Perfecting Potions in Pottermore

     Potionmaking is one of the best ways to get points in Pottermore. It may have a reputation for being hard, but if you know the right tricks it's the one truly fail-safe way to gain points for your house. In order to brew a potion, one must obtain the necessary ingredients and follow the instructions as written in the potions book. Mastering these techniques will set you well on your way to becoming a potions master.

The instruction book as seen in
Pottermore. Source

     The instruction book: You will always have a book that tells you how to correctly prepare the potion you wish to brew. If instructions are not followed correctly you may ruin your potion and sometimes even destroy your cauldron; if your cauldron begins to smoke or leak or you know you messed something up,  you should refresh the page or press the back button as quickly as possible.
     However, some instructions can be rearranged to your advantage without consequence. Here is a list of useful alternate instructions:
 - In the first part of the Forgetfulness Potion and the second part of the Sleeping Draught, you may add the Valerian Sprigs and stir the cauldron while it is still heating to save time.
 - In the second part of the Herbicide, while the cauldron is still heating, you may not only add the flobberworm mucus, but you can also begin stirring the potion as well to save time.
     You can do any trick like the ones stated above as long as the mortar and pestle is not involved; any change of instructions involving the mortar and pestle will cause your potion to fail and will usually explode your cauldron, regardless of if you add the mixture to the cauldron at the correct time (I blew two copper cauldrons trying to see if you could mix a mixture while heating a cauldron instead of before heating it).

An example of all three types of ingredients
on Pottermore. Source

     Ingredients: There are three kinds of ingredients, small ingredients, large ingredients, and "bottled" ingredients.

     Small ingredients include those found in bags and also the mixtures from the mortar (the clay bowl to the left of the cauldron), as well as any other small objects that are bunched together. They can be pulled from the bag with a single click and should be dropped into the mortar or cauldron directly over the center of the opening. The ingredients should be pressed as close to it as possible to the top of the mortar or the cauldron before they are dropped so they won't spill over the sides.

     Large ingredients will lie by themselves on the table without any container. They should be grabbed on one of the sides so they will swing into a vertical position. This is important as some of these ingredients will come apart into several pieces when released. They should held as close as possible to the center of the cauldron or mortar's opening without touching it. Do not drop ingredients into the mortar unless they are vertically aligned, or some of the pieces may spill out over the edges and the ingredient will not count!

     "Bottled" ingredients can be found in jars, vials, and bottles. To get such an ingredient into the cauldron, carefully lift the jar by the neck and press the section between the top and the middle against the right side of the cauldron. Continue to press the jar against the cauldron and lower it cautiously, but not too slowly, until ingredients begin to come out. Once you almost have the desired amount of ingredients poured in, raise the jar slowly as to let the last few necessary ingredients get in the potion but prevent any additional ingredients from falling into the cauldron. To pour bottled ingredients into the mortar, lift the jar by the neck and rest it on the left side of the cauldron about half a jar's length from the edge, then tip it towards the mortar in a similar way to how you would tip ingredients into a cauldron. Once you are done, move the jar back to the table without letting it tip over. It is safe to drop a jar from twice its height to save time as long as it is mostly perpendicular to the table.

The Mortar and
Pestle. Source

     The mortar and pestle: The mortar is the bowl on the left of the cauldron and the pestle is the crusher inside of it. To get small or large ingredients quickly to the mortar, grab them and just barely skim over the the top of the cauldron on the way to the mortar, then move  then make sure that they are aligned as stated above and drop them in. To crush ingredients quickly, click the mortar (the bowl), not the pestle!

A Pewter Cauldron. Source

     The cauldron: The cauldron is what the actual potion is brewed in, and all instructions will somehow relate to it. If you mess up a potion, your cauldron may explode, so be careful!
     To cause the cauldron's temperature to rise, press the orange button in the middle at the bottom of the cauldron. To cause the cauldron's temperature to rise really fast, press the red button on the right with the big fire on it. To turn off the heat and ultimately cause the cauldron's temperature to drop, press the blue button of the left. Keep the temperature in between the lines while the timer is going. You should use the red button to get the heat up to the right temperature to save time.
     If the instructions say to add ingredients and/or stir the cauldron after you heat the cauldron, you can actually do these steps (in order) while the cauldron is still being heated (see the instructions section for a list of times that you can use this trick). Do not add mixtures from the mortar to the cauldron while it is being heated, as I stated before, or you will ruin your potion.

A brewing Sleeping Draught. Source

     Brewing time: In the middle of the instructions there is a period of time in which you must wait for about a half an hour to a little over hour for the potion to brew. This is the longest but also the easiest part of the potion. During this time you can collect and buy more ingredients, duel other houses, or even leave for a while and eat lunch. You can continue the potion once the brewing time is up, and you have double the time it takes to brew the potion to return to it. Pewter cauldrons will brew slowly, brass cauldrons will brew 15% faster (rounded up by the minute), and copper cauldrons will brew 25% faster than pewter cauldrons (also rounded up by the minute).
     Maximizing your potion: Potions will gain your house points and can be given as gifts to friends. If you want to make a lot of potions as quickly as possible, the Antidote to Common Poisons has the fastest brewing time. If you want to make the most points in the fastest time possible, also brew the Antidote to Common Poisons. The Cure for Boils is the cheapest potion, and if you want to make points and save money, the Sleeping Draught should be your potion of choice.
     Another way to save money is to get potion ingredients in the various moments of the books instead of buying them from the Apothecary. Here is a list of useful ingredients as they appear in each moment:
 - Bezoar - Book 1, Chapter 17, Moment 2, Zoom 3
 - Dried Billywig Stings - Book 1, Chapter 8, Moment 3, Zoom 1
 - Horklump Juice - Book 2, Chapter 3, Moment 2, Zoom 3
 - Horned Slugs - Book 1, Chapter 10, Moment 3, Zoom 2
 - Mistletoe Berries - Book 1, Chapter 12, Moment 2, Zoom 3
 - Wolfsbane - Book 1, Chapter 8, Moment 3, Zoom 1 and Chapter 15, Moment 2, Zoom 2