ANSWER: Champagne
Hint 1: While technically not HP/Charming related, Champagne
is usually consumed during times of great celebration or - more specifically - New Year's, which is why I said it is relevant to this event (being Winter Lab, which is done around every New Year). I underlined the words
Felix Felicis and
cut to my neck and your wallet. The former, because of Felix Felicis' golden color, and the latter which references how sometimes champagne bottles are opened with swords (see hint 4).
Hint 2: I said "If the answer to the riddle were a person, they would be very particular and specific about where they are from." While champagne is a general term for sparkling wine, it technically cannot be labelled as such unless it comes from the Champagne region of France. Its production also demands very specific conditions and practices.
I also said that "You may also find taking another look at the passwords to be quite useful..." — one of your passwords was 'sparkle'
Hint 3: An gif from the Emoji Movie (that I do not recommend watching) cause ? and ?
Hint 4: I gave you
three clues here!
24.8 = the avg speed at which researchers in Germany found that champagne corks were expelled
Alton Brown = often demonstrates opening bottles of champagne
with a saber
~ 49 million = how many bubbles are in one 750ml bottle of Champagne