January 30th, 1891 — Hogwarts Great Hall
Potion Brewing Competition

It was strange to be back within the walls of Hogwarts—his first time since he departed as a seventh year student almost eight years prior. Not a single pupil here today had shared the Ravenclaw tower with Gideon, though undoubtedly most at least knew his youngest sister in passing.

Gideon Browne's membership in the London Guild of Potioneers was never something he'd taken particularly seriously—it was simply one of those memberships a healer held, just like he held a gentleman's membership at Merlin's. There had, however, been a sort of nostalgia surrounding the idea of serving as a judge today, and as he looked down at more than half a dozen young faces, the wizard could not help but feel like a bit of an imposter.

"Your first potion today," he explained, "will be a cure for boils, which even the first years among you should be familiar with. Just in case, though," Gideon added with a smile, "you will find the directions on the board behind me. You will have until the sand in the hourglass runs out, at which point I shall judge what you have produced. I hope that I do not need to warn you that tampering with a competitor's cauldron will see your immediate dismissal."

That was the sort of thing proper judges said, wasn't it? I don't need to tell you but I'll tell you anyway?

"You may begin!"

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Annie Moneypenny Anne Moony Mateo Zavala Yuri Podsnapper James Fletcher Billie Farrow Hesper Gamp

  

Anne had been extra attentive to her potions assignments once the mention of a challenge reached her. Anne had many disappointments this year, but this would be her time to prove herself. She had butterflies, certainly, but as she looked at her peers, Anne felt the comfortable burn of competition settle into her bones.

Anne was running lists and instructions in her head, hoping she'd been studying the right things, when the cheery judge pointed to the board. Anne lit up - the recipe was on the board! The hardest work was complete already. Making a dive for the snake fangs, Anne got to the important work, ready to see the blue potion with its strange pink smoke. Remembering to take her cauldron off the fire before the porcupine quills were added, Anne grinned. The hard part was over; she remembered the step that seemed the most ridiculous until failure was demonstrated by a yearmate in the fall. That would not be Anne.

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MJ about made me cry with this one!
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Billie didn't care if she won. The fact that she was able to participate in a potions competition at all was enough excitement to last her at least until the end of the month. Aside from the homework bit, she'd found she rather enjoyed school, which was a relief since she'd never formally attended one before now.

While they waited for instructions, she grinned around at her fellow competitors, many of which she considered friends. (Except for Jimmy, of course; she pulled a silly face at him.) Once the potion was revealed, she let out a sigh of relief. They'd brewed that one before.

With enthusiasm, Billie began adding her ingredients to the cauldron, stirring vigorously when needed, and carefully measuring out ingredients. That care was short lived, however, as she glanced around at everyone else's cauldrons. She added a little more than a glug of stewed horn slugs, thinking maybe it would help make the potion more potent. One day, she'd learn not to experiment, or to do so correctly. Ah well, she was just enthused she was allowed to participate.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

He returned Billie’s face with a stuck-out tongue, full of beans for the task ahead although he had gotten no more attentive in potions class last term, nor fully listened to the judge today, besides the bit about tampering with other people’s which sounded awfully tempting.

No one here had boils - that he could see - so Jimmy wasn’t sure why they were bothering to make a cure for them. (But then, who knew if his attempt would cure anything? He was taking the ingredients from his worktable without glancing at the instructions, and put the snake fangs in your mouth and grin like a vampire to amuse Mateo and Yuri was probably not amongst them, anyway.)

Having also given himself a headdress made of stuck up porcupine quills, Jimmy shook in the leftovers of them and, having now used up all his supplies, took a swift step backwards from the cauldron. Best not look too closely at it.

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   Billie Farrow

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Hesper was the only second year in this group and for that reason she simply had to out-brew them all, it would be embarrassing otherwise. Fortunately she felt quite confident brewing the boil cure potion and before long was able to raise her hand to signal her completion.

She noted with mixed feelings that she was not the first to finish, but that didn't necessarily mean that their potions were superior.

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Mateo was no great talent when it came to potions but that did not stop him from approaching his cauldron with an abundance of confidence. Potion making was somewhat new to him - his parents did not tend to brew potions at home a lot. Once he was done, he signaled that he was done and waited for judgement.

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Annie was, well, fine at Potions. It was not her favorite subject, but it was not her worst. There was no pressure to win, but she wanted to anyways considering she was up against the likes of Jimmy Fletcher and Anne Moony. (There was also a second year. While not discounting her own efforts, she approached the cauldron thinking that the older girl was a shoe-in for the win.)

She worked diligently to complete her brew, only hesitating a handful of times. Were there supposed to be four horned slugs, or six? And how many snake fangs? She quickly decided on a number and worked until completion, and finally stepped back with a deep breath.

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— beautiful set by MJ <3 —

The guy overseeing them was a healer - just as well perhaps in case it all went badly! Although relative to the classes that required a lot more reading potions was actually rather a good showing! the more practical elements of the class vindicated him from needing to read complex instructions. He could watch carefully and remember much of what he needed to know.

He was glad though, that Billie and some of the other first years he had classes with where in his group too - because this wasn't class after all! this was just for fun! He couldn't let down Mister Mondragon if this went badly! But if he did well...well! then he would have something to boast about!

