mainly HBP musings - the potion in the cave

[kennahijja]

Ah, Christmas is over! Hope you all had a good and not too stressful time! Ours was nice, relaxed and enjoyable, and I spent an hour on the phone to my best friend in the US on the 25th (after 1am, but... shudders at thought of phone bill). Still, it left me lots of time with fanfic in front of the computer, and curled up with HBP in bed. Which means a substantial fic rec post should be forthcoming tonight :).

But while re-reading HBP (and after mulling over Horcrux traps for the recent fic), something occurred to me about the potion Harry and Dumbledore encounter in the Cave in HBP...

In HBP, the Horcrux is at the bottom of the basin, and Dumbledore concludes:

"But how to reach it? This potion cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped up, or siphoned away, nor can it be Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made to change its nature." Almost absentmindedly, Dumbledore raised his wand again, twirled it once in midair, and then caught the crystal goblet that he had conjured out of nowhere. "I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be drunk."
"What?" said Harry. "No!"
"Yes, I think so: Only by drinking it can I empty the basin and see what lies in its depths."

And then:

Before Harry could make any further protest, Dumbledore lowered the crystal goblet into the potion. For a split second, Harry hoped that he would not be able to touch the potion with the goblet, but the crystal sank into the surface as nothing else had; when the glass was full to the brim, Dumbledore lifted it to his mouth. "Your good health, Harry."

So... if the potion can be scooped out by goblet, why does Dumbledore *drink* the stuff? Why not empty the goblet on the floor or something? I'm sure this has been discussed by someone before, but I just wonder... Anyone encountered any theories?

Comments

[chthonya]

Thank you, that has been bothering me ever since I first read GoF!

Likewise. Though it only occured to me on seeing the film that perhaps the Cup was always supposed to be a Portkey - to bring the winner back to the maze entrance and the cheers of the onlookers. I read a theory somewhere that only Headmaster-created/endorsed Portkeys would make it in or out of Hogwarts (if not, then why did Draco not use one to bring in the Death Eaters?), so that CrouchJnr only had to overlay Dumbledore's Portket spell with his own, to divert the Portkey from its proper destination. It also would explain why the Cup returned to Hogwarts when touched in the graveyard.

[snorkackcatcher]

Ah, thanks -- that theory does actually make sense, except that BCJ said he "turned" the Cup into a Portkey? (Although I suppose "endorsed" does work in that case.) It is one of the odd plot holes in the series. (Not as odd as the idea of giving 13-year-olds Time-Turners, but again there you can handwave and say that they can only be used in ways the Headmaster approves of.)