January 25th, 1895 — Hogsmeade Hall

Tilda sighed happily and looked around at the contestants before her. Compared to her usual schedule at the Abbey, judging today's competition was a reprieve for the midwife. Standing at the head of the competition room was exciting, though she tried to not show too much excitement . “Today your first potion will be a doxycide.” She announced. “A nasty-smelling potion, as I’m sure we all know, but quite effective in its use when brewed properly!”

Waving her wand at the giant hourglass, she flipped it over. “You may begin.”

You have 72 hours to post your response.
That's Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 12:23:00 am
Please do not assume success—that's what the dice are for! First to post will get a small bonus.
Gregory Hart Belladonna Woods Angelica Selwyn Leander Hobday Protego Lochrin

  

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Protego was here for the same reason he was anywhere--it was good business. Or it would be if he won, anyway. It was possible he'd brought pamphlets. Anyway, he went to work brewing the Doxycide as instructed before stepping back to be judged.

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Gregory John Hart was in over his head.

At school, he had never been incompetent as far as his studies were concerned. Indeed, he had done quite well in his potions class...until he had abandoned the subject, following his O.W.L.s. Now thirty, the wizard had brewed only sporadically in the years since, and while he inherited a great many things from his mother and father both, experience was not something the muggle Darwin suggested was passed from one generation to the next.

But it had been free to enter, and there was money in the prize pot.

(Merlin, was this what he had come to?)

Doxycide, at least, was a simple enough concoction, Greg hoped as he did his best to carefully follow the directions that had been provided. With any luck, he would not embarass himself too badly.

  

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— set by lady —

A lot of the people here were much older than him but Leander didn't let that deter him. He set about brewing his potion and stepped back once he was done.

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Admire all of you
But fire burns me too
Can't stop that disco getting through
Can't stop that disco wanting you.

Angelica lived for distractions these days. Anything to bewitch the mind and make the days less bleak; to make the nights less painful. Potions she could understand, manipulate to her will. If she could focus. Attention turned to her task, she began to prepare her ingredients with a vengeance.

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MJ made this miracle!

Doxycide, certainly not Bells' favorite potion but one she had learned at a young age. She could still remember her mother brewing it with Bells peering over her shoulder when she was eye level with said elbow. The nearby village had an unfortunate infestation of doxies, seeing as the village was muggle her mother had brewed quite a few potions, sending young Bells to spread it discretely. Bells could almost brew it in her sleep now that she was a fully grown witch herself. She had, in fact, brewed it while beside herself last spring when she had at last returned home, heart and soul sore with the aches of a future lost.

Setting about her work with a smile, Bells wasted no time in beginning to brew the potion in question.

  

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Well that certainly thinned out the competition. Tilda took a step back as large puffs of pink sweet smelling smoke emitted from both Misters Lochrin and Hobday's cauldrons. Given that this particular potion was supposed to be rather foul smelling, unfortunately that took them out of the running. Tilda smiled as kindly as she could at the two men before giving them their marching orders and turning to Mr. Hart's cauldron which...

Well, it looked a bit better and emitted wisps of dark mauve. It was still rather sweet smelling though, and Tilda gently dismissed Mr. Hart.

She turned back to Mrs Selwyn and Miss Woods, the former of whom always seemed to maintain a strong constitution and the latter of whom had been among her peers not too long ago at Hogwarts, and greeted them with a congratulatory beam. Both of their cauldrons contained the properly foul-smelling potion to deter Doxies.

“That was quite exceptional both of you,” She said with enthusiasm. “To determine our winner, we’ll be brewing a wound-cleaning potion! Please,” She waved her wand to clear the remnants of the previous challenge and summoned the prepared table from the wings of the platform before taking a step back. “Begin.”

You have 72 hours to post your response.
That's 4:03 PM PST Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Please do not assume success—that's what the dice are for! First to post will get a small bonus.
Gregory Hart: 4.5 | Belladonna Woods: 11.5 | Angelica Selwyn: 12.5 | Leander Hobday: 3 | Protego Lochrin: 5

  

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Her results as expected, Angelica turned her attention to just one more. She had been here before and she knew what to do. Excellence was the goal; she would strive for it.

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MJ made this miracle!

Ah. Another useful potion. Bells set to work, not minding this one quite so much. She'd had to use quite a bit of it on the expeditions and always kept some on hand now for her students. They never did seem to learn to leave the gnome back alone.

  

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Oh heavens. The potion in Professor Wood's cauldron seemed to have taken a wrong turn and emitted a dark green smoke instead, while Mrs. Selwyn's potion smelled so strongly of the final product, it almost made Tilda's eyes water. “That’s it then,” she announced, casting the professor a sympathetic smile. “Mrs. Selwyn is our victor and will proceed to the finals.”

Belladonna Woods: 4.5 | Angelica Selwyn: 13.5

  

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