I miss the potions, too, though I understand why Jim has shied away from them a bit. He added a nod to them in Changes, which made sense; he was adding everything (and everyone but Will and the Alphas; though it would've made the jungle run more fun (and maybe a brief altercation between Will and Mouse for Pack Leader status? I dunno), there really wasn't much room for them anyway) back into it anyway. Harry's pretty much at the point where most potions would be redundant for him now—though that can't be totally true, considering the Merlin wears a tac belt chock full of them when he gets ready for a fight.
Bob the Skull always reminded me of an old D&D character my friend used to play, Bob the Wizard (that was his full name; his middle name, he insisted, was "the"). Dude used to just use Tenser's Transformation and beat the snot out of things with a dagger, or Enlarge himself and hit stuff with his bare hands. Played him like a totally lecherous psychopath. And, naturally, he was the one who always survived party wipes.