Potions

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Professor Snape reminds his students at the beginning of class that potions are not just a lot of wand-waving, but begin with careful attention to ingredients and technique. His recipes rely on a number of plant- and animal-based ingredients, many commonly found in early modern books. Antidotes and spells can be found in a variety of genres in the Academy Library’s collection, including cookbooks, herbals, and natural histories.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Bezoar
Bezoar
It's round, reddish, and a little bigger than a baseball, but think again if the only Hogwarts association you have is a Quaffle, the ball used in the wizarding world's beloved sport Quidditch. Die-hard Harry Potter fans may recognize this object as a bezoar—which means "protection from poison" in Persian, and refers to the stony mass in a ruminant animal’s stomach. Bezoars were used throughout Europe for medicinal purposes for centuries and were thought to have magical properties. In the wizarding world, bezoars were a key ingredient in the Antidote to Common Poisons. Our bezoar, pictured here, dates to 1862 and comes from the stomach of a cow.
Culpeper's Star Thistle
Culpeper's Star Thistle
Over forty editions of the English apothecary Nicholas Culpeper's popular English Physician have been published since 1653, rendering it one of the most popular herbals ever in print. The Academy Library has many editions of this richly-detailed catalog of medicinal plants, including this expanded, hand-colored edition from 1818. Culpeper tells us that star thistle (upper left) grows wild in the fields around London in many places, and that the seeds and roots are efficacious as diuretics (at Hogwarts the plant is mentioned as a common Potions ingredient). Mulpepper's Apothecary in Diagon Alley provided many a wizard with potion ingredients; the shop's name is a nod to one of the most popular keepers of pharmaceutical knowledge in British
Show moreOver forty editions of the English apothecary Nicholas Culpeper's popular English Physician have been published since 1653, rendering it one of the most popular herbals ever in print. The Academy Library has many editions of this richly-detailed catalog of medicinal plants, including this expanded, hand-colored edition from 1818. Culpeper tells us that star thistle (upper left) grows wild in the fields around London in many places, and that the seeds and roots are efficacious as diuretics (at Hogwarts the plant is mentioned as a common Potions ingredient). Mulpepper's Apothecary in Diagon Alley provided many a wizard with potion ingredients; the shop's name is a nod to one of the most popular keepers of pharmaceutical knowledge in British history.
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Distillation Apparatus
Distillation Apparatus
Serviceable copper cauldrons may be found for first years at Potage's in Diagon Alley, but for more advanced potions, students can consult the pages of Philipp Ulstadt's work on distillation for an apparatus upgrade. Ulstadt, a Swiss physician and professor whose very popular Coelum Philosophorum contained concise technical instructions for the processes of distillation, illustrated his manual with hand-colored woodcuts. Among Ulstadt's recipes are many for distillates of herbs and plants with wine, directions for making aqua vitae, and recipes for potable gold. Read closely, and you may find a formula for the molten gold Felix Felicis is near...we wish you lots of Liquid Luck. 
Pomet's Bezoar with Goat
Pomet's Bezoar with Goat
The French druggist Pierre Pomet devotes a section of his comprehensive history of drugs to bezoars, explaining that the stones appear in the stomachs of cows, apes, and goats. Pomet's goat leaps over a bezoar, sliced open like a geode to reveal its efficacious core. Pomet argues that this bezoar, produced in the belly of a high-leaping wild goat common in the East Indies, would promote sweat and drive away malignant humors. We'd wager Monsieur Pomet, apothecary to Louis XIV, could give even Snape a run for his wand in a battle of the Potion-Masters.