Muggles and potions

[corinthum]

No: HPFGUIDX 56229

Someone wrote:

> > I have been wondering that a lot myself.  in PS/SS, Snape warns
>that some might not think it's magic because there is no "silly wand
>waving."  But magic indeed it is.  Perhaps you need magical ability
to >mix the ingredients without being injured, since some of the
materials >are caustic?   Or maybe some of your magic is infused in
the potions >without using a wand.  Or, perhaps there is some kind of
incantation >that gets recited over the cauldron, but we simply
haven't been privvy >to them?  (Least likely). 

And AnneL replied:

> There's got to be some magic involved, probably to catalyze the
>transformation into a working potion. As an example, the asphodel and
>wormwood infusion Snape asks Harry about in the very first class
would >be a very toxic mess unless magic was involved to change it
into >something useful instead of posionous... "Wand waving" might not
be >needed in potions-brewing, but some magical power -- just to make
>those ingridients drinkable, let alone effective -- would be >necessary.


Not necessarily.  We've been told nothing about the chemistry of
potion making, so it's very possible that in combination these
ingredients lose their poisonous properties through simple chemical
reactions.  Loss of the functional group that makes it poisonous, for
example.  

I personally believe that potion-making rarely requires magic from the
person doing the brewing.  Potion-making is considered magic because
a) the ingredients used often possess magical properties, and b) the
resulting product always has some magical ability.  I believe that if
Muggles were able to get their hands on the proper ingredients, and if
they knew the proper steps to prepare a potion, they could create one
just as easily as wizards can.  

On the same note, I beleive a Muggle could use invisibility cloaks and
other magical devices which themselves possess magical ability.

-Corinth