Speculation on Liquid Luck

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

This idea came up in an exchange with, if I recall, madderbrad, but for those who missed it there, here’s my theory on Felix Felicis.

Horace told his class it was “Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong.” (HBP 9)

Old Sluggy is glossing over things a bit here because Dumbledore is so hot against any Dark Arts theory being taught at Hogwarts.



It’s potentially disastrous to brew Felix Felicis right. There’s at least one step that has, say, a fifty-fifty chance of blowing up in the brewer’s face. Fatally. And every attempt ever made to make that step less dangerous, shield against the possible explosion, or rework the formula, has resulted in a mess with no luck-conferring properties at all.

Because the brewer is purchasing the luck s/he’s infusing in the potion by taking that risk, in essence offering hir life for the chance of luck. Thus, while there will always be the occasional brewer who’s desperate enough for money or glory to try a batch, it basically isn’t available on the open market.

We can infer that it is not generally available, not for any money, for if it had been, Draco’s mother would surely have purchased some for him.

(Now that I think about it, this might have been the original reason for Tom’s recruitment of one S. Snape. Someone disposable, but good at brewing, to try a batch. If so, how bitter Severus must have been when he realized, and how motivated to prove his long-term value so the Dark Lord would take him off that project.)

Three guesses where Slughorn’s sample came from; he’s certainly never brewed any himself. Indeed, he never claimed to have.

Comments

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

I like this theory.
For a while now I considered it probable that Snape was the one who brewed Felix Felicis. That there was a cost for that and that Harry was meant to have some of the potion from the day one.

Mostly, I theorized that cost for Felix Felicis is something like the broken mirror superstitions. That when making it, potion master have to "give up" all good luck they would have in the upcoming X number of years. So, the potion is nothing more then extremely concentrated good luck, that would be normally spread over the years, taking effect in a short amount of time.
And that is why Snape was oh, so very lucky for the two years he had to live after making it.

But I like this even better.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Your theory is interesting too! A different way of turning one's one sacrifice into luck that could be given to another.

I snorted at your "Snape was oh, so very lucky for the two years he had to live"! Yeah, that would explain a lot.

Except, you know, he did win. And kept most of the children safe. Including Lily's son, which had seemed impossible for a time. I think that's as much luck as he would have asked for.

And I agree with you, that dose was always intended (by Dumbles) to go to Harry.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

And I agree with you, that dose was always intended (by Dumbles) to go to Harry.

*gak*

No, no, no, the whole ridiculous chain of events in Dumbledore's 'plan' for Harry to win - clues handed over in the inheritance, it's a Quest, no it isn't, yes it is, Harry accidentally becoming master of the Elder wand, accidentally overhearing goblins talking about the Sword, carrying around broken shards of a mirror for no reason BRAIN APPROACHING OVERLOAD - no, no, no, that's enough to blow one's mind.

Now you're saying the FF in book 6 was all part of this 'plan'? But there's absolutely no hint of that.

Mind you, it's hard for me to even start considering your notion, given how STUPID the whole 'you must get Slughorn's memory to prove the theory that in the end is wrong anyway and the 'proof' useless' subplot was. What a horrible series. Those last two books were just catastrophes.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, the absolute pointlessness of those drawn-out private lessons! All that information about Tom's childhood - the carefully crafted comparison between Harry, Tom, and Severus that went absolutely NOWHERE! The implication that poor old Slughorn got manipulated into teaching Potions just so Harry could get that memory. And, you know, we still don't know what a Horcrux really is or how they are created. As to destroying them, I do love the theory that the Dementors could and should have done it. They also proved to be pretty useless, in the end, along with a lot of other things that were built up as important (house unity, anyone? the power of love? house elves, as pointed out above? respect for the magical brethren? And, speaking of magical brethren, what was all that nonsense with Grawp in the previous book!)

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

The implication that poor old Slughorn got manipulated into teaching Potions just so Harry could get that memory.

