Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was on a crisp autumn evening when Albus Dumbledore, having just finished brewing a batch of Felix Felicis, decided that it was the perfect time to conduct a little, uh, “recreational research”. It had been decades since he first discovered those twelve uses of dragon’s blood. He couldn’t help but ponder whether there might have been a thirteenth use that he missed. What better way to unlock his full experimental genius than with a touch of Liquid Luck?

Upon gulping down one dose of the shimmering potion, an overwhelming sense of purposed washed over him. He suddenly knew exactly what he needed to do (or, Felix did). Rushing to his cauldron, he poured a generous amount of Dragon’s blood into a bubbling solution of salamander blood and powdered unicorn horn, stirring clockwise precisely seven times followed by one counterclockwise. He had absolutely no idea why this felt correct, but Felix assured him that it just was.

As Albus stood back to admire his creation, fate intervened in the most unexpected way: Horace Slughorn, entering the room at that exact moment, accidentally knocked the cauldron over — directly onto his own head. The thick crimson liquid soaked into his scalp, and, in mere seconds, a miracle happened.

Horace, who had been experiencing the rather unfortunately common condition of hair thinning plaguing men of his age, suddenly found himself sporting the most luxurious, wavy locks that put even Gilderoy Lockhart’s famed golden curls to shame. His bald spot vanished, replaced with a voluminous mane cascading down his scalp.

“Albus, old boy!” Horace gasped, running a hand through his newfound tresses. “This… this is magnificent!”

From that day forward, wizards suffering from magical baldness sought out Dumbledore’s Yeti Elixir. Unfortunately, without the guiding hand of Felix, no one was ever able to successfully recreate it. Some claimed that the potion only worked if brewed under the influence of Liquid Luck, while others suspected that Horace’s uniquely potion-absorbing scalp played a role in its success. 

Regardless, Albus — whose glorious head of silver hair and beard never needed any magical growth assistance — chalked it up as an accidental victory.

“Some mysteries are best left unsolved,” he mused.