24 Nov 2024, 20:21
Defensive Brewing
When the sign went up for a Potions Championship, Maisie wasted no time arranging a plan. Potions was not her favorite subject and she didn't have that many (read: one) potions in her trunk, but she'd never turn her head away from a challenge. The first person she'd spoke to, of course, was Avis, her dorm mate and best friend. If there was anyone she could trust, it was Avis. They already knew they'd make the perfect team!
Maisie arrived early on the day, wanting to get them a good place to start working. And there were plenty of places: the Great Hall had been transformed especially for this event. Passing the practice area, Maisie wandered over to the section for 1st and 2nd years. Passing through the tables, she squinted trying to find a set up with the cleanest equipement. That was one thing she did remember from class: a poor workstation yielded poor results. Everything seemed to be in perfect order, however. So, she simply stopped at a place where she could get good light from the windows.
Standing there, she waited for her team to assemble. In the distance, she saw the judges, waiting for all this to begin. And suddenly, it all felt formal, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The welcome and rules swiftly followed. And bright red magical letters painted the task ahead: red caps. Wasn't that on the DADA syllabus? Maisie made a mental note to check once they got out of here. Either way, all the years' tasks seemed to have some kind of danger—best to prepare.
'Be smart about what you choose to brew,' had been the warning to students. And they had decided to do exactly that. Once everything was a-go, she'd wait for Avis to pull out their recipe. Then, they'd get moving as best they could.
For @Avis Greymond
WC: 315
Last edited by Maisie Gemmell on 10 Dec 2024, 16:00, edited 3 times in total.
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10 Dec 2024, 13:39
Defensive Brewing
Avis scanned the parchment in front of her, double and triple checking so she'd get her part of the recipe right. When Maisie mentioned that she wanted to enter the contest, Avis was a bit unsure, seeing as Potions wasn't exactly her best subject, but it certainly wasn't her worst either. Maisie's competitive nature sparked a bit of excitement in her anyhow, and the two of them joined the fray... landing Avis in the position she was in now: sweaty hands and a swollen bottom lip from excessive nervous chewing.
Antidote to Common Poisons... okay. She'd obviously made it once or twice before for Potions class and a homework assignment but her first one had been more a greenish colour than teal. She'd gotten an 'O' for the second one, which eased her mind a bit but it was still nerve-racking competing with a potion she wasn't exactly a master of. Avis took a breath. Here goes nothing.
Adding the single Bezoar to her mortar, she spent some time crushing it into a fine powder, making small talk with Maisie as she went. Finally, it looked fine enough to her (pun intended) and she poured 4 measures of the stuff into her cauldron.
"Alright, next..." Avis said, mostly to herself. Talking through something always seemed to help her organize her thoughts. "2 measures of Standard Ingredient," she mumbled and carefully eyed the two portions as she dumped them into the cauldron on top of the Bezoar powder. Checking the next step, Avis pulled out her wand and aimed it carefully at the bottom of the cauldron.
"Incendio," she stated confidently and waved her wand in the form of an incomplete triangle. Fire streamed from her wand, lighting the wood underneath instantly. She tended to it until the cauldron was at a medium heat and then quickly removed the cauldron from its heat source after 5 seconds, protecting herself from the hot handles with dragon hide gloves. Once she set the cauldron down on a safe surface, she waved her wand over the whole thing and gently set it back on the flames, leaving it to brew for 30 to 40 minutes. She wiped her glove-clad hand over her forehead, not realizing she'd been sweating buckets during the whole process and grimaced as she saw a wet streak coating the glove's palm when she pulled it away from her face.
Still grimacing, she glanced over the brewing potion once more and turned to Maisie, peeling the gloves off her hands.
"Alright, partner," she said with a relieved smile, "You're up!"
@Maisie Gemmell
WC: 430
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
10 Dec 2024, 15:59
Defensive Brewing
Maisie watched as Avis completed the first part of the potion, but she tried not to be overbearing. The reality was Avis was probably better at this than she was. Maisie was not doing poorly or anything in Potions—in fact, she too had gotten an 'O' on this lesson—but it was far from her favorite subject. So, she just tried to be on hand in case she needed to pass Avis a spoon or something.
But eventually—"Alright, partner. You're up!"—it was her go.
With a deep breath, she scooted over to get a better view of the potion as she put on her gloves. "Okay, here we go," she said as she picked up the recipe and held it in her hand. Her eyes ran across the lines. "One pinch of unicorn horn," she read off the list as she reached for the unicorn horn and very gently and precisely added only a single pinch. That was easy.
Next, she reached for the spoon and stirred the concoction twice clockwise. Then, she picked two mistletoe berries and plopped them into the potion, watching them fade into the larger brew. Between some more small talk, she picked up the spoon again and stirred twice once more—anticlockwise this time.
Then, giving Avis a smile as she looked over the potion. Seemed fine. So, after confirmation from Avis, she raised her aspen wand and waved it over the cauldron to complete the potion. Now a fine teal color, the potion looked ready to go. "I think we did it," Maisie suggested to Avis, "Looks like we're on our way to being ready for whatever the red caps might throw at us."
@Avis Greymond
WC: 284
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