Polyjuice Potion

Type

Magic system

First appears

Book 2 · Ch. 9

Books

3

Polyjuice Potion is a thick, glutinous brew that transforms the drinker into an exact physical double of another person once a piece of that person, typically a hair, is added. It first appears as Hermione's daring schoolgirl project in Chamber of Secrets, where the trio brew it illicitly in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to spy on Draco Malfoy. In Goblet of Fire it takes a far darker turn: Barty Crouch Jr. drinks it hourly from a hip flask to impersonate Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody for an entire school year, keeping the real Moody captive in a magical trunk. Over the series the potion changes from a symbol of youthful ingenuity into an instrument of deep deception.