PTNS-301 Lessons

For today’s lab, we will revisit a potion that was previously mentioned in some detail, but whose recipe was not provided. As discussed in the previous lesson, the Pepperup Potion does not completely cure the common cold, but rather works to manage the symptoms of the affliction. Most school healers will keep a large supply of Pepperup Potion on-hand throughout the winter in order to treat the many colds that develop in scholastic environments.

The potion was created by Glover Hipworth, a famous potioneer of the 18th century. While no doubt exceedingly talented, Hipworth had a rather terrible immune system, and suffered frequent winter colds and flu episodes. Although he sought a cure to the common cold, the particular recipe for the Pepperup Potion came somewhat by accident. The addition of the ginger was quite unintended: Hipworth was suffering from a nasty cold while he experimented at the cauldron. The ginger was, in fact, supposed to be added to some water for tea Hipworth was brewing in a kettle nearby. In a sniffling haze, Hipworth accidentally added the ginger to the cauldron instead. The rest, as they say, is history.

Currently, the most successful (and many say most talented) commercial supplier of Pepperup Potion is the Nasmorsksy family of Eastern Siberia. However, most of the Pepperup Potion that is supplied by British apothecaries comes from Waynard and Sons, LLC in London. 

Pepperup Potion

Estimated Brewing Time:
Pewter cauldron: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Brass cauldron: 1 hour, 21 minutes and 12 seconds
Copper cauldron: 1 hour, 13 minutes and 16.8 seconds

Total Brewing Time:
Pewter cauldron: 2 days, 1 hour and 30 minutes
Brass cauldron: 2 days, 1 hour, 21 minutes and 12 seconds
Copper cauldron: 2 days, 1 hour, 13 minutes and 16.8 seconds

Ingredients:
1 L of water
1 mandrake root
2 whole ginger roots
4 mL of red wine vinegar
5 mL of bouncing spider juice
3 fairy wings
4 tablespoons powdered Bicorn horn
3 mL of Infusion of Wormwood

Instructions:

Part One:

1. Bring 750 mL of water to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
2. Cut one mandrake root into 0.5 cm (about 0.2 inch) slices.
3. Add one half of the mandrake root to the cauldron. Keep the other half of the sliced root somewhere in which there is moderate to dry temperature in order to ensure it stays fresh to be added to future brewing.
4. Slice one whole ginger root into 3 mm (about one-eighth inch) slices and add the whole sliced root to the caudron.
5. Stir the potion twice clockwise.
6. Bring the heat up to 383 Kelvin (110°C/230°F) for 45 seconds, and then reduce heat again to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
7. Leave the potion to brew in your pewter cauldron for 53 minutes. (This would be 47 minutes and 42 seconds in a brass cauldron and 42 minutes and 55.8 seconds in a copper cauldron.)

At this point, the potion will be a pale orange and emit bright pink steam and possibly sparks.

Part Two:

1. Add 2 mL of red wine vinegar and 2 mL of bouncing spider juice to the cauldron.
2. Add three fairy wings to your mortar and crush them into a fine, even powder. Add the full powdered substance to the cauldron.
3. Bring the heat up to 383 Kelvin (110°C/230°F) for 20 seconds, and then take the cauldron off the heat entirely.
4. Add two tablespoons of powdered bicorn horn while the cauldron is off the flame. Note: If you add the powdered bicorn horn while the cauldron is still on the flame, it will turn a vibrant red, and is known to splatter, melt less expensive cauldrons, and explode. Coming into contact with the potion at this time could cause serious magical burns that will gradually consume the body, even if wiped off the surface of the skin, without magical intervention.
5. Stir once counterclockwise while the cauldron is still removed from the flame.
6. Wait 10 more seconds, then add the cauldron back to the heat and bring it to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
7. Add 3 mL of Infusion of Wormwood and 250 mL of water to the cauldron.
8. Leave the potion to brew in your pewter cauldron for 25 minutes (This would be 22 minutes and 30 seconds in a brass cauldron and 20 minutes and 18 seconds in a copper cauldron.)

At this point in the brewing process, the potion will be a deep red, and the steam emitted will be a deep orange.

