Wolfsbane Potion

The Wolfsbane Potion is an innovative and complex potion that relieves, but does not cure, the symptoms of lycanthropy. The main ingredient is wolfsbane (also referred to as aconite or monkshood). It was invented by Damocles in the recent past, most likely after the mid-1970s, as it was not available to Remus Lupin in his youth.

If the affected individual drinks the potion prior to the full moon, they will transform only into a normal wolf and retain control over their actions, rather than making the full transformation into a werewolf. It is a complicated recipe and must be imbibed once per day in the week leading up to the full moon.

The completed potion smokes faintly. According to Remus Lupin, it has a "disgusting" taste, but adding sugar will render it ineffective.

Severus Snape brewed this potion for Remus Lupin during Lupin's year as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In 1996, Lupin told Harry that even though the two professors were not on friendly terms, he was grateful to Snape for following the recipe; he admitted Snape could have wrought havoc on the school by tampering with the potion.