Would a muggle be able to make a potion???? Technicly anybody can put ingrediants in a cauldron. What do you think

I don't know why not if they had the right/proper ingredients which they wouldn't be able to get their hands on like werewolf hair or something. But they could. hypothetically.

I agree with Cobra. You can really but not magical things. I mean you could put eggs, sugar, salt and butter and mix it up and call it a potion. But magical ones would be impossible to make.

Yeh, anyone could put ingrediants in a cauldron, but they wouldnt have the magic lol! If you think about it medicines and all that are like potions ( except they havent been in a cauldron obviously) . If making a potion was as easy as putting things together then everyone would be doing it, but if your not magical, or dont have magical ingrediants, can you really call it a potion? Or just a concoction you mixed up? I think the potion making should stick with the wizards and witches. Here here!! lol.

Muggles and potions would not work for the sole reason that Muggles are not magical and therefore would not know how to put the ingredients together to make potions, they would probaly throw things into the cauldron then blow themselves up trying to concoct a potion.

Marcey

yeah but if a muggle got its hands on magical ingrediatns they should be able to put them together, shoudnt they?

As I stated before if they got their hands on the stuff they needed, which would be pretty much impossible, they could hypothetically make one. but yes they could but would need magical ingredients.

Muggles cannot make potions because they are Muggles. Muggles do not have the magic within them, and that is basically what enables witches and wizards to be able to create everything. Plus, most potions require a wand, which Muggles do not have. And even if a Muggle could get hold of a wand, it would probably result in ill effects. So, I really don't think a Muggle could ever create a potion. On the basis that potions are not just random ingredients thrown together but rather magical ones.

I agree with those who said that muggles do not have the power to make potions. Many of the Potions involve needing a wand. Also some of the ingredients like Boomslang Skin, Lacewing Fly etc (just off the top of my head) are ingredients that muggles would never have heard of. As Just the Droobles said, ((by the way I like your name! )) Muggles are muggles, and they do not withstand any powers which therefore makes them incapable of performing anything magical including potions.

Anyway, how would they know what ingredients to get? They can't exactly walk into Borders and ask for a potion book, can they?

I'm sure Muggles have the capabilities to throw something together--like just grab some things and put it in a pot. Basically when we follow directions to make some sort of dinner we're making a "potion," you know, put in this this and this and stir three times and then stand on your head. Muggles can do that fine.

But the main thing that separates the potions from concoctions are that potions require that magic and that is what Muggles lack. Geez, I feel sorry for the poor things.

And thanks (about the name) workaholic_1231!

You're welcome!
Also, doesn't really wanting to get something out of the Potion your making have something to do with it actually working? ((please correct me if I'm mistaken,because it wouldn't be the first time! )) haha Just the Droobles, I think you're referring to cooking for Muggles? Yes I agree those poor poor muggles!

i agree with just the droobles. muggles dont have magical powers to be used to actually make the potion do anything. and the wand thing too.

Muggles would not be able to make a potion. JK said so herself in an interview, which can be found here. To quote the link,

Could Muggles make potions if they had all the ingredients and proper directions? No, there is a magical component (usually a wand) required. If a Muggle picked up a wand, it would probably result in something accidental and violent. (We'll find out more about this in book 7.)

So, the real question is what would happen? What will learn in Deathly Hallows?

muggles couldnt make potions because they require you to stir them with your wand and muggles dont have wands silly, the wand probably gives the potions their magical qualities

Fair point. But maybe wizards just use wands to not have to bother with stirring rods or whatever. Because technically, the ingredients (or most, at least) already have magical properties, so when mixed they could result in a certain type of potion without the aid of further magic. And when wizards use wands, they need to say or think an incantation - I don't think it's possible that a wand can perform particular charms or spells without at least the subconscious consent of the wand owner. Sure, when someone first gets his/her wand it shoots sparks or something to show that it's compatible with the owner, but that's the most it does by itself.

The other thing is that not only would muggles not be able to get the ingredients for the potions, they wouldn't have the equiptment, wand, cauldron, book, silver knife, and suchlike. They wouldn't be able to get anything they need to make a potion, and I know that there is somewhere that requires you actually having magic to make potions.

I think that the muggle variation of potions would be medicines, and poisions and that whole pharmasutical area of study, more anyway, than cooking.

yeah anybody can jsut mix ingredients but only magic people can get to diagon alley to buy the ingredietns...and then there's also some talent involved in it i mean if everyone can just mix ingredients than neville would be pasing too

This is an idea that I had never thought about before... although now that I tjink about it there are other branches of magic where a wand is not nessercery. Divination, Quidditch and 'Old' magic(Like when Lily gave up her life for Harry) are a few examples, and also in the 6th book Dumbledore didn't use a wand to get into Riddle's cave. This also begs the question: Can muggles fly brooms, or telll the future using tea-leaves or give up their life for someone so that the killing curse willl not work upon them?
This last one might apply to muggles, but I think that just because you are not holding a wand does not mean that you are not chanelling magic- perhaps there are other ways of doing so, other than wands. This is maybe why divination is so hard, that it requires a different way of managing your magic.

yeah i think you're right....everyone can do any of those things, sit on a broom, mix a potion, look into a crystal ball, or hold a stick and say a couple of words, but there's obviously some talent involved in it. like sure hermione can sit on a broom, but she's a bad flyer, neville can mix a potion, but he still can't manage to get it right, and if magic was as easy as pointing a stick and memorizing a fe words, then the books would have no point whatso ever.

