The Drought of the Draught
The Draught of Living Death
As part of a revisit to some old issues, and due to some unexpected inspiration on my former sleep-filled morning tube (subway) journeys, I have had a nugget of thought about this potion that we have yet to see the applied use of in the HP series.
A quick background
Ingredients: asphodel, in an infusion of wormwood, valerian roots, sopophorus bean.
Effect: “Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death…” Snape,PS/SS
It is the first potion Slughorn sets and with the help of the HBP’s potions textbook, Harry gets it right and wins himself some Felix Felicis potion.
“First potion brewed in Slughorn's sixth-year N.E.W.T. Potions class. Instructions for brewing this potion can be found in Advanced Potion-Making starting on page 10, but the textbook's uncorrected instructions do not cover the most effective way of squeezing the juice out of the sopophorous beans (crushing with the flat side of a silver dagger rather than cutting) and do not indicate that a clockwise stir should be added after every seventh counter-clockwise stir. While brewing, the potion releases blue steam. The ideal halfway stage should be of a blackcurrant colour (deep purple), although at a later stage if stirred properly the potion will turn a light shade of lilac (HBP9)” HP-Lexicon
After Slughorn mentions to Snape of Harry’s potions-brewing abilities, we never hear of the potion again! JKR takes the effort to introduce us to a potion, introduce us to its concoction and effects, and then leaves us hanging about exactly where it has been used !
Other potions mentioned and then used
Bezoar - first informed of it by Snape, lesson1 potions - and then Harry uses it in HBP to save
Ron’s life.
Mandrake - Second year, first herbology lesson, repotting mandrakes- Hermione points out the uses
in petrification. Later actually used to restore all who were petrified (including
that furball Mrs. Norris).
Veritaserum - Snape threatens Harry with it after discovering his raided stores, and then finally
used on Imposter Moody
Polyjuice potion- First heard of in book2, the trio use it to spy on Malfoy. Subsequently used in
a major plot twist in book4 and by Malfoy and his cronies in book6.
Amortentia - First introduced by Slughorn - later we find that it is the reason behind Evil Tom’s
conception, and probably the reason that there is now this Dark Lord alive!
These are just a few examples written out. The point of this is to make clear that the casual drops JKR makes of what these seemingly harmless-to-the-plot potions are not casual. When you get to the end of events occurred per book or even the series thus far, it’s that old smack your forehead and think “oh well done JKR- you got us!”. She lays the clues - things don’t just happen out of the blue- she lays them out for us to find-(in Michael Gambon’s words) “if only one remembers to turn on the lights!”
So we have established the whole - JKR is a clever clever woman, who gives us all the pieces of the puzzle - just not the order. Things aren’t just there to fill the books- they are there for a reason.
The drought of the Draught
The only references to the Draught of Living Death - hereonin known as DoLD have been mentioned above. I just wonder - why give the potion such an important and perceptible name if it would serve no importance to the plot. Ok now for my ideas. Those of you who have read my previous essays may remember, I am in the Dumbledore-is-alive-I-can’t-let go - camp. One of my theories is that he took the DoLD and coming back! But that’s worth a whole essay to itself - and its not what I wanted to discuss here. I wondered what the other uses of the potion may be that would have an impact on the plot. And from here I entered “into thickets of wildest guesswork.”
That Veil
I retraced my steps, meaning- I reread the books and as I came to the chapter “Beyond the Veil” I still found that as with the very first time I read it - I had to reread it, to gain the sheer magnitude of what occurred. And after my first read, I went and looked up “dais” in the dictionary, because I was in that much disbelief about what had just occurred that I thought I wasn’t understanding properly! A few tears later - I duly noted the hints JKR laid for us in regard to Harry’s curiosity about the veil even weeks afterward - including a very fishy conversation with Luna about it. I concluded the veil is coming back at some point - but what would be the significance of it? It contains death! Hold that thought for a minute.
I am a subscriber to Harry’s scar is an inadvertent, accidental Horcrux which harbors a piece of Voldemort’s soul that manifested itself there through the failure of the curse in Godric’s Hollow. (another essay also). So how exactly is Harry to remove that soul from his head? Dementors? Well they’re not really that choosy about which souls they suck out- they may just take Harry’s soul too! Then I got to thinking about the great metaphysical and spiritual journey that Harry may have to take in order to defeat LV because lets face it, LV is a much more accomplished wizard. Hold that thought also.
The Riddle
The second task in the Triwizard Tournament yielded a riddle.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you re searching, ponder this:
We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,
An hour long you’ll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it wont come back"
Could this riddle really foreshadow what is to come in book seven?
Seek the voices/ whispers where they sound behind the veil.
Voices that cannot sing on earth? Voices of the dead.
Taken what you’ll sorely miss - Sirius.
An hour (come back to that in a bit).
The prospects black - yes- Siriusly Black.
Ok ok. To tie it all in together -
- Harry’s spiritual journey may have to be behind the Veil in the death chamber. Harry will not have to die to go there.
- He will have to take DoLD which will induce a sleep so powerful that he will have an out of body experience of sorts and be able to enter the spiritual world.
-Sirius will guide him.
- He will have one hour (as all good potions last - e.g. polyjuice, gillyweed) to complete his mission.
The mission is yet undecided in my mind - its between Harry removing LV’s soul out of his scar or taking LV in there with him somehow….
