Open Potions vs Potions

[Monty Pendleton]

Open after the duel starts!!

Monty rarely turned down a friendly duel of any kind, but he certainly would never have declined a duel with potions, even if it was against Hezekiah. Their friendship had never quite been the same since Hezekiah had skipped Rama's graduation. They still talked, but their interactions were, at least on Monty's side, purely professional. He didn't actually like the man at all. He thought he was irresponsible, rude, and conceited.

He also missed him. Quite a lot.

Or rather, he missed the man Hezekiah was before he'd known anything about him. It didn't make a lot of sense, but that was how he felt.

Arriving in the dungeons, Monty entered his classroom and propped open the door. He set up two identical tables, furnishing each with a dozen jars of ingredients, a pestle and mortar, several knives of different sizes, a measuring cup, an eye-dropper, and of course a cauldron. His stomach fluttered as he stood back. Soon Hezekiah would arrive, along with Misha, who had kindly agreed to proctor their duel, though there were no real rules besides 'don't interfere with each other's potions.' Monty took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth. There was no need to be nervous. It was only for fun. Still, it would have been embarrassing if he lost.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah Mowry was rarely ever up for duels, even duels with potions. However, it gave him something to look forward to. Everything with Rama was packed up, minus Syrus bothering him the other day, which he did not appreciate at all. However, that was a bit of a lie. He did like that someone loved Rama as much as he did, or rather how much he used to. Hezekiah was a difficult person to be around, but he was an even harder person to love. He meant truly love. The werewolf had been having bouts of loneliness as of late, and he hated it. He hated crying to himself, whether it be during the day or at night. Most of all, he hated this condition that made his life miserable. His and Rama's lives.

Hezekiah hoped that this duel would be a way to make amends with Monty. They both enjoyed potions, so it just seemed simple to Hezekiah to do duel with potions. He thought of it as team building in a way. He and Monty were a team, especially when it came to the the students. The werewolf walked into the classroom and saw everything was set up already. Hmph. He could have helped, but it was just like Monty to take everything into his own hands. "Are you ready to lose?" he taunted with a small smile.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty clasped his hands together in front of him as Hezekiah came in. "Lose?" he repeated, chuckling. "In your dreams, Mowry. In your dreams." He wandered back over to the tables, nervously checking that everything required was present. No matter how he tried to move on from the graduation incident, there always seemed to be some kind of tension between them, a general feeling of unease mixed perhaps with self-doubt. It was the sort of feeling he usually got around Katherine, but she was his boss. It made sense to feel that way around her. "So are you, er... are you well?" he asked, a little stiffly.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Speaking of Katherine - the Headmistress strode through the dungeons with purpose, with the intention of locating her deputy, who hadn't been in his office, in order to go over a few key school details. They were already nearing the halfway point of semester two, and the woman had wanted to take a moment to sit down with the potions professor to discuss potential candidates for the following year's head students, among other things. With his office empty, Katherine had expected to find Montgomery in his classroom, likely prepping for a lesson. What she found instead when she finally entered the room was altogether quite different. How curious. She thought, raising a brow at the men gathered with their cauldrons. Curious, and quite unexpected. "I hope I'm not interrupting." Katherine said, her eyes lingering on Montgomery as she took a seat in a way that was mildly critical, though not altogether negative. Simply...inquisitive. If she hadn't caught their voices from the corridor, she may have been under the impression that they were there to brew wolfsbane or talk shop. Now she was intrigued to see where it would lead, given the competitive spirit. "Don't mind me. Please, continue." She followed up, propping her elbows onto the table and clasping her fingertips together. Yes, this would be quite interesting to watch indeed.​

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley had been very antisocial the past few months, but was feeling like company so she headed down to the dungeons to see Monty. What she came across caused her to pause and then give a curious smile to the headmistress who was seated in the room with both of the Potions Masters. She cautiously entered the room, wondering if they were going to have some sort of competition. As a Gryffindor, she could feel the tension of one in the air and her grin widened. She settled into one of the chairs typically occupied by the students to watch. "How exciting" she stated quietly to the Headmistress.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah rolled his eyes at Monty's confidence. He was lucky they weren't doing anything regarding the dark arts. He was sure he would trump Monty in anything related to the Dark Arts. However, there were restrictions. Hezekiah seriously wanted to make a love potion, but those were banned unfortunately. However, he and Monty had come to a conclusion on what they would brew, and he was excited to show his skills. He was about to answer Monty's question when the Headmistress walked in. The woman had a very cold demeanor, but he did not mind. Hezekiah shook his head. "Not interrupting at all. Monty and I are just waiting for our proctor, Misha." he told the woman kindly. He was wondering where the man was now. the Gryffindor Head of House then walked in and Hezekiah gave her a small nod. This was exciting. He enjoyed being able to show off. However, he knew that this would make Monty nervous. He walked closed to the man and asked in a whisper, "Are you okay with them being here? I can tell them this is private, if you would like."

