Potions (class)

"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses....I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

- Professor Snape during Harry Potter's first Potions class

Potions is a class taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this class, students learn how to brew potions, following specific recipes and using various magical ingredients to create their potions, starting with simple ones and moving to more advanced ones as they progress in knowledge. A standard potions kit includes plant ingredients such as Belladonna and supplies such as glass phials. Potions lessons take place in the Hogwarts dungeons.

Class Information
Potions is a required subject for first year students. Around 1981, Severus Snape became the professor of Potions at the school, and was still teaching at the school through 1996, when he was replaced by Horace Slughorn.

Potion recipes can be found in many books, including the books the students at Hogwarts use in their classes, but the professors teach the intricacies of timing, ageing, stirring techniques, and bottling that would be much more difficult to learn without the mentoring of the experienced masters.

When Severus Snape was the professor, students had to achieve an "O" in their O.W.L. to be able to take his advanced class. Because Professor Snape tended to favour students from Slytherin House more than other students, Slytherins tended to do better than others at the subject.

On the other hand, Horace Slughorn was much more lenient; Harry and Ron were both allowed to resume the class with only an "Exceeds Expectations" O.W.L.

Required Textbooks

 * Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
 * Advanced Potion Making by Libatius Borage

Known O.W.L.s

 * Terry Boot
 * Michael Corner
 * Hermione Granger
 * Ernie Macmillan
 * Draco Malfoy
 * Theodore Nott
 * Harry Potter
 * Ron Weasley
 * Blaise Zabini
 * Bill Weasley
 * Percy Weasley
 * Barty Crouch Jr.

Behind the scenes
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, many more students are shown to be in Harry's N.E.W.T. level Potions class than are mentioned in the book. The book specifically names Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione to be the only Gryffindors to have moved on to N.E.W.T. level, but the film shows Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Lavender Brown to be in the class as well. Katie Bell is also in the class in the film, although she is actually a seventh-year student.

Potions