12

I was thinking about the Harry Potter-verse and it occurred to me that the luck potion Felix Felicis would have been an OP game changer if used correctly! Other questions have highlighted how it might have altered the story, so I'll keep mine simple:

Professor Slughorn in book 6 highlights that the potion is "notoriously difficult to make", which explains its rarity. However, supposing someone did get their hands on even a small bit of it, couldn't they just use the resulting luck to "fortune" their way into making more of it?

It was never clear if that was a limitation of the potion or not.

TheLethalCarrot
  • 143,332
  • 64
  • 808
  • 878
Russhiro
  • 12,408
  • 8
  • 46
  • 124
  • 6
    For interest, this was a known trick in the videogame Morrowind. Crafting potions of boost luck (and intelligences) and then consuming those to create ever stronger potions of boost luck (/int). – Frames Catherine White Sep 10 '19 at 16:52
  • @LyndonWhite Also in Skyrim, where your Alchemy skill can be boosted by Restoration potions. And combined with Enchanting potions, and Alchemy enchantments too... – Chronocidal Sep 13 '19 at 12:25

2 Answers2

10

The books don't mention specific categories of limitations for Felix Felicis. In this answer I discussed at length what Felix Felicis actually can and can't do. In short, it seems to primarily give the user extra confidence and help them make good decisions (possibly through some sort of insight into the near future), and arguably makes them actually "lucky". It cannot, however, fundamentally affect magic or break through powerful enchantments.

That being the case, Felix Felicis wouldn't magically enable you to make more Felix Felicis. What it might do is help you with various details involved. For instance, if you needed to steal potion ingredients from Snape's office, Felix Felicis might be able to help you do so without getting caught. If you need to do something to the potion at a precise moment, Felix Felicis might guide you in doing that. However, if you simply don't have the necessary ingredients Felix Felicis won't be able to create them for you. If the potion has to stew for six months, Felix Felicis wouldn't enable you to make it in three months.

In other words, there is nothing particularly limiting Felix Felicis from helping you create more Felix Felicis, but there is also nothing specific about brewing Felix Felicis that makes Felix Felicis particularly helpful. It would simply be the same as any other situation: using Felix Felicis can help you in minor ways, but it can't really enable you to do something that would have been impossible for you to do otherwise.

TheLethalCarrot
  • 143,332
  • 64
  • 808
  • 878
Alex
  • 44,709
  • 7
  • 159
  • 202
  • 1
    I always thought Felix, aside from boosting your mood and enhancing positive energy and intuition, also somehow fundamentally altered the natural laws of probability to be more highly in one's favor, much like how domino's mutant power works. No, it won't "move" a bullet out of her way [she has to consciously act on it] but it can decrease the likelihood of her getting hit even if she doesn't actively dodge. But this answer does make a lot of sense, so thank you for it. – Russhiro Sep 11 '19 at 01:09
  • @RussRainford In the answer I linked I touched on that in more detail. – Alex Sep 11 '19 at 01:10
  • There is also the the possibility that things need to be done to the potion during those 6 months, rather than just making it and let it stew. It makes more sense that the 6 month period is spent stirring or adding things at the right time rather than just leaving it. That would mean you would have to be taking it from start to finish to not mess it up – Matt May 24 '20 at 15:24
2

I believe that you cannot.

Felix Felicis is described as making an ordinary day extraordinary. This and I believe its other descriptions all describe it as lasting a short period of time. Contrary to that, it takes six months to brew. Now it doesn't say if that six months is merely letting it sit there or if additions, modifications, and other tasks are needed during that period. I think it is likely that it would need attention besides sitting there, otherwise it probably wouldn't be "notoriously difficult to make".

TheLethalCarrot
  • 143,332
  • 64
  • 808
  • 878
shufly
  • 3,881
  • 1
  • 8
  • 24
  • Being difficult to make doesn't mean difficult to duplicate. Synthetic products come to mind. I believe what the OP is asking is if using one FF potion while making another would make the current batch stronger (ie cook faster/last longer/better luck), maybe even at the cost of possibly becoming more volatile? Would that not fall under "ordinary to extraordinary"? – DCOPTimDowd Sep 10 '19 at 21:13
  • 1
    I understood it as if using the FF potion makes it easier to make more of the potion, not if you can use it to make a better version. I stand by my answer that the time difference between how long the potion lasts and how long it takes to make is the issue. The initial day may go easier, or you may end up not actually making any but instead get someone to give you some more, but i don't think it will make creating more easier unless you take it every day, at which point you are probably using more than you make. – shufly Sep 10 '19 at 21:31
  • 1
    What if you only drank it on the day the current potion was supposed to be done brewing? Like @LyndonWhite's comment above, is there anything that says that HP potions wouldn't have a similar usage to those in Elder Scrolls? – DCOPTimDowd Sep 10 '19 at 21:46
  • If you made any mistakes in the six months before the day it finishes brewing before then they would not magically be fixed. The potion makes you luckier, it does not alter the world to your wants. There is nothing that says they don't work like Morrowind, but i think this is more a case of the scrolls of icarian flight, where the magic will wear off before you achieve what you want, rather than the make int/luck potions to make better potions due to the time involved. – shufly Sep 10 '19 at 22:01
  • I don't see how something can make you "luckier" without altering the world a bit. Isn't that how luck works? – DCOPTimDowd Sep 10 '19 at 22:13
  • 3
    Did you read the books? The potion gave nudges, do this instead of that type things, to achieve a better result than the initially planned actions. All it changed was suggesting to Harry what to do and say. Though suggesting may be too light of a word for it. – shufly Sep 10 '19 at 22:28
  • 1
    Hmmm...then it seems like it would suggest how to make a better potion. :) – DCOPTimDowd Sep 10 '19 at 23:21
  • Ok, we'll lay in a six-month supply and then start two batches per day. – Joshua Dec 10 '19 at 22:04