 

[Monty Pendleton]

When Katherine appeared in the doorway, Monty startled as if she'd just caught him stealing potions ingredients. Well, in a way, she had - but he absolutely intended to pay for everything they used. "No, not at all," he said, blushing. The room had suddenly turned very hot. By the time Cyndi arrived, he couldn't really have been more embarrassed anyway. He threw her a friendly smile, then almost startled again as Hezekiah came close to speak to him in hushed tones. "Oh, no, I'm fine - it's fine - thank you," he whispered, slightly taken aback by his kindness. He had no idea he paid so much attention to his feelings. Clearing his throat, Monty turned back to Katherine and Cyndi. "Yes, Hezekiah, er, challenged me to a duel," he explained. "Of potions. We're going to brew the Aging Potion, Wolfsbane, and the Draught of Living Death. That's it, isn't it?" he asked Hezekiah quickly. "The first person to finish all three potions correctly will be the winner. It's all just for fun, obviously. And of course we'll replace the ingredients..."

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine raised her eyes toward the newest entrant, and offered Kingsley a polite smile as she took a seat. "Isn't it?" She agreed. "I'm quite looking forward to seeing how this turns out." And to think she may have easily missed out on such a curious occasion. It wasn't often that the woman witnessed her staff competing against one another, and between the two potions professors, she was eager to see who would come out on top. Naturally, she was leaning more towards her deputy to prevail as a matter of pride, but Hezekiah was no doubt particularly adept at brewing Wolfsbane, so it was anyone's guess. When Montgomery brought up replacing the ingredients used, Katherine raised a dismissive hand to let him know that it wasn't a big deal. While she wasn't advocating for this to be a common use of school property, and certainly she would have appreciated some communication prior to now, it wasn't a total waste of resources. "I'm certain you can put the resulting potions to good use." Alistair for one would appreciate retaining his sanity for another full moon, as always. Assuming the two of them did brew all three correctly, which the woman sincerely hoped would be the case given it was their area of expertise. There would be some cause for concern otherwise.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

In his time at Hogwarts Misha had watched over a number of duels. The professor had never actually watched over a potions duel. He arrived where the two potions professors had told him to be. The man looked between them, ”Are you guys ready for this?” the man said to them with a little smirk. He would be very curious to watch this. He looked between the two men and gave a little smile to each, he liked both of them, they were a good laugh. Not quite best friend material in the same way that Styx was but a close second that was for sure. He knew which of the potions they would be doing and was smiling at each in turn, "Good luck to you both. May the best potioneer win," Misha said with a loud and confident tone, "Ready, set, go!"​

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah nodded when Monty said everything was fine, and he proceeded to step away. The man smiled and nodded again. The three potions chosen were fairly easy in Hezekiah's eyes. However, it was going to be hard to brew them all at the same time, which is why there were instructions for each potion on the tables. It was going to be interesting having the Headmistress here, which he was not expecting at all. When Misha arrived, Hezekiah was ready to begin. He was easily able to filter out the people in the room once he began brewing. He decided to start all the cauldrons at the same time, but he was going to begin with wolfsbane, since knew it the best. Timing was very important for this potion so he began with chopping and preparing all of his ingredients for wolfsbane first and then moving on to the aging potion and lastly the Draught of Living Death. He could already feel himself getting frustrated with how slow he was being. However, the potions needed to be thorough. Once everything was prepared, he turned on the first cauldron with the chilled water inside to high heat. He then moved on to the Draught of Living Death, putting that on a low temperature for now.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty relaxed a little at Katherine's assurance it was all right. Certainly the wolfsbane would be put to good use, though he hoped they would never have cause to use the draught of living death on school premises. At that moment Misha arrived, and the duel presently began. Monty, who was still feeling a little flustered, blinked at his ingredients a few times before remembering what he was supposed to do with them. Brewing three potions at once was the sort of challenge he might have set himself in his youth just for fun; nowadays, however, his mind was too scattered for such intense concentration. He considered brewing his potions one by one, but quickly realised Hezekiah would gain an enormous lead, and decided instead to copy him.

All three potions required the ingredients to be prepared before the brewing began, so Monty started with the Aging Potion, cutting up the ginger, slicing his hellebore petals evenly and crushing his wormwood bark. He didn't need the recipe for this one. He didn't really need the recipe for Wolfsbane, either, but elected to glance at it anyway, since a small mistake would render it entirely useless and unfit for student consumption. Finally he moved on to powdering the valerium roots for the Draught of Living Death, trying to keep his desk organised as he worked. This potion he was less familiar with, and he found himself checking the recipe at every stage in the preparation. He glanced nervously at Hezekiah, who had already moved on to heating up his water. It was fine. He could do this. He just had to take it slowly.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah could already feel himself getting tired, and he had just started! The werewolf let out a heavy sigh as he began working on the wolfsbane after five minutes had passed. He felt like time was going by quickly. I placed the chopped aconite in and stirred the correct amount of times before moving on to a separate bowl to mix the other ingredients for the potions. He left the extra bowl there before moving on the Draught of Living Death. He added the crushed wormwood stems to the slow boiling water. All he had to do was wait for five minutes now. He went back to the Wolfsbane and added the contents of the extra bowl to the cauldron that had been stirred. Hezekiah knew he was neglecting the Aging potion, and for good reason because he needed to look at the instructions for that one. Once he had a spare second, he picked up the instructions for the Aging potion and went over the entire thing briefly before working on that potion until he had to go back to the Wolfsbane and picking up where he left off there. He did not bother looking over to see where Monty was at because it did not matter. He was going to win this.

