That seems pretty convincing to me. I had never heard of eagle’s splendor before so I wasn’t able to put the pieces together. But now I’m wondering, since we just learned the major principle of potions: how exactly does thestral blood help one become beautiful? Thestrals in canon are invisible and their blood confers invisibility (or was that MoR? they’re getting mixed up in my head so much these days), so wouldn’t such a potion render Petunia invisible? Useful for many things, perhaps, but being beautiful does not seem to be one of the things helped by being invisible.
(Or under the ‘releasing’ sort of mechanism, thestral blood… releases death? Makes one younger? But Petunia was already young.)
In canon, the Elder Wand has a thestral tail-hair core; in MoR,
And Harry knew, now, that the concealment of the Cloak was more than the mere transparency of Disillusionment, that the Cloak kept you hidden and not just invisible, as unseeable as were Thestrals to the unknowing. And Harry also knew that it was Thestral blood which painted the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on the inside of the Cloak, binding into the Cloak that portion of Death’s power, enabling the Cloak to confront the Dementors on their own level and block them. It had felt like guessing, and yet a certain guess, the knowledge coming to him in the instant of solving the riddle.
Maybe the thestral blood added permanence, because death is permanent? If it was replacing blueberries I doubt it was the key magical ingredient, and so its effect may not be directly related to its properties.
ETA: And also that’s why this version of the potion so much more dangerous. It has Death in it.
ETA: And also that’s why this version of the potion so much more dangerous. It has Death in it.
Yes, definitely. But it must be very dilute death or it’d just be a stupid potion. Dumbledore may feel guilty over such dangerous ‘help’ but he wouldn’t make a suggestion guaranteed to fail.
Maybe the thestral blood added permanence, because death is permanent?
That’s just crazy enough to work, but to continue the vein of thought, if thestral blood conferred permanence on all sorts of potions, you’d expect it either to be a deep wizarding secret Dumbledore wouldn’t give any schoolgirl or to be used in lots of other contexts—anything you want a potion to be permanent. (Maybe witches aren’t desperate enough to risk Petunia’s potion… but how about Felix felicis? We saw what one day on FF could do, imagine an entire lifetime!)
Invisibility cloaks in canon are supposed to be made from demiguise hairs or enchanted, and not usually made out of thestral components even though thestrals are invisible. The true Cloak of Invisibility may be using the thestral blood for permanence as well. Most cloaks of invisibility fade and weaken with time until they are useless; until Harry discovered a secret use, the primary difference of Harry’s cloak was it’s ability to last for so long.
In canon, people are extremely prejudiced and superstitious against thestrals. They also share the same XXXX classification as trolls, according to Quirrel “the third most perfect killing machine in all of Nature.” This means they’re probably illegal to handle or acquire without ministry supervision. I would guess that most people don’t have the means or desire to experiment with thestral blood.
Lastly, Felix Felicis is a super finicky potion. It is toxic in large quantities, difficult to brew, and dangerous to get wrong. The inclusion of thestral blood made an ordinary (well, 5th year) beauty potion extremely dangerous; people may not want to risk making it even more dangerous.
Although, all of these are just speculation so take with a grain of salt. But it would explain how thestral ingredients grant permanence, but aren’t used commonly.
The true Cloak of Invisibility may be using the thestral blood for permanence as well. Most cloaks of invisibility fade and weaken with time until they are useless; until Harry discovered a secret use, the primary difference of Harry’s cloak was it’s ability to last for so long.
IIRC, both canon & MoR flat out says that the Cloak is more than a merely unfading ordinary invisibility cloak, but grants hiddenness and protection on a deeper level than them. It differs in both quality and quantity, you might say.
I would guess that most people don’t have the means or desire to experiment with thestral blood.
One might say the same thing of using or researching dragon blood. And yet...
Lastly, Felix Felicis is a super finicky potion. It is toxic in large quantities, difficult to brew, and dangerous to get wrong.
Everything is toxic in large quantities, and the difficulties & danger of preparation apply to, well, the preparation, not the end product. (This actually makes it an even better potion to make permanent with thestral blood.)
Ah yes. I should have said the most easily noticeable aspect of the cloak. I meant in canon that’s what tipped them off.
One might say the same thing of using or researching dragon blood. And yet...
You know, it feels significant that Dumbledore loves to experiment with and discover new uses for other species blood, but I’ll be darned if I can figure it out.
