How to Make Polyjuice Potion for Muggles (No Toenails or Hair Required!)

When Polyjuice Potion was introduced in the Wizarding world, little did we know how important this one potion would be! Despite this, Polyjuice Potion is consistently described as one of the more gross-sounding potions to actually drink. For that reason, I set out to create a Polyjuice Potion recipe for muggles that tastes delicious – no bits of the person you want to turn into required! (Unfortunately, you won’t turn into anyone either!)

My Polyjuice Potion recipe is surprisingly easy and deliciously sweet. Best of all, it can be modified to make it different depending on who’s drinking it (rather than who you’re supposed to turn into…). Read on for my recipe of how to make Polyjuice Potion the muggle way.

This post was originally published in October 2020, and was updated in June 2022.

Polyjuice Potion in the Magical World

Warning muggle, there are spoilers ahead! If you haven’t read all seven books, you might want to skip this part!

As I alluded to in the introduction to this post, Polyjuice Potion is probably one of the most-mentioned concoctions in the Wizarding world.

We’re first introduced to Polyjuice Potion in Chamber of Secrets, when second-year Hermione brews this complicated potion after finding it in a Restricted Section book, Moste Potent Potions.

Here are the known ingredients for Polyjuice Potion:

• Lacewing flies (stewed for 21 days)
• Leeches
• Powdered bicorn horn
• Knotgrass
• Fluxweed (picked at full moon)
• Shredded Boomslang skin
• A bit of the person one wants to turn into (typically hair)

J.K. has also shared her insights into these ingredients:

Each one was carefully selected. Lacewing flies (the first part of the name suggested an intertwining or binding together of two identities); leeches (to suck the essence out of one and into the other); horn of a Bicorn (the idea of duality); knotgrass (another hint of being tied to another person); fluxweed (the mutability of the body as it changed into another) and Boomslang skin (a shedded outer body and a new inner). (source)

Polyjuice Potion is described in several ways throughout the rest of the series:

• “like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly” (CoS, Ch. 12)
• “a thick, glutinous liquid” (GoF, Ch. 35)
• “slow-bubbling mudlike substance” (HBP, Ch. 9)

All in all, not exactly appetizing! My Polyjuice Potion recipe is definitely much prettier.

Polyjuice Potion makes a number of appearances throughout the rest of the series after Hermione brews it:

• After the Triwizard Tournament, when Barty Crouch Jr. gets caught posing as Mad-Eye Moody
• In Slughorn’s classroom on the first day of sixth-year Potions class
• Stolen by Malfoy for use on Crabbe and Goyle while he works in the Room of Requirement
• In the Seven Potters plan to remove Harry from the Dursleys for the last time

To say Polyjuice Potion is important is an understatement – it’s critical to many important parts of Harry’s story. And now, with my Polyjuice Potion recipe, it can be a critical part of your next Harry Potter experience!

How to Make Polyjuice Potion (the Muggle Way)

As I said, making Polyjuice Potion the muggle way is much easier than the magical way. You only need a few minutes to put together a punch that’s perfect for any post-Quidditch match party.

If you want to make individual glasses of Polyjuice Potion in different colors, instead of adding food coloring to the punch bowl, wait and add 1-2 drops of food coloring to each glass, stir, and then top with extra sherbet. That way each person can have their own uniquely colored cup of Polyjuice Potion!

Polyjuice Potion Shopping List & Recipe

Here’s what you need to get started:

• Rainbow Sherbet – I got mine at my local grocery store
• Lemon-Lime Soda – I bought Sprite, but 7-Up will work or any other similar flavored soda too
• Ginger Ale – I used Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale
• Food coloring – I bought a standard four-color set

Once you have your ingredients, you can start “brewing” your own Polyjuice Potion.

Add several scoops of rainbow sherbet to your punch bowl. It depends on the size of your bowl; I put four healthy scoops into mine. You can always add more as you make the punch.

Next, pour in your lemon-lime soda and ginger ale. When you do, the potion will bubble up – exactly as a good potion should! It will also turn a not-too-pleasant color… Mine was a peachy orange, but the exact color of your potion will depend on how much pink, orange, and green sherbet in your punch bowl at the beginning.

The next step is to add several drops of food coloring. I added green, naturally (#Slytherin4Life). You can add any colors you like – just don’t be surprised if your potion ends up turning the “khaki color of a booger!” (CoS, Ch. 12)

(As a reminder: If you’re making individual glasses of the potion, serve up the potion, then add the food coloring.)

After stirring, your Polyjuice Potion is complete! No lacewing flies, no boomslang skin – and no month of waiting. As you can see, mine is very toxic green with colorful bubbles of sherbet on top.

After that, it’s time to serve it up and enjoy!

I grabbed my ladle and favorite Butterbeer mug and served myself some up. It’s a deliciously fruity and not-too-sweet “sherbet” float that’s perfect for any muggle’s Harry Potter party!

Have any questions about making Polyjuice Potion? Let me know in the comments!

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