What About a Flame-Freezing Charm? (WAS: The Potions inconsistency)

[erisedstraeh2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 47600

Scheherazade said:

> but, if there was originally two doses of the potion in the
> bottle, wouldn't Hermione or Harry notice that there was less in 
> that one bottle? meaning that someone had already drunk it?

and Melody responded:

> Um...Hermione and Harry knew someone had drunken from the bottle
> because they thought Snape was in the next room at the time.   

Now me:

I'm glad this came up, because I've always been puzzled about it as 
well.

IMO, we're definitely led to believe that the smallest bottle is 
full.  There is no mention of it being half-empty, or of someone 
already drinking from it.  It's referred to as "tiny," and Harry 
tells Hermione "There's only enough there for one of us...That's 
hardly one swallow."  Harry "drained the little bottle in one gulp" 
(PS/SS, Ch. 16).  Granted, this isn't enough to conclusively conclude 
that the bottle wasn't completely full, but I think the implication 
is there.

So, the Catlady's premise that the bottles refill themselves is 
viable, as is another: Quirrell never drank from the bottle in the 
first place.  Perhaps he used a flame-freezing charm to get through 
the fire.  Harry doesn't learn about flame-freezing charms until Book 
3, so this option wouldn't have occurred to him.  But it could have 
occurred to an experienced wizard like Quirrell.  And it's certainly 
a lot faster than figuring out the riddle!

In addition, Dumbledore needed a way to get in there when he arrived 
to save Harry.  Unless the bottle refilled itself, he would have had 
to have found another way to brave the flames.

Clickety Keys asked:

> Additionally, how in the world were they counting on two people?

Now me:

I don't think they were.  I think the bottle was designed for one 
person (based on its small size).

~Phyllis