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A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not

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Another wonderful chapter. I'm always excited to see our budding Alchemical Mini Mort in play.

It's hilarious to see McGonagall expect us to blitz out answers and Jacob stare back unamused and somewhat puzzled. The contrasts between our fellow academic competitors' reason for success was also nicely portrayed, and I enjoyed Jacob's slight confusion at Hermione chasing after validation and points.

A tidbit of introspection was also very illuminating, and I'm glad this was done. I suppose we have been focusing rather heavily towards mechanical gains and it's nice to see that there is a soft Stress factor being highlighted. I don't really have any plans this time, and I see many have already suggested some exploration heavy plans which is a good way to progress from here on.

Jacob's reflection on his actions in the dungeon also seem to mirror a more apathetic vibe which I honestly do enjoy. As I've said before, we have had too many good guy runs here on SV that the Spanish Mini Mort is just so refreshing and enjoyable.

And then there's Megan. I'm honestly torn over here. It's good to see our somewhat dense boi figure out the lady's crush, and talk about it. I guess the empathy points are already working. Overall the scene was very cute and fluffy, and I don't know which ship to board anymore.

Once again, it was a pleasant chapter and an even more pleasant read. As for plans I'm with Shyguy here. A good mix of explorations and training.

[X] Plan Get Patronus Then Tidy Up But Avoid Burnout
 
ShyGuy said:
Is that legal, or do we need to get Alchemy to D+ a month before we can actually start working on the map? I thought it might be doable because we have been doing the same thing for spells (training to get to the prerequisite for the spell and attempting to learn the spell on the same turn) but I wasn't sure if the rules were different in regards to Alchemy.
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Yes, that's possible.
MysteryCPU said:
@Tabula Rasa I really enjoyed the latest chapter, especially the showing of who Jacob is developing as a person in a way that encapsulates all our choices and the setting.

Just one bookeeping thing: I believe that Jacob's Ancient Runes should be at P this turn (he started at D, got +2 from Runes Research which would make it a P-, then +1 from Dark Book making it a P).
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Is that right? Could someone else double check? I'll be flying out to vacation in an hour (and won't be able to access my computer for that time, so no updates for a week likely. Sorry guys :) ).

I'll correct it if it's true.

Raven's Requiem said:
I just love how Jacob deduces people's secrets by observing them and pondering and then casually moves on. He should actually be at least partially familiar with Time Turners since his dad introduced the Space equivalent.




Funny, how much of a contrast there is between the two smartest kids. Hermione is the typically smart person who rigorously devours every part of the curriculum until she can vomit it verbatim. She delights in receiving praise and points as validation. Jacob can't understand that because he never cared about any of that.

His grades don't matter because he values learning more.

He doesn't the validation from the points or praise because he doesn't care about other people's opinions.

Honestly, it's nice seeing this contrast just because I've seen so many "Hermiones" in life, those study-holic students who have to get perfect scores, that I know the Jacobs are better off.





Hermione saying this, especially so excitedly doesn't make any sense when Mcgonagall already said there were 4 branches.

Also, it feels really odd how Hermione gets all the praise for listing the the four main branches, but Micheal is the one who describes all of them. It would fit better if the two were switched there.




Probably stepping up their game after a certain classmate is upstaging.



Ahh, that satisfying feeling when people know you can turn them into rabbits.



Ah hell yeah! One more step to being the animation master.

Curious though as to how much concentration the spell needs and how much does skill affect size because he's kinda peaked at the skill level once he reaches Deep Understanding?



Nice bit of juxtaposition here. In this section, Jacob's been talking about how Hermione is leagues above him and how Michael has improved. They're both rewarded with 2 points for their knowledge, but then Jacob flawlessly casts the spell and gets 5 points beating both of their points combined.

