Topic > Summary of Magic for Everyday Use and Profit by Birgit Wiedl

In the section on the use of cauldrons, Weidl refers to Hans Baldung Grien's Witches' Sabbath (1510), which “shows the witches preparing their potions in a cauldron, although this is mostly linked to the key (visual) element of early modern witchcraft designs: the ability of witches to fly through the air.” (Magic for Everyday Use and Profit 14). This choice proved an unfortunate one, as Weidl overlooked the opportunity to further expand the use of both broomsticks and cauldrons in the wizarding world, their great diversity contrasting with the singular Muggle uses. Even more shocking, the author spent much of the text focusing on magical ingredients like bezoar and mandrake, but hardly connected them to their use by wizards. During a second-year herbology lesson, Hermione Granger earns 10 points for Gryffindor when she answers: "[The] Mandragora, or Mandragora, is a powerful tonic... used to restore people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state " (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 102). By using this direct quote, Weidl would have been able to perfectly exemplify the wizarding world's interpretation of madrake, as was pertinent in this novel during the petrification of students and animals that occurred around the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. (CS 152, 196, 219, 277) Likewise, during a sixth year potions lesson, much about the bezoar, “A stone taken from the stomach of a goat, which protects against most poisons” (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 446), is revealed. First, “a bezoar in the throat” (HBP 446) is the solution described by the Half-Blood Prince, while Professor Slughorn states, “that would do the trick… even if they don't work on everything, and are quite rare, they're still worth it know how