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If we take Horace Slughorn's description of Felix Felicis at face value and not just as a potion with some placebo effect, then in the case of Harry using it, it caused:

  • Horace Slughorn to get drunk and to share information that he otherwise would've preferred to withhold,

  • Harry to get lucky with his romantic interest, Ginny, after breaking her up with her boyfriend.

Does this mean that it can be used to 'get lucky' for getting a one night stand just as easily, making it the perfect rape drug? The preparator doesn't even need to strain himself trying to slip it to the victim and risk getting caught as the person can take it beforehand in the seclusion of his/her room.

Voronwé
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    Rita Skeeter always looking for sensation... – Edmund Dantes Jul 17 '17 at 08:04
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    I hope you're "asking for a friend"! – Möoz Jul 17 '17 at 08:10
  • @Möoz walked into that one, did i :D But no, it's more that my data-drug detecting nail polish wont work in this case, as it's not me ingesting the drug. While you can be cautious and not swallow any love potions if youre on your guard, nothing helps against FF –  Jul 17 '17 at 08:22
  • Also, Ginny gave it it all DA members and no one got injured in the battle with Death Eaters. – TimSparrow Jul 17 '17 at 09:34
  • @TimSparrow yes, an it is an excellent argument against the FF placebo theory –  Jul 17 '17 at 09:48
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    It doesn't matter how "lucky" you are if the other half says "No". Consent is what matters. – Skooba Jul 17 '17 at 13:42
  • @Skooba getting consent from an inebriated person doesnt impress me that much and that's exactly what Harry did. Now change 'getting info' to 'getting sex' –  Jul 17 '17 at 14:07
  • I get the sense that by our standards, consent in the wizarding world can be... problematic. – PlutoThePlanet Jul 17 '17 at 14:14
  • @R.Skeeter but in you scenario here the "chasee" is not inebriated, the "chaser" is. So if anything the user of Felix Felicis is the one who can not give consent... – Skooba Jul 17 '17 at 14:29
  • @Skooba ??? You mean in hagrids hut it's harry who's drunk, not horace? –  Jul 17 '17 at 14:42
  • @PlutoThePlanet i don't know... love potion is interchangeable with muggle substances, and you got recreational use (Molly) sexual harassment (Romilda) and rape (Merope) nothing new here. same with imperius, there are muggle substances with the same effect. A wizard/witch who is careful, can avoid these traps. But FF is cheating and it's a dumb plot device. –  Jul 17 '17 at 14:45
  • @R.Skeeter Oh I see what your on about now... Yeah there is no way the FF made Slughorn get drunk. By that logic the FF also killed Aragog. – Skooba Jul 17 '17 at 14:52
  • @Skooba youre closer now. whether FF made Horace drunk is open to discussion, but it gave the option to Harry to exploit a drunken man to get info. –  Jul 17 '17 at 14:57
  • Related: Has JKR addressed the issue of love potions equating to date rape drugs?. Since Love Potions are basically date rape drugs I don't see how FF would be any different. The concept is not unheard of in the HP universe, anyhow. – The Dark Lord Jul 17 '17 at 17:32
  • @TheDarkLord yes, the concept isn't new in the HP world. But the question is not about it being new but whether the FF can be categorised as one. Drat. I am here for interesting answers not bages and points,, but not getting any of that lately. Is everyone on summer vacation? boring... –  Jul 17 '17 at 18:04

2 Answers2

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No.

Felis Felicitus makes you lucky. The Harry Potter novels don't fully explore what that means, but Larry Niven's Ringworld did, in the person of Teela Brown. (Granted this was kind of retconned away later on, but I'm referring to the original Ringworld only.)

The important point in this context is that good luck isn't getting what you want, it's getting what you need, what will make you happiest or most successful in the long run. Ginny was potentially Harry's perfect partner, and the only luck required was in setting up the situation that allowed that potential to flourish.

Casual sex with an essentially unwilling partner is not good luck, no matter how much you might think you want it, and especially not if you might be accused of rape afterwards, once the effect has worn off. (It seems reasonable to suppose that there are developed methods of detecting when someone has misused Felix Felicis, given the sporting ban, so you are unlikely to get away with it.)

Harry Johnston
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Logically - No.

You cannot push luck to force something out of someone. Using luck, Harry convinced Slughorn to disclose his memory using logic and shame, there was no forcing involved. Slughorn felt a great pity for Harry's mother, felt a degree of guilt as he did nothing to prevent her death (hence hiding the memory to avoid shame), and realized that keeping the memory secret only made matters worse. The potion allowed Harry to see the bigger picture and to realize that the correct action would be to let Horace get drunk and sentimental, and a visit to Hagrid's hut would be the right thing right now.

With Ginny, it looked like more of a placebo effect. Both were already attracted to each other and eventually they would stick together. Again, maybe not.

Slughorn also warned of the possible effects of potion abuse, such as extreme addiction, desire to push luck to the extreme (and crazy, reckless actions) and, finally madness (if the abuser does not die due to his crazy actions).

TimSparrow
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    S. also said 'However if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed' and Harry was unsuccessful without the FF and a drunken S. After all the man has a well developed survival instinct. It is also possible that without luck there wouldn't have been any happy outcome with Ginny -Harry could've been too busy and not have the opportunity, Ginny could've found abother boyfriend in the meantime and cured of her hero worship of Harry, etc. after something already happened it's very easy to say 'it would've happened anyway', much harder to predict. –  Jul 17 '17 at 10:21
  • @R.Skeeter, you are right stating that it could possibly not happen if Harry was too busy or Ginny found another boyfriend. I am saying that FF did not change things fundamentally, eg: Ginny fancied someone else and disgusted Harry, Harry takes FF, Ginny falls in love with Harry. – TimSparrow Jul 17 '17 at 10:48
  • all i am saying is that under the influence of depressants such as alcohol and some drugs ppl may make decisions that in ordinary circumstances would call 'disgusting' or in horace's case 'suicidal' –  Jul 17 '17 at 11:16
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    Felix Felicis is banned in sporting competitions, which implies that it affects the outside environment of a person and doesn't just give them self-confidence and intuition. Remember that Harry found the front door unlocked and unexpectedly ran into Slughorn, both of which were things Harry couldn't control. – The Dark Lord Jul 17 '17 at 17:35