Emerald Potion

The Drink of Despair is a mysterious potion which induces fear, delirium, and extreme thirst. The drink cannot be penetrated by hand, vanished, parted, scooped up, siphoned away, Transfigured, Charmed, or made to change its nature in any way. It can only be drained away by drinking.

Lord Voldemort used this potion to protect Salazar Slytherin's Locket (one of his Horcruxes) within the Horcrux cave. This would provide a powerful defence, as one person cannot drink the entire content without collapsing from the terrible effects, and would require a second person to force feed the potion, which Voldemort considered impossible due to the enchanted boat is designed to carry only one person (though Voldemort did not factor in a person with lesser magic could ride as a second passenger).

Description
The Drink of Despair has an emerald green colour to it, and glows phosphorescently. As such, a green glow can be seen from the basin on the island in the middle of the lake from the far end of the cave. Even though Dumbledore said he could not change its nature in any way, Lord Voldemort turned the potion "crystal clear" to check the locket. It may be because he alone can alter the potion's characteristics to check the Horcrux, or because he only wanted to check on it rather than remove it from the basin.

Effects of the potion


"Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things... Kreacher's insides burned... Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed... He made Kreacher drink all the potion... He dropped a locket into the empty basin... He filled it with more potion..."

- Kreacher describing when Voldemort forced him to test the potion's defenses.

While its effects are not completely known, the potion would seem to cause the drinker to relive his or her most horrible memories, as if he or she were in a presence of a Dementor. It did cause Albus Dumbledore to either imagine or remember horrific events from his past.

His screams of "kill me" could either indicate a resurfacing of the memory of his sister's death (as in, "kill me instead") or a request to be delivered from the horrible pain he was experiencing, or both. It also causes the drinker to become extremely thirsty, although an enchantment causes any water conjured to vanish immediately. This forces its victim to attempt to drink water from the Horcrux cave lake, causing the Inferi, dead bodies enchanted to do a Dark Wizard's bidding, to attack.

In 1998, while telling Aberforth Dumbledore about what happened when his brother drank the potion, Harry mentions that Dumbledore was reliving the 3-way duel that broke out amongst them and Grindelwald and resulted in their sister Ariana's death.

Behind the scenes

 * In the movie, the Drink of Despair is a completely different colour, appearing as a murky black colour.
 * Also, in the book version, Dumbledore conjured a crystal cup out of thin air to drink the potion, while in the movie version, there was a seashell-shaped cup placed on top of the basin.
 * Though unnamed on the books, films, and video games, the track from the film's soundtrack which plays over the scene of Dumbledore consuming the potion is titled "The Drink of Despair." This would be a particularly appropriate name for the potion, given the morbid effect that it has on its drinker.
 * Although it is very likely that Dumbledore saw his sister when he drank the potion, there is no evidence for this other than Harry Potter telling Aberforth that was the most likely vision he saw
 * All 3 drinkers had had problems with their families, Dumbledore almost certainly re-lived his sister being killed and Abeforth blaiming him for her death,though it is unkown what kreacher and Regulus saw while they drank the potion
 * Both human drinkers - Albus Dumbledore and Regulus Black died shortly after drinking the potion while Kreacher survived for many years later. It was likely that Regulus as well as Dumbledore knew he was going to die
 * The potion, along with Regulus's death and having to live with the locket horcrux, probably contributed to Kreacher's bitter personality

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (soundtrack)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1