The green liquid in the basin

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 165671

Carol:
> I'm with you on this one, Mike. Someone please give me a plausible
> explanation for "I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to
> be drunk." Once he's conjured the goblet and dipped it in, how can
the
> potion know whether it's being drunk or otherwise disposed of?

zgirnius:
Sure. It's magic!

More seriously, Dumbledore does some magic, involving wand-waving and
perhaps other elements I do not recall (did not bring my books on
vacation), that Harry does not recognize. He summarizes for Harry his
findings by saying it can't be Vanished, Transfigured, etc. You seem
to be assuming that Dumbledore knows this because he tried those
things. But perhaps what he did was a spell or spells along the lines
of "Specialis Revelio" which tell him the magically induced
properties of the potion (and/or the bowl), one of which could be
that the potion returns to the bowl instantly if spilled rather than
drunk.

The idea you had for the last goblet might still work - but Harry was
in no condition to think of it, and it is not clear that drinking
eleven cups of the stuff was significantly less harmful than drinking
all twelve.

--zgirnius, who is finding all kinds of time for HP in sunny Florida
while minding a sick two-year-old.