I've never thought of that, seen that implication, until now. Hmm. Yes, I guess you're right. I'm just so ... completely underwhelmed ... by that particular story element, so disengaged by the stupidity of it all, I guess I just couldn't believe we were supposed to swallow that as well. But it makes sense; if we were supposed to believe that the memory was SO OMG IMPORTANT - even though Dumbledore merely accepts it, after all the fuss, with a simple omnipotent "yes, I thought so" - even though the memory/number is no proof at all - even though a simple reference by Riddle about 'seven' being a magic number is nothing close to solid PROOF that he fixated on that number in due course - even though we learn for a FACT later on, given that Harry is a seventh Horcrux, that this was no 'proof' at all, thus showing that Dumbledore's faith in the memory was foolish in the extreme - I guess it follows that Slughorn's employment was part of it all too. Duh.

I'm still underwhelmed by Rowling's pathetic storyline. :-)

And, you know, we still don't know what a Horcrux really is or how they are created.

Neither does Rowling. :-)

As to destroying them, I do love the theory that the Dementors could and should have done it.

Yes, I've read a couple of fanfics that have that happen. I loved the idea when I first read it.

It's funny how Rowling has provided such fodder for writers so much better than her to come up with such gold, isn't it? Well, maybe not 'funny'.

They also proved to be pretty useless, in the end

I think they materialised for half a page in the final battle. Remember how the Trio suddenly were unable to repel a gang of dementors, but were rescued by, uhm, Luna, Ernie and another student?

And, speaking of magical brethren, what was all that nonsense with Grawp in the previous book!)

I guess Grawp was one of the earlier signs that Rowling needed an editor; he really didn't matter to the story at all.

And then book 6 came out with half of that book being pedestrian filler.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/All that information about Tom's childhood/

Which was basically only there to provide a few clues about what the Horcruxes were and to show that Tom was as evil a child as he was as an adult. So, don’t worry, Harry, it’s not like you’ll ever turn out to be like him! Your parents loved each other and they were in Gryffindor! So, you have nothing to worry about.

/the carefully crafted comparison between Harry, Tom, and Severus that went absolutely NOWHERE!/

Probably because the expected message, “See, Harry, you’re not so different than Tom or Severus, so make sure that you don’t end up like them,” never came. The lesson wasn’t that Harry needed to learn from Tom and Snape’s backgrounds so that he could avoid becoming like them and become a better person. It was just that Harry was fortunate enough to not be like them.

Yes, Harry, like Tom, you’re very popular at school, most of the teachers like you, and most people turn a blind eye to how you interact with the students that you don’t like. But that’s okay, your mother wasn’t inbred and cross-eyed, so you don’t have worry about becoming another Tom. Yes, Harry, like you, Snape also came from a troubled home and ran into trouble with a group of students from another House. But that’s okay; it’s all Snape’s fault for being an unpleasant geek, so you don’t have to worry about empathizing with him.

/And, you know, we still don't know what a Horcrux really is or how they are created./

Or why creating them is so terrible, compared to all of the other awful curses and hexes that exist. I’ve read fanfics where the ritual to make a Horcrux is life-threatening to the caster, which is why Tom is the only one who’s made Horcruxes in canon (as far as we know). But that’s just fan speculation. Are Horcruxes like unicorn blood in the sense that they curse the wizard’s life? What exactly does the caster need to do to make a Horcrux, aside from killing someone? Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix, but that murder didn’t create a Horcrux. How exactly is a soul cut into pieces and how exactly does one relocate it to an object? What spell or ritual is needed to do that? We never learn.

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

It has already been observed that the way the morality in the series is shwon, the good characters and bad characters act in exactly the same way, but whatever is a sign of a bad character's badness is a sign of a good character's goodness.

JKR did say that the Horcrux spell was something that the editoress did not allow and that it made the poor woman look ill. Perhaps JKR had something really outlandish in mind?

[oryx_leucoryx]

She should release it in one of her many appendices - Pottermore or some other venue.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

No actually. It wasn't the horcruxes, it was the creation oft the Baby!Mort homonucleus that made the editor look ill. She threw that piece of information out as a smokescreen when she was asked about how one makes a horcrux.

I contend that Rowling hasn't a clue as to how a horcrux is made and refuses to be pinned down on the subject.