Is That Spaghetti or is it a Worm? Quiz

Answer: Bluebell

Bluebells, whose scientific name is Hyacinthoides non-scripta, grow wild in some of England's woodland. As its name suggests, the petals hang down from the stem and form a bell shape. Old Madge needs to be careful when picking the flowers, however. In 1998 it became illegal to pick native bluebells that were growing in the wild with the intention of selling them. Bluebell sap has been used to bind the pages of books together, which is why Old Madge is trying to use it in a potion for fixing broken books.

Answer: A handkerchief

You won't want to get on the wrong side of Old Madge - this a plague potion that she's brewing here (if she gets it right). Any good plague potion needs infected mucus; the thick, gooey stuff that comes out of people's noses when they have a cold. For hundreds of years people have used small squares of cloth (also known as handkerchiefs) to wipe and blow their snotty noses.

Answer: A meteorite

A meteorite is a lump of debris that has fallen to Earth from space. They are usually made of metal or rock, but Old Madge's spell requires a rocky meteorite. There is another condition, though. The meteorite had to have fallen when Mars was visible in the night sky. The red planet can be seen from Earth most of the year round, and occasionally it can be seen as a bright glow with the naked eye.

Hopefully Old Madge can buy a meteorite from somewhere. Otherwise, she's going to be spending long nights outside waiting to spot a shooting star.

Answer: Eastern cottontail

Eastern cottontails are a common rabbit in North America. Pickled body parts are by no means in short supply as cottontails breed like... well, rabbits. One female can give birth to up to eight babies three or four times a year. It's a bit grotesque but Old Madge has four jars of tongues. Out of her selection, only the rabbit tongues came from a herbivore.

Answer: A teaspoon

Teaspoons can hold roughly five milliliters - often abbreviated to 5ml. A millilitre is a derived unit of a litre. There are 1000ml in 1 litre. Unless Madge has got an especially accurate teaspoon, her measurement may be a bit off, as the volume of teaspoons vary. Let's hope this potion doesn't need to be too precise!

Answer: Splitting maul

A splitting maul is used to chop a piece of wood into pieces, for example, to make kindling. After much chopping of wood and grinding of stones, the spell is finished. You can definitely see the shape of a building, but I wouldn't call it a structure... Looks like Old Madge will be living in her tiny cottage for some time yet.

Answer: Ink

The "blood of a pen" refers to the ink inside a writing implement. Ink for writing on paper or papyrus was independently discovered almost simultaneously in China and Egypt in around 2500 BCE. Over the centuries, ink has been made from plant dyes, soot, and gelatin, among other things.

It usually contains a colour pigment or dye (and Old Madge knows that blood red is best for love potions).

Answer: Ruby

Rubies are made of aluminium oxide, also known as corundum. Usually, corundum is clear, but the element chromium alters the colour to make it appear red. Chromium earned its name from the Greek word 'chroma' which means 'colour': the element alters the colour of a variety of chemicals when they are mixed together. Chromium is also what makes emeralds appear green.

If spellcasting doesn't work out, maybe Madge could try collecting gem stones for profit.

Answer: Conch

A conch is a type of shell. They have a high, twisting spire and are created by sea snails. The shape of a conch means that a noise is created when the shell is blown into. They are used as ceremonial instruments in Hindu worship and are significant symbols in many other religions and cultures.

Blowing into a conch means one thing for Madge: making a mermaid appear.

Answer: Spaghetti

It looks like Madge wants to create a volcano. That's a little worrying...

This potion recipe has its roots in Italian culture, which is where the word 'volcano' comes from. Vulcan was the Roman god of fire and the Ancient Romans believed that Mount Etna was his forge. Spaghetti is also from Italy. It is a type of thin pasta made from durum wheat and water.