effect.
Questions on the upcoming test will be on what the potion DOES, not on the ingredients. Make sure you remember that.