Out of Character:

Lovi had no muse for awhile, but she's gonna win this battle. sorry not sorry claire.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty finished powdering his valerium roots and put aside the prepared ingredients. Now he could move on to the water. Timing here was going to be crucial: the ingredients of the Aging potion had to be added when the water began to steam, and then the potion was to be stirred continually for three minutes. Meanwhile, the water for the Wolfsbane had to be heated for exactly five minutes before any ingredients were added. If he started heating both cauldrons simultaneously, he would be busy stirring the first when the second needed attending. Of course, how long each cauldron took to boil depended on three factors: the amount of water, its starting temperature, and the temperature of the flame. The Draught of Living Death, for instance, required four cups of room temperature water heated over a medium flame, while the Aging potion required three cups over a high flame.

He did some calculations in the margin of his recipe book, taking also into consideration the third and last potion. This all took time, especially as he wasn't familiar with the Draught of Living Death, but Monty subscribed to the belief that preparation was everything. Finally he added the water to his cauldrons and set the first on a high heat. Two minutes later he did the same with the second. When the first began to steam, he added the moonstone, armadillo bile, and hellebore, and began to count three minutes as he stirred. He had all but forgotten anybody was watching. Once the time had elapsed, he lowered the heat and added the rest of the ingredients. As he had hoped, the second cauldron was just beginning to boil. To this one he added the aconite, and stirred seven times counter clockwise. He gave the Aging potion a quick stir and glanced over nervously at Hezekiah. It was clear Monty's only chance of catching up now was if Hezekiah's lack of planning tripped him up later. He didn't often will people to fail, but...

Out of Character:

Sorry for the delay too!! And IN YA DREAMS

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Out of Character:

*clears throat* Since I took too long to respond, Claire and I decided to use a random name picker to see who wins the potions battle! The winner is.... Hezekiah! (picture proof available on request) There is also a punishment for the loser (aka Monty), which we will be time jumping to! Ready, set, ACTION!

Hezekiah bottled his last potion and made sure each one was labeled. He quickly handed them to Misha for inspection. He was excited to win this. All he needed from Misha was the approval and then the real surprise would kick in. He had not told Monty, but there was a punishment for whoever lost. It was childish of him, but the werewolf did want to make sure that he was enjoying his life, and watching his superior be punished for loosing would definitely be fun!

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha liked this position he was in, able to judge the potions. He watched attentively, trying to remember any of his potion making from the years at school, but none of it really came to him. He was content to just watch what was going on in front of him and decide whether or not that was good. The man waited until one of the potions professors expressed that he was done and Misha called it finished. He headed over and inspected the potion, his notes from the two professor telling him exactly what he would need to see for it to be declared the winner. ”Professor Mowry wins!” he declared with a happy smile, applauding with others in reaction to it. He turned to Monty and from his own pocket pulled out the little punishment for the loser, sitting in a box was a whole jalapeño. He smirked a little at monty, knowing what was inside and awaiting him. ”As per their rules, loser is to receive punishment. Professor Pendleton must eat this whole jalapeño,” he opened up the box revealing the chilli inside and couldn’t help his little laugh, this would not be fun for Monty. ​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Just when it seemed Monty was catching up with Hezekiah, the younger professor bottled his final potion. Monty grimaced, but continued to brew for a few moments longer, just in case one of Hezekiah's potions was disqualified. Only when Misha declared him the winner did Monty stop, relaxing into a grin. He wiped his forehead on his sleeve. Hovering over boiling cauldrons was enough to make him sweat without the additional pressure of a competition. "Best of three?" he suggested. "Congratulations, I suppose. You put me thoroughly to shame; well done." Then Misha opened a box, and Monty's smile abruptly faded. "Wait, wait - hang on. Punishment? I don't remember anything about a punishment. Whose idea was this? Hezekiah, you know I hate spicy food!"

He eyed the chilli nervously and picked it up by the stem. "Must I?" he said, hoping one of them might take pity on him. "I will absolutely never forgive you for this." Bracing himself, he bit off the end of the pepper. For one or two seconds he thought, that's not too bad, and then his mouth caught fire. Not just his mouth. His entire face was burning. Was that possible? The heat spread quickly into his throat, making him cough. No. He was determined to do this. He couldn't be beaten by a small bite of pepper - not in front of his colleagues. In front of his boss. Blinking back tears, he finally managed to swallow. "Aaah. No. I can't eat any more. Good grief, is this a normal jalapeño? Surely not. Perhaps you should try it, Hezekiah, and tell us."