Whither the Bezoar?

[mhbobbin]

No: HPFGUIDX 113959


Recently, some Posters have been discussing Snape's great speech 
from his first class in PS/SS. He promises to teach how to bottle 
fame, brew glory and stopper death. It's hard to believe that those 
words are not going to figure into the storyline by the end. I'll be 
really disappointed if they're not. But this brought up another 
question for me--what about the bezoar--the "stone"--more like a 
hairball--from a goat that can serve as an antidote to most poisons.

Harry's 4th year Potions lessons in GoF seem to revolve around 
antidotes, and one calls for a bezoar (although I can't find the 
exact reference now). I don't find it anywhere else but then there 
are the strange reference to DD's brother performing an 
inappropriate charm on a goat, which one Poster (sorry can't find 
now either) cleverly thought was related to extracting a bezoar 
humanely rather than an inappropriate romantic attachment.

There are a number of references--particularly in Gof--where Snape 
seems to want to poison Harry. And in OotP, Trelawney sees Harry's 
life--even when he's eating his porridge--threatened again. 

And then I thought about the talisman that is mentioned repeatedly 
in OotP. Is it possible--has it been theorized before--that the 
talisman is not a figure of speech but something real? And if it is 
real, might it be a bezoar? This implies that Harry's life is 
currently being threatened by poisons from unknown sources. Hard to 
believe as Dobby is working the kitchens... but am I way way way out 
on a limb to connect these dots in the most tentative way?

mhbobbin