It's like Mcgonagall is giving a lesson underneath the lesson. You have Micheal whose trying to catch up to Jacob and Hermione whose trying to stay ahead of him, and they both do this by frantically taking notes and studying. They're focusing on knowledge, but because of that, they're missing the point. What they need is understanding. That's why Jacob listens and observes Mcgonagall and the statue instead of taking notes. He's looking for understanding, and Mcgonagall recognizes that and rewards him appropriately.



Nice to have subtle clarification that yes, Jacob has been growing out of his shell since now he's been retreating back into solitude to reflect.



This is probably set-up for the revelation later where Jacob's talking about he's started to pay more attention to the why and people's motivations without getting hung up and the what.




Haa, actual introspection from a protagonist is such a great thing to have and is a reminder of how great a protag Jacob is.



Don't know if we should take that as fluff or proof that we shouldn't overload with training options. If anything, it shows that we should always have one adventure for Jacob to go on for stress relief



That's both sad and hilarious.



Adrenaline junky, aye.



Hullo, Harry.



Motivation DC to tell them: 1000





Uhhh, I so wish I was around to argue against the "Great" vote being chosen because honestly, this makes me sick.

The thought of someone tricking their close friends and draining their souls, condemning them to never see the afterlife all to achieve fame, make creations, and avoid their own death and then proclaiming how much more you respect that person just feels wrong. Yeah, he recognizes that it's evil, but because Jacob sees it as great, he doesn't see it as wrong. He didn't see anything wrong with Girzum killing students nor with him torturing the creature. The right answer to him has become the most effective one.

And it's horrifying to see this thought process. It's not a slippery slope, but goddamn, did this pour water on the hill. This way of thinking is a hell of lot harder to deal with than the self-hate because this shit is insidious. You might say it's more open-minded, but there's a reason why some trains of thoughts are better left abandoned.



Anyways, to clear my head from that, this painting scene is just breath-taking. To show the world as he sees it, that is what Jacob's paintings are, and I love it.

For others, they might paint an image of all the Houses dining together and the warmth of family, friends, and love, but that is not the Hogwarts Jacob sees. Hogwarts to him is mystery, danger, magic, and adventure, and that is what he paints. The wonderous unicorns and Hippogriff and the terrible spiders and Dementors, the raven darting between the Whomping Willows limps before being struck down and rising, the vast and mysterious sea and the dark, hidden caverns of the mountain, the faceless students, moving stairs and rooms, and of course the curious cat not bound by rules who explores to its hearts content.

That is the Hogwarts Jacob sees, an adventure, and one that begins when you put on that hat.



Ouch, sorry Megan, but hey, at least he's slowly recognizing the issue.




Hey, mutual understanding. They're learning not to look past each other.




"It is but a shadow and a thought you love." It's healthy for them to get that preconception out of the way though the way he stresses "good" makes it clear he doesn't see his actions as being anything but selfish curiosity. Also making me slightly scared considering his morals are a bit looser then before.



Have I said how much I love the painting imagery already?







Fuck it. I'm on the Megan x Jacob ship. Full steam ahead!



Again, win for mutual understanding! Also, energetic is a weird word to use here. Maybe spirited instead?



And now their relationship can truly begin anew.

I know that you've said that writing Megan and Jacob's relationship is tough, but I really do enjoy it. It's probably a bit more mature than what should reasonably be expected from the two, but that can be waved away a bit with how Jacob's personality is.

And I think I remember why exactly I liked this quest so much before. Every update is partitioned into it's own segment, like a little chapter of Jacob's life. There's not the dullness that comes from repeating the same day and getting bigger numbers. Yeah, mechanically, it's still similar in that regard, but there's more life to it. Just in this chapter, learning a spell lead to a whole separate lesson in a lesson in class, training Ancient Runes had Jacob and Megan shed past misconceptions and move forward in their relationship, and a simple sit back and relax option turned into Jacob reflecting over how much he's changed over this entire quest and culminating in him painting his grandest view yet.