He set about his potion as quickly as he dared, and although lots of people were done before him, he was relatively happy with his effort by the time he raised his hand in the air.

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MJ Made Beautiful Things!

He supposed he had not reason to be surprised by the results—after all, the majority of the youngsters before him hadn't even completed one year of potions study. Still, two of the cauldrens, each belonging to a young boy, had actively exploded (albeit...gently?), and the little Gryffindor girl's potion had somehow hardened to a solid, which was hardly ideal.

Only young Miss—Gideon glanced at the namecard in front of her—Moony and Master Farrow had ticked all the requisite boxes, though Gamp and Podsnapper were not entirely far off.

Diligently, the healer cleared away the remains of the potions and bid farewell to the exiled contestants.

"Your next challenge will be a forgetfulness potion—I do hope none of you took one before coming here today," Gideon joked lamely with a weak chuckle. "You may begin!"

MOONY 6.5 | FARROW 5.5 | FLETCHER 0.5 | GAMP 4 | ZAVALA 0 | MONEYPENNY 1 | PODSNAPPER 5

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Anne Moony Billie Farrow Yuri Podsnapper Hesper Gamp

  

A small, tight little smile tugged at Hesper's lips at her success. A forgetfulness potion was next. She could do this. She could definitely do this, she wouldn't lose to the younger students.

She got to work on her potion with a determination not to forget anything or make any other kind of careless mistakes. Finally she finished. Peering over the edge of her cauldron she felt somewhat confident that it looked like it was supposed to but she was suddenly unsure whether she really did remember what it was meant to look like. Was it nerves or the potion vapors? There was only one way to find out. Hesper stuck her hand in the air and awaited judgement.

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   Aldous Crouch

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It may only be the first round, but Anne was ecstatic. Her potion looked just like it did in class! She wasn't rude and wouldn't want to disappoint mum, so she kept her celebration to grins and a little wiggle she had no control over. The best part was Billie did well, too. Her housemate also advanced, which was good for Slytherin, but Anne would rather be the one the snakes cheered on today, thank you very much. Giving a warm smile in Billie's direction, Anne did her best to refocus on the next potion. It was time to win it all!

Giving the board a second read, Anne gathered her things to begin, her fingers itching to get started. This one had some tricky pieces, but Anne felt confident as she counted the seconds, the stirs, and the wand movements. By the time she reached the long brew phase, she was feeling comfortable in her own little world of cauldron and ingredients.

With her mistletoe berry powder stirred in counterclockwise and a wave of her wand (that was her favorite part), Anne stepped back from her cauldron with a determined glint in her eye. Time to see how she did.

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MJ about made me cry with this one!
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Billie was just pleased she made it to the second round. She would likely excitedly scribble about it in her next letter to Gideon, just happy that she wasn't a complete academic failure. Maybe, if she could get the hang of this magic thing, she'd be able to actually help him at the shop in the future. (Even though she was rather good at sweeping and keeping the vermin out.)

When Jimmy, Mateo, and Annie were dismissed, she glanced around at those remaining and awarded them all with a smile. Anne and Yuri received warmer, more excited ones, but her grin toward Hesper wasn't any less friendly.

The Hufflepuff drew her attention back to the judge, allowing herself to giggle at his joke before she returned her focus to the potion. Gathering her materials, she silently admired the valerian sprigs. She always thought they were quite pretty when she watered them for Miss Montague. The mistletoe berries were also fun to look at, but she quickly snapped out of it and set to work diligently following the instructions. When she was done, she waved her wand over it and took a step back with a lopsided grin. The practical parts of school were always so interesting!

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

The fact that he hadn't bombed completely was a surprise, despite his hope! One that delighted him! He flashed Billie a very broad, very toothy grin. He was still in! He beamed up at the examiner when he told them to begin their next assignment.

Yuri nodded and began to work as diligently as he could, slicing, dicing and chopping as required stirring when he needed to. It seemed to be going well, it looked like he thought it should. his lips moved as he recited the recipe to himself. When he was done he raised his hand in the air, looking around at the others who were still left in the competition. It was odd how a little success made one feel.

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MJ Made Beautiful Things!

The standards had fallen even further. (Had he been this poor a potioneer in his youth?)

Miss Gamp's and Master Podsnapper's were the least objectionable, if he squinted a bit. He dismissed the other two with an apologetic smile.

"Congratulations on making it to the final round of our competition," Gideon offered encouragingly. "You may now begin your final potion, a swelling solution. Good luck!"

GAMP 4 | MOONY 2.5 | FARROW 1.5 | PODSNAPPER 3

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Yuri Podsnapper Hesper Gamp

  

Yuri was nothing short of dumbstruck when he got through to the final round- something he had achieved by doing something good and not by robbing! He was sorry for Billie, but he gave her a half sheepish, half delighted grin.

He wanted to give Hesper a thumbs up, or some other acknowledgement that however, this came out, he was pleased for her. He started going through the steps of the potion, focusing on the task at hand - adding the items in order. He was surprised by how much he wanted to win.

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MJ Made Beautiful Things!

One more potion, just one more... It was her against Podsnapper now and she couldn't let him win.

As she prepared her swelling solution she couldn't help but to steal the occasional agitated glance towards her competitor trying to gauge how he was getting on. A few minutes after he finished, she followed suit and thrust her hand in the air.

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