Dumbledore is a secret vampire. The reason he couldn’t defeat Grindlewald earlier was because he was flat out unable until he made a bargain with a dark power and gained the strength of Vampirism.
Most people don’t know how potions work. I think it’d be safe to tell someone to add thestral blood without telling them what for, and if they’re someone as mundane as Lily Potter they would never figure it out.
Except that Lily did figure out what the substitution would do. She immediately figured out that it would make the subject sick and might be deadly, and she eventually figured out that it would make the change permanent (or whatever good thing it did) and would probably not be quite deadly.
That seems pretty convincing to me. I had never heard of eagle’s splendor before so I wasn’t able to put the pieces together. But now I’m wondering, since we just learned the major principle of potions: how exactly does thestral blood help one become beautiful? Thestrals in canon are invisible and their blood confers invisibility (or was that MoR? they’re getting mixed up in my head so much these days), so wouldn’t such a potion render Petunia invisible? Useful for many things, perhaps, but being beautiful does not seem to be one of the things helped by being invisible.
(Or under the ‘releasing’ sort of mechanism, thestral blood… releases death? Makes one younger? But Petunia was already young.)
In canon, the Elder Wand has a thestral tail-hair core; in MoR,
Maybe the thestral blood added permanence, because death is permanent? If it was replacing blueberries I doubt it was the key magical ingredient, and so its effect may not be directly related to its properties.
ETA: And also that’s why this version of the potion so much more dangerous. It has Death in it.
Yes, definitely. But it must be very dilute death or it’d just be a stupid potion. Dumbledore may feel guilty over such dangerous ‘help’ but he wouldn’t make a suggestion guaranteed to fail.
That’s just crazy enough to work, but to continue the vein of thought, if thestral blood conferred permanence on all sorts of potions, you’d expect it either to be a deep wizarding secret Dumbledore wouldn’t give any schoolgirl or to be used in lots of other contexts—anything you want a potion to be permanent. (Maybe witches aren’t desperate enough to risk Petunia’s potion… but how about Felix felicis? We saw what one day on FF could do, imagine an entire lifetime!)
Invisibility cloaks in canon are supposed to be made from demiguise hairs or enchanted, and not usually made out of thestral components even though thestrals are invisible. The true Cloak of Invisibility may be using the thestral blood for permanence as well. Most cloaks of invisibility fade and weaken with time until they are useless; until Harry discovered a secret use, the primary difference of Harry’s cloak was it’s ability to last for so long.
In canon, people are extremely prejudiced and superstitious against thestrals. They also share the same XXXX classification as trolls, according to Quirrel “the third most perfect killing machine in all of Nature.” This means they’re probably illegal to handle or acquire without ministry supervision. I would guess that most people don’t have the means or desire to experiment with thestral blood.
Lastly, Felix Felicis is a super finicky potion. It is toxic in large quantities, difficult to brew, and dangerous to get wrong. The inclusion of thestral blood made an ordinary (well, 5th year) beauty potion extremely dangerous; people may not want to risk making it even more dangerous.
Although, all of these are just speculation so take with a grain of salt. But it would explain how thestral ingredients grant permanence, but aren’t used commonly.
IIRC, both canon & MoR flat out says that the Cloak is more than a merely unfading ordinary invisibility cloak, but grants hiddenness and protection on a deeper level than them. It differs in both quality and quantity, you might say.
One might say the same thing of using or researching dragon blood. And yet...
Everything is toxic in large quantities, and the difficulties & danger of preparation apply to, well, the preparation, not the end product. (This actually makes it an even better potion to make permanent with thestral blood.)
Ah yes. I should have said the most easily noticeable aspect of the cloak. I meant in canon that’s what tipped them off.
You know, it feels significant that Dumbledore loves to experiment with and discover new uses for other species blood, but I’ll be darned if I can figure it out.
Dumbledore is a secret vampire. The reason he couldn’t defeat Grindlewald earlier was because he was flat out unable until he made a bargain with a dark power and gained the strength of Vampirism.
No, the blood sacrifices were made to slake Dumbledore’s vile thirst. After they stopped, well...
Most people don’t know how potions work. I think it’d be safe to tell someone to add thestral blood without telling them what for, and if they’re someone as mundane as Lily Potter they would never figure it out.
Except that Lily did figure out what the substitution would do. She immediately figured out that it would make the subject sick and might be deadly, and she eventually figured out that it would make the change permanent (or whatever good thing it did) and would probably not be quite deadly.