Part Three:

1. Slice the last ginger root into 3 mm (about one-eighth inch) slices and add the whole sliced root to the cauldron with the other half of the mandrake root.
2. Add two tablespoons of powdered bicorn horn. This time, the cauldron can be left on the flame when adding the horn.
3. Stir twice counterclockwise with your wand.
4. Add first the 3 mL of bouncing spider juice and then the 2 mL of red wine vinegar.
5. Stir once clockwise with your wand.
6. Bring the heat up to 383 Kelvin (110°C/230°F) for 45 seconds, and then reduce heat again to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
7. Leave the potion to brew in your pewter cauldron for 10 minutes (This would be 9 minutes in a brass cauldron and 8 minutes and 6 seconds in a copper cauldron.)

At the end of the brewing process, the potion will be bright orange and emit yellow steam. Even after the potion cools, this yellow steam will continue to rise out of the potion.

Following its brewing and transfer to clear crystal phials, the potion requires a maturation period of 2 days. During this time, the potion should be kept at room temperature in a darker environment. Storing the potion inside a cabinet without a glass front would suffice for the potion’s maturation.

To Store: Following the maturation of the potion, it should be stored in a slightly cooler temperature for up to five years. Following this five year period, the potion should still have mild efficacy, but it will not be quite as strong.

To Use: Take 200 mL (about 6.5 ounces) of Pepperup Potion once a day for the duration of the cold. It can be taken plain or with a bit of sweetener, such as honey or a teaspoon of sugar. The potion tastes a bit like cinnamon and burnt hay. 

Effects: The Pepperup Potion alleviates cold symptoms such as congestion, mild fevers, sneezing, wheezing, coughing and sore throats. When imbibing the potion, there may be a very mild burning sensation in the throat, but that should dissipate quickly. The potion also causes steam to come out of the patient’s ears for several hours after consuming it. Side effects also include sweating, temporary loss of voice and tingling in the limbs.

Caution: Owing to the physical side effects of the potion, the Pepperup Potion should never be taken before frequenting a mixed-magical or Muggle community. Doing so, in fact, violates the Statute of Secrecy, and can result in heavy fines or harsher punishment. While Pepperup Potion will occasionally be given to small children and women who are or may become pregnant, it is heavily advised to receive permission from a healer before doing so. If steam continues to be emitted from the ears after a single dosage for over twenty-four hours, please seek a healer, as this may indicate an allergy or adverse reaction to the potion

Wizards and Muggles alike can fall victim to serious diseases and afflictions. As mentioned in the previous lesson, there are, of course, magical means to deal with issues that need surgery. Most commonly, charms are used to remove cancerous growths and other unhealthy cells, including the appendix. However, after these charms have been used to remove the unhealthy cells, other healing potions are used to contain and improve the damage. Typically, vitamin elixirs as well as additional use of Immunoelixir, which builds the immune system, are utilized. Untreated and severe mundane illnesses, including pancreatic cancer, for example, are as fatal to magical kind as they are to Muggles, and we do not yet have solutions to every disease.

However, while witches and wizards can also be diagnosed with cancer, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections (or STIs) and other serious afflictions that also impact Muggles, there are also a few mostly-infectious bugs and diseases that are only present in the magical community.  In today’s lesson on serious magical afflictions, we will concentrate on the diseases that only exist in our own society. We will not, however, cover the role of healing in curses, backfires and similar intentioned attacks and accidents until the next lesson. 

Many students from Muggle families will have grown up knowing about the affliction known as chickenpox or varicella. It is caused by what is known as the varicella zoster virus (VZV), which is a herpesvirus in the same family of DNA viruses as the more commonly known STI herpes. Chickenpox typically manifests as a rash on the head and the body that eventually exhibits as burning, itching “pockmarks” and small lesions on the skin. Dragon pox, also known as variola lacertis virus (VLV), presents similarly with skin lesions and fever. However, it also leaves the sufferer with a greenish, lizard-like tinge to the skin.

Although healing potions are able to provide relief and remedy to a variety of magical and non-magical ailments, there are diseases whose effects magical potions and charms have no efficacy in curing or even counteracting in the long-term. For those diseases or disorders which are not fatal, it is the responsibility of the healer to help their patients manage the symptoms and provide them with tools to live their lives as normally as possible.

The most well-known - and perhaps remarkable - recent innovation in symptom management is what is known as Wolfsbane Potion, a potion that, while it cannot reverse the effects of lycanthropy, assists those who are infected with the magical illness in managing the symptoms. Lycanthropy is a magical disease spread through blood and saliva. It has a genetic component that causes witches and wizards to turn into creatures known as werewolves at every full moon. Prior to the 1970s, there was no known cure or even management for those infected with the disease. Those who are known to suffer from lycanthropy were either cast out of society entirely, or were subject to strict restrictions on their movement. It was not uncommon for those who were still in contact with their families to be locked away and bound harshly during the full moon.

