The Draught of Peace is a potion which relieves anxiety and agitation. Its ingredients are powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore, powdered porcupine quills, and powdered unicorn horn. It should be a turquoise blue when finished and simmered before being drunk.
It is ironically a difficult potion to make, requiring that the brewer follow the directions carefully, because making a mistake can have drastic consequences. Adding too much of the ingredients, for instance, will put the drinker of the potion into a deep — and possibly irreversible — sleep.
The directions for making the potion are very detailed. Ingredients must be added in the exact order and amounts specified, and the potion needs to be stirred 7 times, both clockwise and anti-clockwise. Before the addition of the final ingredient, hellebore, the temperature of the flames must be lowered, and the potion allowed to simmer for seven minutes.
If brewed correctly, the potion will emit a silvery vapour, but the possible characteristics of a failed batch seem to be endless (everything from green sparks, dark grey steam, a sulfurous odour, a cement-like consistency, to a dangerous instability that will cause it to explode and set one's robes alight).
This was the first potion that Severus Snape assigned to fifth year students in 1995. A lot of students did poorly, including Seamus Finnigan, Gregory Goyle, Neville Longbottom, and Ron Weasley. However, Professor Snape singled out Harry Potter, giving him alone a zero grade for the day's work by emptying out his cauldron for simply missing out the syrup of hellebore due to misreading the instructions.
Instructions[]
To brew the Draught of Peace, follow these steps[1]:
- Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns green.
- Stir until the potion turns blue.
- Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple.
- Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink.
- Add syrup of hellebore until the potion turns turquoise.
- Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
- Shake powdered porcupine quills vigorously until they are ready and then add until the potion turns red.
- Stir until the potion turns orange.
- Add more porcupine quills until the potion turns turquoise.
- Allow to simmer till the potion turns purple.
- Add powdered unicorn horn until the potion turns pink.
- Stir until the potion turns red.
- Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
- Add more powdered moonstone until the potion turns grey.
- Allow the potion to simmer until it turns orange.
- Add more powdered porcupine quills until the potion turns white.
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ See this video