Obviously all this with Ron and Hermione at his physical side.
p.s sorry if all the formatting is annoying - it makes for a more concise essay
As part of a revisit to some old issues, and due to some unexpected inspiration on my former sleep-filled morning tube (subway) journeys, I have had a nugget of thought about this potion that we have yet to see the applied use of in the HP series.
A quick background
Ingredients: asphodel, in an infusion of wormwood, valerian roots, sopophorus bean.
Effect: “Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death…” Snape,PS/SS
It is the first potion Slughorn sets and with the help of the HBP’s potions textbook, Harry gets it right and wins himself some Felix Felicis potion.
“First potion brewed in Slughorn's sixth-year N.E.W.T. Potions class. Instructions for brewing this potion can be found in Advanced Potion-Making starting on page 10, but the textbook's uncorrected instructions do not cover the most effective way of squeezing the juice out of the sopophorous beans (crushing with the flat side of a silver dagger rather than cutting) and do not indicate that a clockwise stir should be added after every seventh counter-clockwise stir. While brewing, the potion releases blue steam. The ideal halfway stage should be of a blackcurrant colour (deep purple), although at a later stage if stirred properly the potion will turn a light shade of lilac (HBP9)” HP-Lexicon
After Slughorn mentions to Snape of Harry’s potions-brewing abilities, we never hear of the potion again! JKR takes the effort to introduce us to a potion, introduce us to its concoction and effects, and then leaves us hanging about exactly where it has been used !
Other potions mentioned and then used
Bezoar - first informed of it by Snape, lesson1 potions - and then Harry uses it in HBP to save
Ron’s life.
Mandrake - Second year, first herbology lesson, repotting mandrakes- Hermione points out the uses
in petrification. Later actually used to restore all who were petrified (including
that furball Mrs. Norris).
Veritaserum - Snape threatens Harry with it after discovering his raided stores, and then finally
used on Imposter Moody
Polyjuice potion- First heard of in book2, the trio use it to spy on Malfoy. Subsequently used in
a major plot twist in book4 and by Malfoy and his cronies in book6.
Amortentia - First introduced by Slughorn - later we find that it is the reason behind Evil Tom’s
conception, and probably the reason that there is now this Dark Lord alive!
These are just a few examples written out. The point of this is to make clear that the casual drops JKR makes of what these seemingly harmless-to-the-plot potions are not casual. When you get to the end of events occurred per book or even the series thus far, it’s that old smack your forehead and think “oh well done JKR- you got us!”. She lays the clues - things don’t just happen out of the blue- she lays them out for us to find-(in Michael Gambon’s words) “if only one remembers to turn on the lights!”
So we have established the whole - JKR is a clever clever woman, who gives us all the pieces of the puzzle - just not the order. Things aren’t just there to fill the books- they are there for a reason.
The drought of the Draught
The only references to the Draught of Living Death - hereonin known as DoLD have been mentioned above. I just wonder - why give the potion such an important and perceptible name if it would serve no importance to the plot. Ok now for my ideas. Those of you who have read my previous essays may remember, I am in the Dumbledore-is-alive-I-can’t-let go - camp. One of my theories is that he took the DoLD and coming back! But that’s worth a whole essay to itself - and its not what I wanted to discuss here. I wondered what the other uses of the potion may be that would have an impact on the plot. And from here I entered “into thickets of wildest guesswork.”
That Veil
I retraced my steps, meaning- I reread the books and as I came to the chapter “Beyond the Veil” I still found that as with the very first time I read it - I had to reread it, to gain the sheer magnitude of what occurred. And after my first read, I went and looked up “dais” in the dictionary, because I was in that much disbelief about what had just occurred that I thought I wasn’t understanding properly! A few tears later - I duly noted the hints JKR laid for us in regard to Harry’s curiosity about the veil even weeks afterward - including a very fishy conversation with Luna about it. I concluded the veil is coming back at some point - but what would be the significance of it? It contains death! Hold that thought for a minute.
I am a subscriber to Harry’s scar is an inadvertent, accidental Horcrux which harbors a piece of Voldemort’s soul that manifested itself there through the failure of the curse in Godric’s Hollow. (another essay also). So how exactly is Harry to remove that soul from his head? Dementors? Well they’re not really that choosy about which souls they suck out- they may just take Harry’s soul too! Then I got to thinking about the great metaphysical and spiritual journey that Harry may have to take in order to defeat LV because lets face it, LV is a much more accomplished wizard. Hold that thought also.
The Riddle
The second task in the Triwizard Tournament yielded a riddle.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you re searching, ponder this:
We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,
An hour long you’ll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it wont come back"
Could this riddle really foreshadow what is to come in book seven?
Seek the voices/ whispers where they sound behind the veil.
Voices that cannot sing on earth? Voices of the dead.
Taken what you’ll sorely miss - Sirius.
An hour (come back to that in a bit).
The prospects black - yes- Siriusly Black.
Ok ok. To tie it all in together -
- Harry’s spiritual journey may have to be behind the Veil in the death chamber. Harry will not have to die to go there.
- He will have to take DoLD which will induce a sleep so powerful that he will have an out of body experience of sorts and be able to enter the spiritual world.
-Sirius will guide him.
- He will have one hour (as all good potions last - e.g. polyjuice, gillyweed) to complete his mission.
The mission is yet undecided in my mind - its between Harry removing LV’s soul out of his scar or taking LV in there with him somehow….
Obviously all this with Ron and Hermione at his physical side.
p.s sorry if all the formatting is annoying - it makes for a more concise essay