Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. As such, spoilers will be present within the article. |
- "Brilliant. This isn't magic — it's logic — a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."
- — Hermione Granger[src]
The potion riddle was created by Severus Snape to prevent anyone from getting the Philosopher's Stone, featured as the sixth obstacle in the Underground Chambers.[1]
Description[]
- "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."
- — Hermione Granger[src]
Seven potions were aligned in front of the reader, who would be trapped between black flames blocking the path ahead and purple flames blocking the way back. The clue to solving the physical riddle was written on a roll of paper. The reader would have to solve the riddle to figure out the correct potions needed to safely pass through the flames. The riddle could have been considered as hard but solvable, with enough clues to lead to the right solution. Hermione Granger noted, to get past this obstacle required intelligence and logic, regardless of one's own magical ability and power.[1]
Transcript[]
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."[1]
Solution[]
From the information given in the riddle, the identity of each bottle could be deduced by processes of elimination:
- From the fourth clue, the red bottle (second from the left) and black bottle (second from the right) both contained the same thing. Therefore, the potions to go ahead and go back could be ruled out, as there was only one of each. From the third clue, the black bottle (the largest one) did not contain poison. Therefore, the red and black bottles could only be nettle wine.
- Therefore, from the first clue, the white and green bottles (to the left of nettle wine) are poison.
- From the second clue, since the white bottle on one end contained poison, the purple bottle on the opposite end must be something other than poison, nor could it have been the potion to go ahead, and since both bottles of wine were already known, the purple bottle could only be the potion to go back.
- From the third clue, the blue bottle (the smallest one) cannot be poison, and since the wine and the potion to go back were already known, it could only be the potion to go ahead.
- Which left the yellow bottle as the last remaining bottle of poison.
Behind the scenes[]
- Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) narrated the written text of the riddle in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16 (Through the Trapdoor) for Harry Potter At Home.[2][3]
Differences[]
Media | Scene |
---|---|
Book | Hermione solves the riddle; Harry goes through the black flames, Hermione goes through the purple flames to go get help as there is only enough potion for one of them to go through the black flames. |
Film | N/A |
Film (Disc 2 game) | The player must click on the right potion. |
PC/Mac game | Harry solves the riddle by watching the 6 containers move, and must select the one that has the correct potion; Harry goes through the black flames, the purple flames disappear. |
PS1 game | Harry has to guess which knight has the Ice Potion. |
Pottermore | "You must read the riddle and figure out the correct two potions." |
GBC game | Harry has to mix and brew the potion, solving the riddle via a game similar to Mastermind. |
GBA game | Harry and Hermione have to look for the four potion ingredients, scattered trough the dungeon. |
LEGO Years 1-4 (desktop) | N/A |
LEGO Years 1-4 (handheld) | |
PS2/Xbox/GameCube game | |
Magic Awakened | Harry can solve the riddle before Hermione solves it. He can either choose to go through the black flames or the purple flames; Hermione would go through the other one. |
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (DVD 2 - Special Features)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Not in console versions)
- Pottermore
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (In the Book with No Name)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16 (Through the Trapdoor)
- ↑ Harry Potter At Home | Helena Bonham Carter - Wizarding World's official account on Facebook
- ↑ Kenneth Branagh and Ruth Wilson read Harry Potter at home | Chapter Sixteen: ‘Through the Trapdoor’ at Wizarding World (Archived)