The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter (31 page)

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Authors: Tere Stouffer

Bubotubers
This plant looks like a large slug with boils on it, which are filled with pus. The boils can be squeezed and the pus collected; when diluted, it’s used to treat severe acne. Undiluted, however, it can damage the skin, so when squeezing the boils, wizards wear dragon-skin gloves.
Tuber
is Latin for tumor, which makes sense. But
bubo
is Latin for horned owl, and that’s where we lose any probable translation, as the plant hardly resembles a tumor-filled horned owl.
Devil’s Snare
Devil’s Snare looks like several large snakes: the plant has huge tendrils that twist around your limbs and squeeze you to death. It dies in daylight, in dry conditions, and when exposed to fire. Devil’s snare is very much like the creature that attacked Frodo (in
The Fellowship of the Ring
) at the passageway inside Moria; what Tolkien described as “a host of snakes” that were trying to wrap their way around Frodo and strangle him.
One can also think of Devil’s Snare like the Southern weed kudzu, which grows rampantly and multiplies so quickly that it squeezes out every other plant in its path.
Gillyweed
Gillyweed is another unattractive plant: it grows in long, green-gray, spaghetti-like tendrils about a quarter-inch in diameter. Gillyweed (translating loosely to “a weed that gives you gills”) sets you up for underwater travel: ingesting the plant allows you, for one hour, to breathe and swim like an amphibian. You sprout gills, grow webs between your fingers and toes, and can withstand the cold temperature of water.
Gillyweed is, essentially, the wizard equivalent of Scuba equipment (which lets you breathe underwater) and a wet suit (which allows your body to withstand cold underwater temperature). Just think of all the money wizards save on Scuba gear rental!
Sopophorous Bean
Sopophorous bean is used in the Draught of Living Death. The word “soporific” is an SAT word that means “causing sleep”; it’s from the Latin
spoor,
meaning sleep. This makes sense, given that living death is a comalike state—a deep sleep.
Venomous Tentacula
This red plant has long feelers that seize you from behind when you’re least expecting it. You can, however, slap it away if you notice the feelers encircling you. The black, shriveled seeds (which are of unknown use) are a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance, which means if you try to sell them, you’d get in big trouble with the Ministry, buster.
Tentacula is likely a play on “tentacle” and “Dracula,” the blood-sucking vampire. That the plant is red is an interesting twist on the healing powers of plants. Traditionally, any red plant was useful in
treating
“red” medical problems—that is, blood disorders, bloody injuries, and the like. But this particular red plant is itself out for blood, so to speak.
Chapter 11
Round About the Cauldron Go: Draughts and Potions
In This Chapter
•
Gathering potion-making tools
•
Getting the lowdown on insects and creatures
•
Finding a list of common magical potions
Magical potions—what we might think of as “witch’s brew”—give wizards the power to heal, kill, extract the truth, and produce a variety of other behaviors and emotions. Potions are produced in cauldrons, using mostly herbs and portions of insects or other creatures. This chapter shares the secrets of the most well-known potions, as well as some of the key ingredients that go into them.
One more note before moving on to the ins and outs of potions: one of the reference books mentioned in Rowling’s novels is
Moste Potente Potions,
a book whose name is not meant to be difficult to pronounce, but instead recalls Middle English, spoken in the British Isles from 1066 C.E. to about 1550.
KING’S ENGLISH
The English language can be divided into three periods: Old English (approximately 450 C.E.-1066 C.E., a blend of Celtic and Old Norse languages; Middle English (1066-1550), with a strong Latin and French influence; and Modern English (1550-present). Although Old English is unreadable to an English speaker, Middle English can be understood, but reading it is slow going. For example, from Chaucer’s Tale of Melibeus: "and the moste parte of that companye have scorned these olde wise men.” Basically, to master Middle English, you talk with a lot of pomp and fluff, and you add an "e” to the end of moste
Basic Tools: Cauldrons, Flagons, Phials, and Scales
Wizards—both those who are in training and those with experience— primarily use four tools to make potions:
•
A
cauldron
(also spelled “caldron”) is a large metal pot used to boil liquids (or, for that matter, to make Muggle stew or chili). It may be made of copper, brass, pewter, or silver, and, if charmed correctly, may be collapsible (easier for carrying) or self-stirring (no bits of lacewings burning to the bottom of the cauldron). For a brief history of cauldrons, see the “Cauldron Shop” section in Chapter 7.
•
Better known as a flask, a
flagon
is a container or bottle for beverages (usually alcoholic ones, in the Muggle world) that has a short or narrow neck and may have a handle, spout, or lid. A flagon also refers to what’s inside the bottle, so a “flagon of whiskey” is an actual amount, akin to a “pint of whiskey.” Rowling doesn’t discuss the actual uses of flagons in the wizarding world, but presumably, they hold ingredients for potions.
•
From the Latin
phialia
and the Greek
phiale, phial
is also
vial
in English: a small glass bottle, often used for storing medicines. Phials are used for storing prepared potions by inserting a stopper in the top of the bottle, sealing the contents for future use.
•
A
scale
is another word for a weighing balance, which was an old way to weigh objects. It works a bit like a seesaw. Place an object of known mass (say, one ounce) on one side of the scale, and another object of unknown mass on the other side of the scale. If the scale tips to the side of the unknown object, it weighs more than one ounce; if it tips to the side of the known object, the unknown object weighs less than one ounce. (Potions sometimes require precise amounts of ingredients, which would need to be of a certain weight or volume, as is the case when Muggles bake and need to get the exact amount of flour into the cake. On the other hand, as is the case with other types of Muggle cooking, potions sometimes require only “close-enough” amounts, like a pinch of rat’s tail.)
In addition, knives and other cutting instruments are used to chop, grind, and grate ingredients.
The herbs and insects/creatures that go into most potions can be found in an apothecary (see Chapter 7). The ingredients can also be grown or collected on your own, but buying them is certainly cleaner and easier. Ingredients can be bought individually or as part of potion-making kits.
MAGIC TALE
Besides Rowling’s novels, perhaps the best-known literary work depicting cauldrons is Shakespeare’s Scottish play,
Macbeth.
In Act IV, Scene I, witches throw into a cauldron ingredients that surely influenced Rowling: snake fillet, newt eye, frog toe, dog tongue, owl wing, lizard leg, dragon scale, wolf tooth, baboon blood, and so on! As these ingredients are tossed into a cauldron, three witches incant, "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”

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