Also, one thing I found interesting was that his parting line to Lupin



Were the same as




I'd put goggles as higher priority than map to finish before the end of the school year because the Dementors will be gone then meaning we won't have the chance to use the goggles to unravel their secrets.




How dare you try to talk reasonably. We obviously need to show that we're better than Harry by learning it in one month without a teacher. That's what the unlockable trait is for. It's us supplanting Harry as the Chosen One.


[X] Plan Patronus, Painting, and Phantasmal Preparations
-[X] Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Digging through the archives for so long has given you a good grasp as to who walked these floors in the last two hundred years. There were mentions of someone, you still remembered. There had been some records history of one of the greatest minds that walked this castle, maybe not as special as Sally-Anne or even Dumbledore, but still … Who was he?
-[X] Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Spend time with the Members of the Runes Club looking for hidden runes and glyphs in the castle walls (Will also count as a training roll towards Ancient Runes).
- [X] Do Something!: Paint - Capture the adventures and struggles of your ancestors on canvas
-[X] Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Coming back into the years of unrelenting war. Following years of uncontended victories for you and yours, an enemy has arrived that is more powerful than anything you could have ever imagined. Marching through the midst of winter they attack numbering the tens of thousands.
-[]x7 personal actions.
-[X] Alchemy x3
-[X] Spell learning x 4 (Expecto Patronum, Lumos (Deep Understanding), Point Me)

Substituting the extra adventure action for a peaceful painting session which should help in preventing burnout. Lot of points on Alchemy because I really want to get it up to snuff to make the goggles.

@Tabula Rasa Is brewing a potion a free action or no? If not, then how many potions can we brew in one action if we had enough ingredients for more than one vial? Basically, can we make a Blue Wideye potion to give us an extra action or no?
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First of all thanks, I do love these kind of analysis. It gets me to understand you guys better and I love it to see the story through your eyes.

To your question: Up to 10 vials of one potion in one action.
 
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[x] Plan Get Patronus Then Tidy Up But Avoid Burnout
-[x] Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Digging through the archives for so long has given you a good grasp as to who walked these floors in the last two hundred years. There were mentions of someone, you still remembered. There had been some records history of one of the greatest minds that walked this castle, maybe not as special as Sally-Anne or even Dumbledore, but still … Who was he?
-[x] Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Spend time with the Members of the Runes Club looking for hidden runes and glyphs in the castle walls (Will also count as a training roll towards Ancient Runes).
-[x] Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea I – The fairly large Great Lake to the south of the main building has always been your most favorite part of Hogwarts' surrounding lands. It was breathtaking how beautiful it was on a sunny day and frightening how dark it could get at night, almost looking like a hole in the fabric of the world. At the beginning of your year you glimpsed at something that had broken through the surface, making you realize how shallow your world view had been. Find a way to get below the water and discover what is below. (Takes 3 Actions, can't be taken in the same month as Break through your Horizon and What hides behind trees.)
-[x] Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Coming back into the years of unrelenting war. Following years of uncontended victories for you and yours, an enemy has arrived that is more powerful than anything you could have ever imagined. Marching through the midst of winter they attack numbering the tens of thousands.
-[x]x6 personal actions.
-[x] DADA
-[x] Legilimency & Occlumency
-[x] Spell learning x 4 (Expecto Patronum, Protego (Deep Understanding), Lumos (Deep Understanding), Tempus, Point Me
 
Personally for a budding wizarding adventurer I think Jacob is far too squishy. Also really needs to work on his stamina for those long adventures.
We're really going to have to work on his constitution. Perhaps over the summer. Swimming is very good excercise. Manages to work out most of the body all at once.
 
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MysteryCPU said:
Just one bookeeping thing: I believe that Jacob's Ancient Runes should be at P this turn (he started at D, got +2 from Runes Research which would make it a P-, then +1 from Dark Book making it a P).
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Are you positive, because I thought we were at D, so P- was right. I'll double check when I get home if no one else has the time though.