However, in the 1970s the potioneer Damocles discovered a potion that, while it does not prevent the transformation from occurring, allows the witch or wizard to maintain his or her own mind during the transformation. Wolfsbane Potion should only be brewed by an advanced potioneer or healer who has a good deal of experience with the recipe: when improperly brewed, it can produce a powerful and dangerous poison, fatal even to werewolves. The potion’s primary ingredient is wolfsbane, also known as aconite or monkshood, with secondary ingredients that include Jobberknoll feathers, snake fangs, and armadillo bile. Unlike many potions, which can be taken in small doses periodically to alleviate symptoms, a full 350 mL (about 11.8 ounces) of Wolfsbane Potion must be taken every day for a full week leading up to the full moon in order to take proper effect. Even when the potion has been taken properly, it is still recommended that those living with the witch or wizard consuming the potion be cautious for the first full moon or two to confirm the potion is having the proper effect. 

Healers help not only with those suffering from long-term magical afflictions, but also those of a more mundane nature. Various magical and non-magical diseases and long-term curses can lead to the onset of dementia, or a periodic loss of brain functioning. Similar loss of memory can come from prolonged drug and alcohol use, onset of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or exposure to certain mind-altering or particularly traumatic curses or charms. While there are counter-curses or potions that can combat the negative impacts of some magical mind alterations, sometimes the damage done to the brain and nervous system is permanent. 

When treating a long-term sufferer of mental deterioration or dementia, typically the best a healer can do is provide a sequence of memory potions to help build the patient’s memory or maintain it as best as possible. This does not always provide the patient with the same level of functionality that they experienced prior to the onset of the neurological degeneration, but it can help them function a little more normally. This should only be done under the supervision of a healer, however, with consistent reevaluations of the disease’s progression and the witch or wizard’s psychological well-being.

The Draught of Peace and other calming potions are also often used by healers in order to calm the agitation often experienced by the patient. When faced with losing portions of memory, witches and wizards will often become understandably frustrated and feel as though they are losing some element of autonomy or independence. Quite often this anxiety only worsens the condition or makes the patient a danger to themselves or others. Thus, while it has no impact on the overall progression of brain degeneration, something given to calm the witch or wizard can often help their overall psychological well-being and contribute to long-term stabilization and emotional balance. 

Similarly, there are a myriad of physical problems, including arthritis, diabetes and chronic problems, such as asthma, for which there is no cure. Typically healers work to manage the symptoms of these issues in order to enable witches and wizards to live a normal life. Frequently, these diagnoses will be present with other coexisting conditions. For example, many who suffer from diabetes will also have dangerously high cholesterol along with heart strain and other heart problems. Thus, those witches and wizards who suffer from diabetes are also often on entirely different potions prescribed by healers that help with heart irregularities. 

However, it is important to be cautious of potential interactions when using multiple potions to treat different primary symptoms and side effects. The same way that it is crucial to mind the interactions of different ingredients during the brewing of a potion, it is also imperative to pay attention to the interaction that compounds present in different potions have when taken at the same time. Many students who know of Muggle remedies will know of poor interactions that lead to sluggishness, nausea, slowed reactions, weight gain, and even depression and suicidal thoughts. In the case of poor magical reactions, it can cause similar symptoms but also evoke more dramatic side effects, such as vanishing limbs, constantly speaking in rhyme and sprouting feathers. 

For this reason, healers study not only the effects of specific ingredients, but their potential interactions with one another. Some ingredients will even be perfectly harmless when taken on their own - however, when used in different compounds in potions, will invoke unique and possibly deadly reactions. In ending this lesson, I wanted to finish with this caution: healing is not simply the art of curing separate symptoms or illnesses, but taking a holistic approach to a person’s entire well-being. This includes sensitivity and thoughtfulness when prescribing medications that may be dangerous on their own or interacting. Sometimes the healer must ask himself or herself, “Are the side effects or interactions worth alleviating this problem, or is enduring the problem a safer outcome?”

Dismissed.

Original lesson written by Professor Lucrezia Batyaeva
Image credits here, here, and here