Okay so the tree was immobilized for sure. Then and only then did Dora make her move for the cauldron. Just as she had expected... brew a potion. Not that it gave her much to go on, but if she was thinking logically at this point, and she was, she had to assume that it was for personal consumption to continue in the challenge. Okay. Glancing back at the tree to make sure that it was indeed still, she ran a few ideas over in her mind even as she made her way to pick through the vials on the ground.

There was sure to be no Pepsi on hand... so the Dresden Draught was out of the question. Okay... she didn't need anymore stamina considering she was sixteen and pretty well full of energy.

First ingredient she found was scarab beetles. Two to be exact. YAS! Wit sharpening it was! Now which variation? She normally would have gone for Kazimeriz' version, but she knew the brew time was far too long for the current situation... and there was another version of it. Hmmm...

Ginger root she was lucky enough to find unbroken about the other vials as well. Moving on she glanced back up at the tree as she shoved the vial into her pocket so that she had her wand at the ready if need be. Okay... looking, looking... picking through the glass for what felt like an eternity she found her last ingredient THANKFULLY unbroken on the ground... Armadillo bile! This was all coming along nicely!

Dora grabbed up the cauldron after tucking the last of the ingredients into her already bulging pockets and made a run for the workstation. Carefully setting the cauldron up she then extracted all of the vials from her pockets, lining them up in the order in which she was to use them. This wasn't exactly a difficult potion for her to brew seeing as she was no stranger to (she downed a self brewed wit sharpening potion at the start of the first challenge) particular potion.

Okay the first was always to clean one's cauldron, so the blonde girl cast Scourgify not only on her cauldron, but also on all of the equipment assembled there. There was HONESTLY no telling what was in or on those things since they had been sitting out all willy nilly underneath a crazy old tree. Speaking of, Dora glanced at it once again and gave it the old stink eye. Seriously, who had thought this up?! Once she was happy with the state of cleanliness of her things she grabbed the measuring cup and cast Aguamenti. Filling it up to 500ml before dumping it into her cauldron carefully and immediately casting Incendio at the burner underneath said cauldron. Okay. Dragon hide gloves FIRST AND FOREMOST! No need to go and get herself messed up over something as miniscule as not being properly prepared... also goggles. Had the Potions Mistress lady set this all up? Everything she could have possibly needed was indeed there!

The girl had to bring the water to delicate simmer before moving forward, right? Or did she have time in this cold weather to go ahead and grind and cut the things that needed doing? She assumed she did as she went ahead with a pestle and mortar and dumped the two scarab beetles there and began to work on them, always glancing up at the cauldron to see if the water had begun to simmer. Which it had not because she had the heat down low. About the time she had them ground coarsely she noticed that the water had begun to gently bubble... not quite a simmer, yet. So with that being the case she set her ground scarabs aside and began to cut the ginger root... which she had JUST ABOUT completed when she noticed that the water was at the right stage for her to continue. SHEESH. Brewing under these conditions had really given the girl a case of the sweats. Not that she was going to risk wiping her brow while she was brewing... what her potion did NOT call for was saline. Heh.

Okay next step was to add the scarab beetles. Dora put the ginger root aside and scourgified her gloves JUST IN CASE before she proceeded in picking up the mortar and carefully shifted the beetles into her cauldron, careful not to let any get away, and also not adding them too quickly all the same. Using her freshly cleaned stirrer she placed it into the cauldron and slowly counted off the FIVE clockwise stirs.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5...

Upon completion she removed the stirrer, cleaned it and set it aside as she adjusted the flame of her burner just a little. Mentally noting that she had to let it simmer for five minutes she went back to work on the ginger root, carefully cutting it with a the knife she had used previously. The knife that had been cleaned prior to use and had not touched anything else, mind you. Having taken her time to finish that part she then carefully measured out five grams of the root and set it aside for use in a few minutes. About three to be exact. Now... a dropper to measure out the bile. Where was it?! Dora felt a bit of panic as she let her eyes scan the assembled equipment, sure she had seen one before... OH GOSH NO! The girl was nearly frantic as she began to scan the ground below the workstation... and sure enough there it was. Laying there in the snow. TAUNTING HER almost!

TWO minutes, she told herself as she snatched up the dropper and Scourgified both her glove and the dropper several times.

ONE MINUTE.

Okay... she was sure it was clean as she opened the vial of bile and placed the dropper in, but not measuring it out just yet. Sure it wasn't the norm to measure and cut as one went, but given the elements in which she was brewing... she felt like it might be the best option she had. Also, the willow wasn't moving was it?!

STINK EYE AT THE WILLOW, BRO!

Finally as the fifth minute passed the Gryffindor added the ginger quite gingerly (har har) and wrung out her hands as she watched it sink down into the mixture... knowing not to stir it just yet. Twenty minutes it had to simmer now. TWENTY MINUTES. Dora set about cleaning the utensils she had previously used and setting them back in the places she had found them just to pass the time as she watched the flame, making sure it never got too high or too low for that matter. Simmer.

How to pass the time? She cast another Immobulous at the tree just for safety reasons... two spells were better than one, yeah? And she knew it not to be one of those spells that counteracted itself if cast more than once. So there was little comfort in that. And as the girl bided her time she ran back over the steps of the potion brewing process and chewed at her lip nervously. What if she messed up? What if she was not good enough? WHAT IF SHE JUST MESSED EVERYTHING UP?!

No she wasn't going to do that. She was no schlump at brewing. Professor Newton even told her on many occassions that he was proud of her. Not to mention when Valon Kazimeriz came round to see Addy he had praised her once or twice. Literally probably only once or twice... but then again the man was crabby in his old age.

As she was sure twenty minutes had passed she picked up her stirrer and once again cleaned it, just for safety reasons... and began the stirring process. Seven times every three minutes as the potion cooled. This was the tricky part if you asked Dora... but no one had asked her. Or anyone else for that matter.

And so Dora began the process: Clockwise stirring 1...2...3...4...5...6...7. And wait 3 minutes. Mentally ticking off the minutes as she watched the timer she had on the workstation. How else had she been able to tell how the time had passed? Three minutes passed, counterclockwise stirring 1...2...3...4...5...6...7... and given the chilly temperature currently surrounding her work space... Dora removed her right glove and held her hand over the cauldron. Not much heat coming off of it, but the smell was HORRID. Likely just once more around. Clockwise this time 1...2...3...4...5...6...7

And yes, the cold weather had helped to cool the potion quickly, thank Merlin for that. Picking up the dropper she slowly added the nine drops of armadillo bile. One at a time... slowly... and not stirring. NERVE RACKING! Now Dora set the timer for 8 minutes and hoped for the best. The waiting was miserable!

A swirl of thoughts crossed over her mind as she waited for what felt like the WORST and LONGEST eight minutes of her life. And yes, the smell from the wit sharpening potion was putrid, but oddly it didn't bother her right now. She was preoccupied with glancing at the tree and wondering what the other competitors were doing. What potions had they chosen? How did their brewing process go? Was anyone brewing the same one as her? Could they SMELL the desperation she was wafting from way over there? It was excrutiating... but as the timer went off the Gryffindor snapped back to reality and grabbed up her gloves and a shoved them back on. Then the ladle... SCOURGIFY!

And then without hesitation she added the potion to a nearby clean vial and immediately downed the contents. WRETCHED! GHASTLY! HORRIBLE!

With a shiver she started to clear away the remaining potion, clean off the utensils, and fold her gloves back neatly. Not yet feeling the effects of the potion she moved a ways back and watched the branches of the tree... unclear on what her next move was supposed to be. Not that anything about the challenge so far had been too clear.

Ugh.