Edit: Nvm, just went through all the chapters and it looks like you are right. Nice catch.
 
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Since exploring lake seems to be such popular option... why do we want to do it in March? Lake would be rather cold, so I don't think it is exactly logical plan. Wouldn't it be better to wait with it until May or so? It's not as if we are pressed for options...
 
Varder said:
And risk driving our wand away? No way.
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I feel like people have been overstating the danger of losing the wand bonus, thinking that any one action will turn it away. And again, complete open-mindness isn't always a good thing.

Tabula Rasa said:
To your question: Up to 10 vials of one potion in one action.
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Alright, thanks. So we do have to give up an action to brew them then, no?

sonic0704 said:
Since exploring lake seems to be such popular option... why do we want to do it in March? Lake would be rather cold, so I don't think it is exactly logical plan. Wouldn't it be better to wait with it until May or so? It's not as if we are pressed for options...
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People want to explore in order to avoid burn out, and the lake is an option. Granted, we really don't have any of the water utility charms like Bubble-Head or anything else that would let us breathe underwater, so I'm cautious of how its going go.
 
Raven's Requiem said:
People want to explore in order to avoid burn out, and the lake is an option. Granted, we really don't have any of the water utility charms like Bubble-Head or anything else that would let us breathe underwater, so I'm cautious of how its going go.
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This is why I am doubly confused about it, as I'm not seeing any suggestions to research Bubble-Head Charm or gillyweed or any other option... with that notion, learning Expecto Patronum and investigating Forbidden Forest seems like a better plan. Not that I like it either, previous exploration after all taught us that we are woefully unprepared for such stuff and just lucked out.

Raven's Requiem said:
So we do have to give up an action to brew them then, no?
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So we give up one action now to brew Blue Wideye Potion, but in turn gain 1 personal action for next 10 months... which would extend through vacation, something that I assume overall gives us greater number of personal actions, allowing for even more research options.

With that in mind I'd suggest we concentrate on leaving researching most potions for summer, when we can brew them without trouble, and instead concentrate on learning some spells. Hmmm, let me make counter-suggestion to your plan...
 
Raven's Requiem said:
People want to explore in order to avoid burn out, and the lake is an option. Granted, we really don't have any of the water utility charms like Bubble-Head or anything else that would let us breathe underwater, so I'm cautious of how its going go.
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sonic0704 said:
This is why I am doubly confused about it, as I'm not seeing any suggestions to research Bubble-Head Charm or gillyweed or any other option... with that notion, learning Expecto Patronum and investigating Forbidden Forest seems like a better plan. Not that I like it either, previous exploration after all taught us that we are woefully unprepared for such stuff and just lucked out.
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I think that there is another reson, the last time that we went exploring we unlocked quite a few great utility spells, so going to explore the lake will surely unlock the spells/potions neede to explore it more thoroughly, including things like the bubble head charm...
 
sonic0704 said:
This is why I am doubly confused about it, as I'm not seeing any suggestions to research Bubble-Head Charm or gillyweed or any other option... with that notion, learning Expecto Patronum and investigating Forbidden Forest seems like a better plan. Not that I like it either, previous exploration after all taught us that we are woefully unprepared for such stuff and just lucked out.
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-[ ] Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea I – The fairly large Great Lake to the south of the main building has always been your most favorite part of Hogwarts' surrounding lands. It was breathtaking how beautiful it was on a sunny day and frightening how dark it could get at night, almost looking like a hole in the fabric of the world. At the beginning of your year you glimpsed at something that had broken through the surface, making you realize how shallow your world view had been. Find a way to get below the water and discover what is below. (Takes 3 Actions, can't be taken in the same month as Break through your Horizon and What hides behind trees.)

I think the searching for the means of exploring the lake are somewhat covered by the option itself, probably one reason why it takes 3 Actions.

It should be obvious to Jacob that you do some preparations and information gathering beforehand.
 
