Awesome Kit Received From Lizzie Wychwood!

I can hardly contain my excitement while writing this post. How does one report such awesomeness in writing!? Lizzie sent me a kit themed around Hermione Granger, my favorite character.

Lizzie's owl Specky showed up this afternoon, pecking at the window and soaked from the rain. Of course I brought him inside to warm his tailfeathers and rest before his return trip. I think I've convinced him to stay a few days since we're supposed to have sunny and warm weather after today.


Now here's the package!

All the little wrapped packages neatly stacked inside.

So many little packages!

Official Hogwarts packing paper.

Everything Hermione would need while traveling (and running from Death Eaters).

Black beaded bag with a change of clothes, portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, and Essence of Dittany.

One of Hermione's favorite books, by the dreamy Gilderoy Lockheart.

Hermione pin and a tin with more SPEW buttons!

Hermione finger puppet and Crookshanks. How fun!

Yum! Mmmm. ::drool drool::

Fun fat quarters for some stitch-witchery!

Sweet House Elf knits!!

A wool diaper cover and lanolin for waterproofing.

Matching sweater and socks

Look closer: perfect for a baby!

Lovely cotton chenille yarn that I can't wait to try out.

The softest cotton yarn I've ever felt!

And of course a new book for my library!

A book specifically for baby knits! There are some sweet momma knits, too.

SO MUCH AWESOMENESS!

I can't thank you enough for your thoughtful kit, Lizzie!!

Way To Go Ravenclaw!

Our Quidditch team played their final match of the term this morning, and it was awesome! The team has worked hard all term to communicate well, hit hard Bludger trivia, and be a unified team! Each and every player, and supporting House members, have been invaluable.

Congrats team! Here's some well-earned treats!

Arithmancy Homework

Since Arithmancy is one of my favorite subjects, it wasn't hard to get this homework done early.

Puzzle 1: Dobby
Puzzle 2: Harry Potter
Puzzle 3: Hog's Head

Here's how I got the solutions:

Now I can spend the rest of the week working on my independent potions projects!

Who's Who at Hogwarts

PART 1

Who is new to HSKS this Term? Genevra Dreamy
Who has played Quidditch for their House this Term? Rowan Dagonsinger
Who is working on the same project (WIP) as you? Fleur Sweeting
Who has more items in their Queue than you? Intarsia Bindoff
Who has donated to SPEW this Term? Hermione Bagnold
Who has participated in Dueling Club this Term? Misty Moonbleu
Who lives within 100 miles of you? Andromeda Finch-Fletchley
Who is from a different country than you? Elladora Madley


PART 2

Rowena Bladvak: Rowena and Fleur are opening up an etsy shop together this summer. Incidentally, the launch date is my birthday, August 31st.

Lizzie Wychwood: Lizzie spent her 25th wedding anniversary in Florida with her husband and children. They went to Discovery Cove and swam with doliphins (I'm so jealous!).

Minerva Lovegood: She's raising chickens! And they're super cute!

Go Ravenclaw!

When I'm refereeing a quidditch match, I must be impartial and objective, but rest assured that my heart always belongs to Ravenclaw! I love my house, I love my team, and I really wish I could play too!

Go Ravenclaw, eat that snitch!

...I mean CATCH that snitch!

Score, Ravenclaw, then let's eat!

...I mean, we can't be BEAT!

Obviously I have baked goods on my mind today. I think I'll make a little visit to the kitchens and bring some goodies back to the common room for my housemates.

Potions Homework

I had a great time with Potions this week...well, mostly. I certainly learned a lot during a special independent project I worked on. Earlier this week I spent a whole day in the Potions classroom, working carefully on Felix Felicis, one of the most difficult potions ever. Something went very, very wrong along the way--perhaps my sopohorous beans weren't fresh enough, or I didn't stir the right number of times in the correct direction?--and I ended up with something like a cross between a Draught of Living Death, Wound Cleaning Potion, and split pea soup. Needless to say, I had to come back in the whole next day to clean up the mess I made. Good thing there were no classes and Snape has been distracted lately!


PART ONE

Anyway, this week's homework was a little easier, though finding the time to gather ingredients was hard. Here they are, accompanied by my green thumb:

Chopped Daisy Roots
Used in Shrinking Solution

Alihotsy
Crushed leaves are used in Confusing Concoction and Babbling Beverage, as they cause hysteria.

