What does it mean to "stopper death"?

Question

‘As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.’
_{Philosopher's Stone - page 102 - Bloomsbury - chapter eight, The Potions Master}

Pretty much what the title asks: What does it mean to stopper death?

I've seen it interpreted as an actual bit of death put into a phial (flask or beaker) and then put a stopper (a rubber cap) on the phial, trapping death in the phial.

I've also seen it interpreted as a potion that will keep one from dying (such as the Elixir of Life) or stave off death (such as the potion Snape gave Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince that trapped the curse from the ring Horcrux in Dumbledore's hand).

What does it mean to "stopper death"?

_{I felt like this question has been asked before, maybe even by me, but I checked using several keywords and this didn't pop up. Just in case, though, if this is a duplicate, my apologies and please don't hesitate to VTC.}

Answer 1

It appears that snape is using a list of action verbs here,

first we have bottle fame, to bottle means to confine, to put into, or to put or keep in possetion of. webster

second we have brew glory, to brew means to prepare, bring about, contrive . webster

and finally we have stopper, which going with the verb theme means to close or secure with. webster

so following our verb theme it literally is saying to close or secure death, to that i think we can assume some kind of poison ect. not to Stop death, but to close up death into.

Answer 2

I think it literally means to pour poison into a container and seal (stopper) it. With no mystical implication about humanities relation to death, no capital-D death, no allegory, just a little bit of metaphor - just like 'bottle fame' doesn't imply anything about drinking, and 'brew glory' refers to the cauldron work (while at the same time drawing the point that an ephemeral concept like "glory" can be distilled to physicality using the Potions art).

It's one of the few times that we see Snape use words and metaphor for some higher purpose than cutting someone down, and it's clear that however much he hates the world, he does love Potions.

Answer 3

I don't think he's actually talking about the capitol-'D' Death, but his statement can be taken in two different ways:

• To stop death (literally putting a stopper in death) - by means of healing potions or antidotes, a Potions student can prevent others from dying.

• To contain death within a bottle (to put a stopper in a bottle containing death) - there are any number of poisons a competent person could brew.

If, in fact, there are potions which call for portions of thestrals or dementors, which are both closely associated with death, there could be a third meaning as well.

Essentially Snape, who liked to make an impression, had a very capable speech written up for his first class, to introduce potions and their capabilities and to impress/terrify his students.

Answer 4

I agree with some of the other answers here, but I think he's going for a pun. Once you have Death (capital D, I know) in a bottle, what do you do with him? You can release him against your enemies, or you can keep him in the bottle and prevent yourself from dying. It's ultimate power - power over Life and Death, a power usually reserved for gods, and certainly not for mere mortals. To "stopper death" is to become the Grim Reaper. The rest of the passage is full of rich language ("softly simmering...shimmering...ensnaring the senses") that portrays potionmaking as a sublime and potent art that, once fully mastered, brings unimaginable rewards. However, he's not talking about actual potions when he's saying "bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death".

Answer 5

I always read it as being able to make a potion to cause instant death, and then put it into a phial and stopper it.

Merriam-Webster has this (first definition) to say about "stopper":

one that brings to a halt or causes to stop operating or functioning

But the second definition:

one that closes, shuts, or fills up; specifically : something (as a bung or cork) used to plug an opening

So, it fully depends on your chosen definition, I suppose. However, consider that Snape is a potions master. This being the case, he most definitely means that you are putting something into a phial. Whether that is a potion to kill or save, in this particular speech, is surely open for interpretation.

It is clear that he can do both. We know from HBP that Snape was giving potions to Dumbledore to give him a little more time. We also know that there are many poisons that can be used to kill