At 5 pm on New Year's Eve (significantly called
St. Sylvester's Day in Germany), evil sorcerer Beelzebub Preposteror is visited by Maledictus T. Maggot, an emissary of
Preposteror's namesake and patron, the Minister of Pitch Darkness. Maggot informs Preposteror that he has failed to meet the terms of a contract that requires a certain number of evil deeds. Preposteror offers the excuse that the High Council of the Animals has sent the cat Maurizio as a spy, which has forced him to be more cautious in his work. Maggot threatens Preposteror with a "
seizure" should he not fulfill his quota until midnight. Preposteror joins forces with his aunt, the evil witch Tyrannia Vampirella, who has also been contacted by Maggot on behalf of her patron
Mammon and has similarly been inconvenienced by the raven spy Jacob. Together, they try to brew the eponymous Notion Potion that can grant any wish to the drinker, hoping to fulfill their contracts in time. They are unconcerned with keeping their work secret from the animals because the potion grants wishes in reverse – i.e. if they wish someone good health, the person will become sick instead. While the magicians follow the potion's long and complicated recipe, constantly getting in each other's way, Maurizio and Jacob wander the streets, searching for a way to stop the evil plan. As they reach the city
cathedral, Jacob remembers overhearing a weakness of the potion: if it has not been fully drunk before the church bells ring at midnight, the potion will not reverse the wishes made on it, but instead grant them exactly as spoken. Maurizio, thrilled by this glimmer of hope, starts to climb the cathedral's clock tower in an attempt to ring the bells. Jacob soon realizes that only the true New Year's bell rings will work, but Maurizio continues to climb the tower in the freezing cold, and Jacob eventually follows him. Upon reaching the belfry, the two animals faint from exhaustion. When they wake up, they are surprised to find themselves facing
Pope Sylvester I, who, as every year, has appeared from the hereafter to ring the bells. Due to existing outside time, St. Sylvester is able to prematurely give them a note of the midnight bell chimes; although it will only sound at midnight, it can retroactively ruin the potion if added to it. Maurizio and Jacob travel at the speed of sound back to Preposteror's home thanks to the note, which they secretly drop in the recently finished potion. The magicians start wishing the world all the best with every sip of the potion, believing they are causing harm. By the time midnight approaches, they are both heavily inebriated and out of wishes to make, so they decide to have fun at their pets' expense. After wishing them "health", the two animals fully recover from their ordeal. The magicians are stunned, but too drunk to understand what has happened. As the raven and the cat flee the house, the magicians try to curse each other, but instead turn beautiful and kindly. They finally realize that the potion has granted all their wishes literally and struggle to make an evil wish with its last drops, but are now too good to wish harm on anyone. In a panic, they wish to turn back the way they were. The wish works, but all the potion has now been used up, and they pass out drunk. After midnight, Maggot impounds the magicians' souls, as Maurizio and Jacob watch the night sky, enthusiastically planning their future in the better world that Preposteror and Vampirella unwittingly brought into being. == Characters ==