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Harry Potter: What Is Liquid Luck? Explored
Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck, is a powerful potion that grants the drinker luck and success in their endeavors.
Liquid Luck, as it is more appropriately termed, is still one of the most powerful magical items in Harry Potter. The term Felicis Felix happens to be a Latin term, which means happy luck or lucky luck; it is supposed to ensure good luck for a certain period, therefore. This also is a device greater than even the Unforgivable Curses, so far as its action goes, ensuring users who drink it of positive outcomes.
Felix Felicis is an incredibly powerful potion that teaches wizards and witches how to make money, avoid death, and win tournaments. According to Severus Snape, this potion is able to teach students how to bottle fame, brew glory, and stop death. It has some side effects, though, and may not work against darker kinds of magic.
Liquid Luck - what exactly is it, and how does it work?
Liquid Luck is a potion that helps one to gain good luck. It ensures the most favorable outcome in any situation, as seen in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower where Harry and his friends evaded many attacks and even death had they not consumed the Liquid Luck.
Liquid Luck is a potent, effective drink that instills instant confidence and intuition. Harry does not wince or grimace when he drinks it, and it also does not dull his senses. Much like alcohol, Liquid Luck makes the drinker more sure of themselves, yet it heightens them, making it a more functional drink. The taste is not described, but Harry doesn't wince or grimace upon drinking it.
If Harry drinks it, then he feels invincible. J.K. Rowling wrote, "Sowly but surely, an exhilarating sense of infinite opportunity stole through him; he felt as though he could have done anything, anything at all."
The more Liquid Luck a person drinks, the longer the effect is going to last. A single vial lasts around 12 hours. This potion, however, can have some pretty serious side effects for people who overuse it: it makes people impulsive and mentally unstable, thus making them prone for poor decision-making-the very opposite of the wanted effect. Professor Slughorn explains that the potion is highly toxic in large quantities but safe to drink in small sips.
Horace Slughorn explains that Liquid Luck, while dangerous in large quantities, can be used to make sure that one will be successful in certain situations. In this case, there is a reason why neither Lord Voldemort nor Albus Dumbledore used Felix Felicis to destroy wizards en masse. Nor, for that matter, does anybody frequently drink Felix Felicis.
Reason one of course is that it is dangerous to drink too much Felix Felicis. Careless or self-destructive people would most likely not care too much about that, but the second reason is that making Liquid Luck is incredibly hard. Slughorn describes it as "desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong." This means that not only is it hard to get this potion, but if brewed wrong, who knows what kind of effects it could have on the user. Surely most people aren't going to risk that.
Potion masters could brew and sell potions for a pretty penny, possibly passing the potions on to wizards like Lucius Malfoy and all-powerful wizards such as Dumbledore or Voldemort. However, this potion of Felix Felicis isn't beyond all types of magic. Even on the use of this potion, the Dumbledore's Army went to face the Death Eaters; Liquid Luck couldn't be used to help them beat the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. This is high magic; way beyond the powers of Felix Felicis to counter, the wizards' magic is beyond his powers to counter.
Those who would most benefit from Liquid Luck may not be in a position or have the means to acquire it, while others who could brew it may have no need for it due to their knowledge and ability. Felix Felicis is, at its most useful, only truly applicable under very specific circumstances, with even Slughorn himself unable to capitalize on the luck bestowed upon him.
Did Ron and Harry consume the Liquid Luck?
Apprehensive about his Keeper position in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Ron had been hoodwinked into joining by Harry when he added Felix Felicis drops to his orange juice. Hermione thought Harry cheated Ron into the team; it worked, though-as Ron really did think that he would be lucky and was thus more confident. Actually, on this occasion, Ron is not drinking Liquid Luck.
This allowed Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to dodge lethal spells and have the upper hand in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower against the Death Eaters. They did not cheat; Hermione used a Confundus spell on Ron's adversary, showing the power through tricky situations.
Harry used Felix Felicis to get Horace Slughorn to reveal vital information about Lord Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore had to have private lessons about Voldemort; he was missing just one important piece of the puzzle. Horace Slughorn taught Tom Riddle while he was at Hogwarts and had in his possession a very valuable memory that would go toward confirming Voldemort's use of a Horcrux. The memory was shameful and fearsome for Slughorn to give, and Harry needed luck for him to cooperate.
During that night when Hagrid was having a funeral, giving his due respect to Aragog, Harry and Slughorn attended it in order to manipulate his Potions professor using Liquid Luck. After a few words said to Slughorn, he finally handed the memory over to Harry. However, Harry, using his luck, broke up Ginny from Dean. Hence, this led to their breakup and his relationship with Ginny. He also departed the boy's room with the Cloak of Invisibility-the incident that divided Ron and Hermione. Despite these unfortunate happenings, Harry's night was a fortunate one for him.
ALSO READ: Harry Potter: Why Was Severus Snape Called the Half-Blood Prince?
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