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"I've performed tests on the potion sample you collected. My best guess is that it was supposed to be Baruffio's Brain Elixir. Now, that's a potion which doesn't work at the best of times, but whoever brewed this was seriously incompetent! Forget boosting one's brain; this concoction would most likely melt it!"
Gethsemane Prickle, after analysing an attempt at Baruffio's Brain Elixir whipped up by Astor Bellchant[src]

Baruffio's Brain Elixir is a potion that supposedly increases the taker's brain power.[1] According to Gethsemane Prickle, Ministry of Magic Herbologist and Potioneer, Baruffio's Brain Elixir does not work at all and poses a serious health hazard if improperly brewed.[2]

In 1996, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were offered some by Eddie Carmichael, who swore it was responsible for his achievement of nine "O"s in his Ordinary Wizarding Levels the previous year. Before they could buy it from him, Hermione Granger, a Prefect at the time, confiscated it and poured it down the toilet.[1]

Failed Potion Vial

A phial with Astor Bellchant's attempt at Baruffio's Brain Elixir

After receiving a letter from Hogwarts School informing him that his son Albert was failing Transfiguration, Charms, and Herbology, Astor Bellchant blackmailed Bilius Finbok, with whom he had attended Hogwarts, into brewing an illegal mental acuity potion.[3] When Finbok was badly hurt while handing a Runespoor which eggs he intended to use for the potion,[3] Bellchant tried to use Finbok's potions lab to brew it himself; his attempt at brewing the potion was duly confiscated by Ministry investigators Mathilda Grimblehawk and her partner, and expert Gethsemane Prickle labelled it a "seriously incompetent" brew, likely to melt the brain of whoever would take it.[2]

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31 (O.W.L.s)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World - Case 5: Trouble Brewing, Act 4
  3. 3.0 3.1 Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World - Case 5: Trouble Brewing, Act 3
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