[X] Plan Preparedness

- [X] Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Digging through the archives for so long has given you a good grasp as to who walked these floors in the last two hundred years. There were mentions of someone, you still remembered. There had been some records history of one of the greatest minds that walked this castle, maybe not as special as Sally-Anne or even Dumbledore, but still … Who was he?
- [X] Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Spend time with the Members of the Runes Club looking for hidden runes and glyphs in the castle walls (Will also count as a training roll towards Ancient Runes).
-- 2 Actions.
- [X] Write a Letter (Free Action) – Specify to whom it is that you want to write and what you want to talk about.
-- Write to Parents. Ask for advice about our different projects, as well as family origins, since Father hinted at it.
-- Write to Flamel. Discuss Alchemy and see if we can raise our grade in it that way.
- [X] Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is the first year, in which you can go to Hogsmeade. Good that you've been planning for this since first year: Buy Books, Ingredients, Joke Shop Articles, Instruments and other things. Go and look, if you can make some money by buying things for first and second years. Roll for how many are interested and then for how much they want to spend. Take 15% as a fee.
- [X] Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Coming back into the years of unrelenting war. Following years of uncontended victories for you and yours, an enemy has arrived that is more powerful than anything you could have ever imagined. Marching through the midst of winter they attack numbering the tens of thousands.
- [X] Do Something! – Be creative. Or go and do nothing. Your decision really. Specify what you want to do.
-- Paint.
-- Occlumency.
-- Visit Hagrid.
- [X] Do your research – Learn a Spell, a Potion or something different that is available to you at the moment.
-- Expecto Patronum 3x
-- Tempus
- [X] Brew or Build – Build one of your known Alchemy Discoveries or brew a set of Potions.
-- Brew Blue Wideye Potion.



Reasoning:
- Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Let's get this over, but more importantly, it might give us important information or contacts we might need in future.
- Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is something we can do without any preparation, so again, let's get it over. Runes knowledge we get from it might also be useful elsewhere...
- Write a Letter (Free Action) – It is free action, so we would be idiots to not exploit, especially considering the hint Tabula Rasa gave us few days ago about asking for advice.
- Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – We need to continue this to keep gaining money.
- Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Dad hinted, that should explain why. I also want to see if we can get magic sensing from it or ideas on how to develop it...
- Paint - We need to relax as well.
- Occlumency - We are beginning to load up on secrets, so we need a way to protect them.
- Visit Hagrid - That guy knows a lot about Forbidden Forest, so if we want to eventually start exploring it we would benefit from speaking to him.
- Expecto Patronum - Another set of actions to prepare for our explorations, especially as we already had close brush with dementors before...
- Tempus - Losing track of time is known problem that we have, so getting it out of the way is good idea. It might also let ourselves organize better, which could mean additional action points.
- Blue Wideye Potion - We get 1 personal action for each of next 10 months. Definitely worth it.

I hope I calculated everything correctly :)

New version can be found here.

DerHesse said:
I think the searching for the means of exploring the lake are somewhat covered by the option itself, probably one reason why it takes 3 Actions.

It should be obvious to Jacob that you do some preparations and information gathering beforehand.
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Thanks, I somehow managed to miss that. Still, I want to get some other stuff out of the way... or at least share my ideas and thoughts :)
 
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Fanhunter696 said:
Not really, we would need 150 Galleons to do that...
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Blue Wideye Potion – Learning the Awakening Potion gave you an idea; it is clear that some of the ingredients act as a suppressant for tiredness and sleepiness. If you tweak the recipe and try to understand how the ingredients interact with each other… you may be able to make the potion more useful. If taken, it gives you one Personal Action more per potion. Can only safely consume one dose per month. Cost for ingredients: 5 Galleons per vial +1 Vial of Acromantula Venom.
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I was going to say that we need 5 Galleons... but now I see it is per vial, so we need 50 Galleons and 10 Vials of Acromantula Venom, which we don't have, as we have only one.

