11 Harry Potter Universe Fates Worse Than Death

Speaking of nasty potions, Albus Dumbledore's final hours might've been a tiny bit more enjoyable were it not for Lord Voldemort's Horcrux defence strategy: The Drink of Despair.

Creating an impenetrable seal around Salazar Slytherin's locket, the only way to lay hands on the Horcrux meant the curious party would need to consume a bowl full of the Emerald Potion (yes, it is supposed to be green). As Dumbledore states to Harry, the drink could have any manner of vile effects but no matter his requests to stop or for his life to be ended - he must finish the potion.

So what if Harry wasn't there to persuade Dumbledore to keep drinking? What if anyone brewed this potion and felt 'Devil may care' enough to give it a try? Well, the drinker could be held in a perpetual state of despair and cry out in vain for it all to end.

What's worse than this? Well, if we take the cave on the cliffside as an example, there's nothing to say that anyone would discover the drinker and it's obvious from Dumbledore's reaction that it causes immense pain alongside an inability to act for one's self.

There might be a place at St. Mungo's for a victim of The Drink of Despair but presumably not on a quiet ward.