January 25th, 1895 — Hogsmeade Hall

Professionals—pah! As far as Horatio Hornswaggle was concerned, not a single one of them could hold a candle to him. How could they be expected to, when the eldest among their number was easily a century younger than the famed (in his own estimation, at least) potioneer? His disdain was evident as the potioneer explained the requisite procedures to this weak competition, the wizard stopping more than once, mid-sentence, to clean his glasses quite unnecessarily.

(He had incredibly sharp eyes, and indeed wore glasses only to make himself appear more studied.)

"Essence of Insanity will be your first challenge," Horatio informed them with little more ado. "Begin."

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Delilah Warbeck Henry Berkwood Perseus Flint Titania Allaway Enid Glynn Lorelei Owens Daesyn Mackenzie Sage Macnair Noble Greengrass

  

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Perseus had thought it would be fun to partake in the competition. Getting started on the potion, he made sure he had enough frog brains and beetle eyes. Focusing on his task, he tuned the sounds of everything else out as he set about brewing his potion to completion.

  

Delilah spent a lot of time around potions at St. Mungo's, although looking at those around her, she knew that many of them probably more knowledge than she did. It wasn't going to deter her though, because she wouldn't be a Healer-in-Charge of the Potion & Plant Poisoning unit if she didn't know something about potions.

Once Mr. Hornswaggle finally told them to begin (it felt like he took forever, pausing every so often to clean his glasses like wanted everyone to notice he was wearing them), Delilah found herself taking a deep breath and picking up her first ingredient. She always disliked working with frog brains, they were so small and sticky, so she was extra careful when picking up that ingredient to add to her cauldron.

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Sage was confident in his skills but he also wasn't delusional. A couple of the people here were much older than him and had probably been doing their craft for much longer. Even so, the young alchemist forgot their existence as he began brewing the Essence of Insanity.

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— set by lady! —

If there was an opportunity for Harry to brew potions, he was going to take it. Yes, he did this for a living. Yes, potions was the default thing he thought about whenever there was nothing else to occupy him. But this was competitive and therefore, somehow, a separate category of potion making in his mind, and therefore novel.

Listen, it all made sense if you were insane.

Needless to say, Harry was well-versed in Essence of Insanity, so he set about brewing it with his usual confidence.

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set by Bee! <3

Lorelei didn't have high expectations for this, honestly. She was sure that there were far more seasoned professionals than her participating today, but it was a fun diversion from her regular routine regardless. She was fairly sure, at least that she went through all the steps to brew an Essence of Insanity--now if they were correct was another matter entirely.

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Bee is actual magic

Daesyn wasn't a professional potioneer in the traditional sense, but seeing how important it was to be able to put a potion together with minimal preparation and potentially substandard ingredients in the field, she felt she qualified as a professional standard brewer.

Essence of insanity, interesting choice, spillages or misbrews could be particularly amusing with this one, or dangerous depending on your perspective. She had her wand ready just in case some half-insane potioneer jumped her.

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Enid was nervous, and not just because Nigel was here watching her. She was also nervous because competing felt like it would deliver a verdict on her skills, and many of the people here were professional potioneers, which meant they did brew more often than she did. Maybe she should have competed with ladies, or hobbyists?

But she had signed up to compete professionally, and so she was going to have to focus on this and not think about Nigel. Enid applied herself to focusing on the potion.

  

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set by Bee

Essence of Insanity, a potion that he had brewed and sold and not asked many questions about. While Hornswaggle explained the instructions, Noble studied his competitors — and then set himself to focusing on the potion, because it would be ill-advised to add the wrong number of frog brains, and he would probably have a crisis if he lost in the first round.

  

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set by Bee

Surrounded by mostly her colleagues, Titania almost felt comfortable competing. Granted, she would never feel comfortable competing, not truly, but the girls had egged her on. And here she was, uncomfortable on a stage, brewing. At least she understood the potions part of the competition. She turned her full attention to her cauldron and got to work.

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MJ revealed this beauty

Colour, odour, consistency, placing a sample to the light, applying a saple to varying other substances to guage their reaction—these were the qualities by which Horiatio would judge such a potion. He was hardly inclined to sample them himself, and even were it not this particular brew, the judges handbook tragically forbade human subjects in the judging process. Pity.

Miss Glynn found herself easily outclassed; Horatio knew this before he even saw her attempt by the smell alone. He gave her a derisive look, but no futher attention.

Of the rest, none had embarrassed themselves. This was fortunate, for they had all entered as professionals—and some of them were members of the Guild itself. Taking his sweet time because he could, though his judgements had been made quite swiftly, he hemmed and hawed over each cauldron until he deigned to make his announcement.

"Miss Warbeck, Miss Allaway, Mr. Greengrass, Mr. Flint, and Mr. Berkwood, you may stay. The rest of you..." here, he gesgtured off the stage. The first round's potions were vanished, and the potioneer turned his attentions to the second.

"Next, a Draught of Peace. You will be provided with an ingredient list, of course, but no directions this time, as befits a competition of this standard. Begin!"

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Please do not assume success—that's what the dice are for ;) First to post will get a small bonus.
Delilah Warbeck Henry Berkwood Perseus Flint Titania Allaway Noble Greengrass

FLINT 9.5 | WARBECK 12.5 | MACNAIR 9 | BERKWOOD 9.25 | OWENS 9 | MACKENZIE 7 | GLYNN 4.5 | GREENGRASS 10 | ALLAWAY 10.5

  

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Pleased with the outcome of the first round, she waited patiently to hear what the next potion might be. Delilah used the Draught of Peace often at St. Mungo's, so hopefully the outcome would be the same as the first round, and she would move on to the next. Excitement bubbled in her gut, and couldn't help but grin as she she grabbed the powdered moonstone to get started.

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The real question was--was it cheating if the potioneer brewing an Essence of Insanity was already mad? Probably best not to worry about it. At any rate, Harry got to work on the Draught of Peace potion before anyone thought to ask this question.

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   Idris Oakby

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set by Bee! <3

It was a potion Titania brewed for herself more than once when studying for her final exams. All there was to do was to keep her focus and repeat what she knew. No need to get nervous.

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MJ revealed this beauty

A few years ago, Noble had bought a skunked batch of powdered moonstone. The draught of peace he then brewed had sent a woman into a coma, led to one of the worst fights he'd ever had with his brother, and led to the breakup of his relationship with Daffodil Potts. He had been very, very careful about his ingredients since. Particularly when he was brewing draught of peace — it was one of the more common potions that he sold, because people were always seeking to calm someone's nerves.

He stretched his shoulders, quelled the memories, and focused on brewing the draught of peace.

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   Aldous Crouch

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set by Bee

Perseus took his time in brewing. This was a potion, he had brewed often enough in his line of work. Once he was done, he awaited judgement alongside everyone else.

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