I'll adjust my plan appropriately.
 
[X] Plan Preparedness
- [X] Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Digging through the archives for so long has given you a good grasp as to who walked these floors in the last two hundred years. There were mentions of someone, you still remembered. There had been some records history of one of the greatest minds that walked this castle, maybe not as special as Sally-Anne or even Dumbledore, but still … Who was he?
- [X] Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Spend time with the Members of the Runes Club looking for hidden runes and glyphs in the castle walls (Will also count as a training roll towards Ancient Runes).
-- 2 Actions.
- [X] Write a Letter (Free Action) – Specify to whom it is that you want to write and what you want to talk about.
-- Write to Parents. Ask for advice about our different projects, as well as family origins, since Father hinted at it.
-- Write to Flamel. Discuss Alchemy and see if we can raise our grade in it that way.
- [X] Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is the first year, in which you can go to Hogsmeade. Good that you've been planning for this since first year: Buy Books, Ingredients, Joke Shop Articles, Instruments and other things. Go and look, if you can make some money by buying things for first and second years. Roll for how many are interested and then for how much they want to spend. Take 15% as a fee.
- [X] Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Coming back into the years of unrelenting war. Following years of uncontended victories for you and yours, an enemy has arrived that is more powerful than anything you could have ever imagined. Marching through the midst of winter they attack numbering the tens of thousands.
- [X] Do Something! – Be creative. Or go and do nothing. Your decision really. Specify what you want to do.
-- Paint.
-- Occlumency.
-- Visit Hagrid.
- [X] Do your research – Learn a Spell, a Potion or something different that is available to you at the moment.
-- Expecto Patronum 3x
-- Tempus
-- Diffindo

Reasoning:
- Case III: The Riddle of Riddle (2 Actions)- Let's get this over, but more importantly, it might give us important information or contacts we might need in future.
- Runes Club Research (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is something we can do without any preparation, so again, let's get it over. Runes knowledge we get from it might also be useful elsewhere...
- Write a Letter (Free Action) – It is free action, so we would be idiots to not exploit, especially considering the hint Tabula Rasa gave us few days ago about asking for advice.
- Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – We need to continue this to keep gaining money.
- Stage III, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – Dad hinted, that should explain why. I also want to see if we can get magic sensing from it or ideas on how to develop it...
- Paint - We need to relax as well.
- Occlumency - We are beginning to load up on secrets, so we need a way to protect them.
- Visit Hagrid - That guy knows a lot about Forbidden Forest, so if we want to eventually start exploring it we would benefit from speaking to him.
- Expecto Patronum - Another set of actions to prepare for our explorations, especially as we already had close brush with dementors before...
- Tempus - Losing track of time is known problem that we have, so getting it out of the way is good idea. It might also let ourselves organize better, which could mean additional action points.
- Diffindo - If we want to explore Forbidden Forest it will be useful to know it.
 
sonic0704 said:
So we give up one action now to brew Blue Wideye Potion, but in turn gain 1 personal action for next 10 months... which would extend through vacation, something that I assume overall gives us greater number of personal actions, allowing for even more research options.

With that in mind I'd suggest we concentrate on leaving researching most potions for summer, when we can brew them without trouble, and instead concentrate on learning some spells. Hmmm, let me make counter-suggestion to your plan...
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We need more venom to make more than one potion, meaning we need to go to the Forbidden Forest which in turn needs the Patronus.

DerHesse said:
I think the searching for the means of exploring the lake are somewhat covered by the option itself, probably one reason why it takes 3 Actions.

It should be obvious to Jacob that you do some preparations and information gathering beforehand.
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Possibly. I doubt it's a trick option. Curious how much progress Jacob will make.

sonic0704 said:
[X] Do Something! – Be creative. Or go and do nothing. Your decision really. Specify what you want to do.
-- Paint.
-- Occlumency.
-- Visit Hagrid.
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Don't know if you put so many actions in that.
 
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