Potion in the cave.

[Phaerie]

The first question that springs to mind is what is the potion? it seemed to be rather nasty but by no means rapidly life threatening and as Snape says in OotP most poisons are fast acting- it could of course be a non-fatal poison. Also looking at the effects, did anybody ntice that it made DD act in an almost childlike way. And Jk also describes him as childlike- is this an effect of the potion too.

Secondly who put the potion there? This may seem obvious- Voldemort of course. But in actual fact somebody else has been ther since Voldemort set the traps aeound it. The mysterious R.A.B has also encountered the whole set up. Leading to the question of does the trap automatically reset once the cave is exited, or would the potion have to be replaced manually. If o the potion left there by R.A.B may be different to the one left by Voldemort.

[Broccoli]

It seemed to me that the potion's effects are similar to those caused by dementors - bringing back worst memory - or are like a boggart, showing one's fears. The things DD saw were only happenning in his imagination.

What I don't quite get is (in case the potion was made by Voldemort himself) if Voldemort decided to take the horcux from the cave and rehide it, would he be able to drink the potion alone?

[selene]

i seriously doubt that will drink it himself
he would probably bring someone (child, muggle, ...) with him, let that person drink the potion and when he takes the horcruxs out kill that person.
why subject yourself to the effects of the potion when you can use it to torture someone?
and why move it? lv probably thinks it quite safe.

[Broccoli]

A good point about making some one else drink it! That's the thing he would do.
As for the safety - if LV thought of it as 100% safe, he wouldn't have made it accessable at all.

[b.scheller]

J.K Rowling, has established throughout the books, that Tom Riddle, is highly arrogant, for him to actually believe there is a slight chance of someone finding a part of his soul, would be against his character.

He does not believe, that anyone could outsmart him, or atleast, anyone would get the horcrux. He's been a shadow most of his life. To accept, a possibility of someone attempting to steal a portion of his soul, would be to accept defeat, and I don't think his ego could let him do that.

[selene]

and how many people know about the horcuxes?
i think most witches and wizards don't even know what a horcrux is.
and even if they know what it is, they probably won't know where to look
if it took dd that long ...

[Un'Anima Persa]

Maybe it was an evil potion, like... if you are evil, or if u have the dark mork or something, you can drink it... and it wont have an effect on you... and maybe thats how someone got in and stole it before D and Harry could?

If not, I do think it would be the LV thing to do to take another person in with him...

[redhead_723]

I dont think that the potion can be drunk if the person has a dark mark, that would leave too many people who could potentially turn on him and steal the Horcrux. I think that if anything it would be a potion that only LV could drink rather than anybody with a dark mark.

[Scarlet Lioness]

Yeah I dont think it would be like that because someone like the old Snape or the Snape we thought we knew could easily defie VD and get the horcrux...

[The Mauled Avenger]

i may have missed something but...

why did dd have to drink the potion, couldnt they just tip it away or something?

[child of darkness]

lol i have started seeing Snape ad LVs equal since i finished and i actually do agree that he could take the horcrux anyday, RAB might actually lead back to Snape in some way -- wait no that sounds too impossible

[Libby Lovegood]

Ok, i might be being really blonde here but why didnt DD just tip the drink onto the rock or something? I mean he had already scooped it out??

[child of darkness]

Yeah that is exactly what i thought but ofcourse something would have happened as im sure DD realised. It cant be enchanted, transfigured etc.
There was probably some charm on the floor and as DD said it cannot be charmed so tis may have been the reason he could not/did not try to spill it

[Froggs]

My thought was if they poured it out, or even missed a drop, than the potion would refill and they would have to start over again, or perhaps it would wake the inferi.

[Mistress Siana]

I'm pretty sure in would instantly have vanished from the floor and gone back into the basin. Remember how the water vanished from the goblet once Harry tried to feed it to DD? Voldemort obviously made sure that drinking it was the one and only way. Just as I believe that the only way to get the ring was putting it on, why else would DD have carried it around?