The term potion derives from the Latin word potio , in turn from potāre (which translates as “drink” ), and from the suffix “-cion”, which is used to indicate “action and effect”.. The first meaning of the concept that the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) mentions refers to the drinkable liquid .
The notion, however, is usually used specifically to name the liquid formed by several substances or components , especially if it is a compound for medicinal use .
The idea of potion was used in ancient times to name preparations that were provided in spoonfuls to individuals with various physical ailments. Thus there were stimulant potions and antispasmodic potions , among many others.
In addition there were potions, also known as potions , that were developed by alchemists . In the field of fiction and popular legends , on the other hand, potions appear created by witches and sorcerers.
By mixing various ingredients, in this framework, characters with supernatural powers create potions that can guarantee eternal life or promote falling in love between two people. Potions appear in different classics of universal literature.
In “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” for example, Lewis Carroll imagined a potion that allows Alice to shrink to a few centimeters in height. Another example of a potion appears in “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” the famous book by Robert Luis Stevenson , where Dr. Henry Jekyll drinks a potion that transforms him into the criminal Edward Hyde . There are also potions in sagas like “The Lord of the Rings.”
In the literary saga, and later cinematographic, of “Harry Potter” we also have to establish the prominence that potions acquire. And at the Hogwarts magic school, he and the other students are taught the usefulness of the aforementioned in their world.
Precisely one of the most famous is the polyjuice potion. This allows the person who ingests it to acquire the physical appearance of another for a certain time. To prepare it, it is necessary to use ingredients such as lacewings, powdered horn, centinodia, leeches, antimony, worm and dried and crumbled snake skin.
Likewise, another main ingredient is something about the person you want to transform into, such as one of their hair.
Another well-known one also in the aforementioned magical world is the one called Amortentia, which is characterized by being the strongest and most powerful love potion that exists. Whoever drinks it feels a complete infatuation with the person who gave it to him to drink. Specifically, he comes to feel an obsession with her.
However, Harry Potter and the other wizards also learn how to make other potions, such as the Smoothing Potion, the Anti-Paralysis Potion, the Harpy Potion, and the Fire Breath Potion. And they do it through the instructions of certain teachers, such as Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn, who served as such for fifty years.