As the branches of the tree continued to flail, Brent forced himself not to flinch in the slightest. He remained focused on the blast of wind he'd cast at the knot of the tree, hoping with all his might that his plan would work. Until now, he'd only imagined a human hand pushing at that knot, but now a spell seemed just as likely to work, especially one that produced wind so hard it could push with a force. At the sound of a crash or two, he allowed his attention to be diverted for only a second. The vials were falling from the tree? Seriously?! Are you kidding me right now?!

Realizing he was now on borrowed time, Brent returned his focus to the knot of the tree. COME ON! WORK!!! There was a hint of desperation in Brent's inner thoughts. Then suddenly, the tree was still. There was almost an eery silence filling the void where the sound of the swaying branches and crashing vials had once been. Brent ended the wind spell and slowly stood up. This was it. This was his chance.

In the time it had taken Brent to get the knot of the tree properly pushed, he'd also come up with several plans. Mainly, he'd come up with the potion he was going to brew, and he mentally crossed his fingers out of hope that all the ingredients he needed still remained on the tree. With a quick glance at the remaining vials, he hurried over to the cauldron and began cleaning it. He'd always been taught to do that, because Merlin only knew what could be inside of it. Dust, dirt, grass, or Merlin forbid, glass and random ingredients all courtesy of the swaying branches of the Whomping Willow. "Scourgify!" he exclaimed. Then, remembering that Tergeo siphoned any liquid out of a container, Brent decided to cast that spell, too, for good measure. "Tergeo!" Deciding his cauldron was now clean, Brent headed to the workstation and cleaned it and the tools, as well. With a final wash of his hands, he was ready to begin.

Brent approached the Whomping Willow, and despite the fact it was now at rest, he remained out of its reach until he could at least shield himself. He had no idea how long the push of that knot worked, but he wasn't taking any chances. Brent cast a Silver Shield Spell then followed that up with "Fianto Duri!" He needed the Silver Shield Spell for protection, but he knew the second spell would allow the shield to stay in place without him having to focus on it. In other words, he could collect the ingredients he needed and brew the potion while hopefully protecting himself against the Willow. Feeling confident that he'd done everything he needed to proceed, Brent stepped forward and toward the icicles. Err...vials.

So Brent had to do all this from memory, hmm? Good thing Professor Canterbury was a really good Potions professor. The potion he was going to brew, though, was simple but effective, so he was confident he could handle it. He needed four ingredients for now--lavender, chamomile, purslane, and ginger. How in the name of Merlin was he supposed to find only four ingredients amidst a tree of vials? He would have to summon the ingredients, which could prove to be a disaster if he wasn't careful. He didn't want to summon literally every lavender plant in the wild. He only wanted the vial of lavender hopefully still on the tree. He also had the shield around him, so if something was flung dangerously toward him, he at least had protection. With a wave of his wand, he exclaimed, "Accio vial of lavender!" Bracing himself, he waited in anticipation until finally, two vials came soaring toward him, and even though he only needed one of them, he caught both. He brought them safely back to the workstation before heading back to the tree. Next, he needed chamomile. With a second wave of his wand, he called out, "Accio vial of chamomile!" To his surprise, only one vial soared toward him, which he caught and placed next to the vials of lavender. Brent continued in this manner until he had the lavender, chamomile, purslane, and ginger.

Ready to brew, he took a moment to pause and make sure the Whomping Willow was still at rest. Seeing that it was, he began.

"Aguamenti!" Brent said, pointing his wand into the cauldron. He watched carefully as the water began to fill the cauldron he'd been provided. He only needed 500mL, so when the water reached that point, Brent ended the spell with "Finite!" He double-checked his work. The tree he was dealing with was dangerous, and as usual with this competition, there was no room for error. Seeing that the water level was indeed 500mL, Brent grinned and turned on the burner under the cauldron. As the water came to a slow boil, Brent turned to his ingredients and picked up the vial of lavender. He pinched a bit of it then put the ingredient in the mortar. Using the pestle, he crushed the lavender until he was satisfied with how it looked. He added it to the cauldron then began stirring in a counter-clockwise direction. He counted his stirs until he reached exactly twenty-one, and then he withdrew the stirrer from the cauldron. Brent quickly cleaned the mortar and pestle and the stirrer then picked up the vial of chamomile. He put a handful of it into his palm then added it to the mortar. Remembering that it had to be crushed, as well, he picked up the pestle and began crushing. When he was satisfied with this ingredient, as well, he added it to the cauldron.

He gave a sigh of content as he watched the brew simmer. He had twenty minutes---TWENTY MINUTES---to wait, and so he decided to use his time wisely. He checked the time, so he would know when twenty minutes had passed, and then he decided to clean up the mess of crashed vials and potions ingredients that the tree had previously slung to the ground. So while he kept a close eye on his brew, he began to clean. He siphoned up the ruined liquid with "Tergeo!", and then he cleaned up the crashed vials with "Evanesco!" He may or may not have done a perfect job, but when he was done, eighteen of the twenty minutes had passed, so he decided to return to the potion that he had also been watching as he cleaned. His brew was a pale, clear purple with only a hint of green, so he was satisfied. As the last two minutes passed, he cleaned his stirrer another time just for good measure. After all, it had been sitting there for twenty solid minutes.

The next ingredient, purslane, was supposed to be used for nightmares, and even though Brent wasn't sure if the Whomping Willow was capable of having nightmares, he decided not to take his chances. The tree was already violent enough, and who knew, maybe this would help soothe it just a little more. He collected a pinch of purslane then sprinkled it into the cauldron then stirred five times in a counter-clockwise direction. On that note, he was ready for the final ingredient of his potion---ginger. This was also the ingredient that was meant to make the brew more powerful. Collecting a pinch of ginger, Brent added the final ingredient to the cauldron then stirred an additional five times in a counter-clockwise direction.

Well, this was it--he was done. What had he brewed? A Basic Sleeping Draught. Was Brent Westwood about to take a nap at the base of the Whomping Willow? Of course not! Brent Westwood was about to put the Whomping Willow to sleep. Potions did work on plants, because there was the Herbicide Potion, for example. And plants did know how to drink liquid, because as most students know, plants receive water from their root system. So it made perfect sense to Brent that if he brewed a Basic Sleeping Draught and poured it at the roots of the Whomping Willow, the tree would draw in the liquid and be put it to sleep. Then with the knowledge that the plant was asleep and couldn't whomp him across the continental United States and back to Malibu, California, he could make it to through the passageway at the base of the tree.

Brent collected an empty vial and quickly cleaned it out. Then he collected a sample of his potion and filled the vial with it. He corked the vial and placed it safety on the workstation while he very quickly cleaned up after himself. Then with a nervous sigh and determination in his heart and mind, he headed to the gnarling roots of the tree. Please work. Please work. Please don't get me killed... Now moving to the thumping rhythm of his heart, Brent uncorked the vial and began pouring the potion on the root system of the tree. "Alright, then. Drink up!" he said.