Hmmmm.... Interesting question. I suppose that Muggles wouldn't be able to get hold of the ingredients. But, one thing I've not been sure of is if you stir it with your wand magically or not. Somehow I can't see Snape with a wooden spoon slaving over his cauldron gunk!

As majority of you have said, I don't think a Muggle would be able to brew a potion. It is not everything only about putting the ingredients into a cauldron and stirring them according to the instructions.

I think what is really needed is, first, magic. Or rather it is necessary that the person was a wand-bearer, which naturally means that s/he possesses magical skills.

So I think, having a wand, thus being a wizard or a witch, is crucial to performing any wizarding activity - brewing potions being no exception. And second thing is, of course, talent. We know from HBP that Severus or Lily were particularly good at brewing potions, whereas some other students, like poor Neville, have difficulties.

And, gryffindorgirlie, I was wondering about this too,

I think, either he stirs the potion magically with the wand or he uses the wooden spoon you mention but enchants it, so that it performs the stirring on its own. I would say it works the same way as all the cooking in Mrs. Weasley kitchen – the dishes are enchanted to do the work by themselves. (Woudn't that be just beautiful? )

~Jana

It doesn't seem to me impossible for a Muggle to have the ingredients needed to make a potion. If for example, you are a Muggle and have wizard cousins, it wouldn't be crazy to use your cousins' ingredients, cauldron etc to make a potion. I agree however, with everyone else. It is not the ingredients, the wand or the fire you use. It is the magical ability that allows someone to make a potion. This applies not only to Muggles but also to wizards. Hermione could make a potion before you could say "My fairy little problem", but she couldn't make a broomstick listen to her. Its all about talent and abilities. Plus, Muggles are way too narrow-minded to even believe that there are werewolves and that by using its hairs you can get rid of acme! (or...whatever) Thus, if you don't believe in magic, you don't have the slightest chance to make something magical.

A quick i need to comment on!



Oh my! That's every Muggle's..hem person's i mean, dream! And also a self-cooking pot. Yeah. And a magical broom. A self-cleaning house actually.

I think Muggles can make simple potions, because they don't require any magical skills. The only porblem for them is to get the ingredients. So that's why they can brew an easy potions. But when it comes to difficult ones, they miss the experience and they just can't find the ingredients, so that's beyond their capacity.

I think muggles can make potions if they had proper instruction and ingrediants. It's just mixing a bunch of things together and drinking the results, right?

Rowling has said that there is a magical element to potions, but I think that some of the simpler ones could be made by Muggles, just as I am of the opinion that Muggles could produce simple spells if they were given a wand.

You guys have yet to think of a almost impossible scenerio, but still likely! Okay, you're walking down your street and you see all the occupants of a house leave. You always wondered what they did cooped up on their house, so you went inside. A stick (wand), a cauldron (muggles do know what that is) and some funny looking stuff (potion ingredints) are out on the counter. You start to fiddle around with all of it and all of a sudden you have yourself a potion. Muggles would be able to if that scenerio were to happen!!!!!

Maybe a muggle could make a potion but I doubt it. For example, certain potions must be brewed over a certain magical fire and others require incantations. Perhaps certain potions can be brewed by a muggle but I think it wouldn't work.

I don't think a muggle would be able to make a potion at all. I think two requirements to make a true potion is having magical ability and having a wand. If a muggle were to mix the ingredients it would just be a questionable mixture with no magical properties. Plus, if everyone could do magic just by being given a wand then Petunia would have gotten a Hogwarts letter too. Muggles just can't do magic, as hard as that can be to accept sometimes. :p Muggles do have a potion equivalent, medicines. Given pharmaceuticals are not nearly as cool as potions and have more negative side effects, it's the best we can do. Haha.

I can't imagine potion making to be a muggle possibility. Potion work is not cooking and all the elusive volatile ingredients...that is just an insult to insinuate that magic wouldn't be needed. Maybe you don't need wand waving but if you need magic to see Hogwarts...how can you not need magic to brew the Draught of Living Death...oh, dear I think I need a calming potion just thinking about this.

I was going through old posts and someone had mentioned something about prescription making be alittle like potion making and it is funny they should mention that because right now I am in school to obtain my Pharamcy Technician license and here is one of many questions I had to answer. Look at the red!

The pharmacy needs to compound a new ointment. The formula is below. Determine how much of Drug C you would weigh?
Drug A (Eye of snail) 3%
Drug B (Liver of salamander) 7%
Drug C (Lizard tail) 0.5%
In ointment base to make 15 gm

I just thought that was funny

Just saying, I think that Muggles probably could do the simpler potions that don't require an actual incantation or direct infusion of magic, as long as they had the ingredients (which are still possible for a Muggle to get...just infinitely more difficult to get).

I guess I kind of think of it like Chemistry. Adding acid this to base this and titration that, or whatever it goes like. Now, some people are great at Chemistry. They're wonderful in lab. They can do whatever experiment their professor can put in front of them, and even go on and do things like make medications and chemicals. I have a feeling those Muggles would be great at simple potion-making.

People like ME on the other hand... Who are awful at Chemistry and don't understand the basic principles at all...I think that kind of innate ability and skill is universal, across Muggles and witches/wizards. People like Hermione and Marie Curie have it. Neville and most other people don't.