Fluxweed
These springs were picked a week ago on Wednesday (the full moon) to maximize their changability potential in potions like Polyjuice.

Common Knotgrass
Used in Polyjuice Potion and rather tasty in salads.

A variety of Belladonna
While quite poisonous on its own, this useful flower is used for making an essence found in most common potions.


PART TWO

1. Sneezewort, scurvy grass, and lovage are used to make what?
A: Allergen Solution
B:Confusing Draught
C: Babbling Befuddlement
D: Wandering Agent

2. Porcupine quills are to be added when to a Boil Cure Potion?
A: It is the second ingredient you add
B: Before it is removed from the fire
C: You don't add them, they aren't part of the potion
D: After it is removed from the fire

3. What potion, if brewed correctly, should change color numerous times throughout brewing including deep purple, lilac, and finishing clear?
A: The Draught of Living Death
B: Amortentia
C: Calming Draft
D: Elixir to Induce Euphoria

4. This ingredient in the Draught of Peace, would likely bring you permanent peace since it is poisonous, what is it?
A: Murlap
B: Belladonna
C: Mugwort
D: Hellebore

5. Chopped daisy roots, skinned shrivel-fig, sliced caterpillar, one rat spleen, dash of leech juice are all ingredients to what?
A: Swelling Solution
B: Deflating Draught
C: Shrinking Solution
D: Sleeping Draught

PART THREE

Since my only potion experiment this week went sadly awry, I'll have to substitute pictures for my favorite potion, a simple version of Draught of Peace. Of course, I have tweaked the formula a bit to suit my tastes:


A glass of soymilk

+


Homemade chocolate syrup

=


Peace and happiness!

Mad Lib...Revelio!

Harry Potter And The Curse of Dudley

Harry Potter, the boy wonder, the clown of the wizarding world; sat alone in his tiny bedroom scratching his toenail and cleaning the iocane powder out of Hedwig's cage. This summer wasn't nearly as boring as his previous summers had been.

Over the summer, his cousin Dudley had grown quite frightened of him. Harry secretly kept cursing him, even though under age use of magic was strictly forbidden outside of Hogboils's school of shoehorncraft and clever thoughts.

It seemed the wizarding world turned a blind elbow when it came to Harry, and he never got in trouble for his... transgressions.

One particularly memorable curse on Dudley happened on the 32nd of June. It was so hot, you could climb a yarn on the sidewalk.

Dudley sat on his enormous backside in front of the telly, spooning dead sea tupperware-ful after dead sea tupperware-ful of garlic down his throat. Harry thought he looked rather magical leopluridonish, with his piggy little eyes and fat body.

Harry got an evil little grin on his knee and raised his wand behind Dudley's head. "CARPE DIEM" he shouted; which translated to English means "Turn this boy's head into a mango and make him dance around like a lemur with amnesia!"

And that's just what Dudley did! He kicked off the couch, screamed "WANNAWANNAJUNGDA!" at the top of his lungs, and began cuddling on the floor, while turning in circles and flapping his nosehairs.

Harry was laughing so hard, he almost peed his bra. He was still laughing, and Dudley was still flapping, when Uncle Vernon came thundering down the stairs. He had gone a nice shade of purple. He looked at Harry, shaking in anger, then looked at Dudley, horrified. "YOU WILL AWAKE TOMORROW MORNING WITH ALL THE ELASTIC MISSING FROM YOUR UNDERWEAR!" he screamed, then calmly turned and walked away.

Harry and Dudley looked at each other in abject confusion. Harry shrugged his shoulders in a "beats me" gesture, and the two cousins sat on the sofa, temporarily forgetting their animosity toward one another.

Dudley lifted the half empty dead sea tupperware of garlic and offered it to Harry.

"Don't mind if I do!" said the bespectacled young man, grabbing a spoon and preparing to dine.

Dudley's nosehairs gave one mighty final flap, and the boys had a most enjoyable evening, indeed.

Ravenclaw Mystery Mad-Lib

It's mad lib time!!

1. climb
2. 32
3. elbow
4. clever thoughts
5. shoehorn
6. boils
7. toenail
8. clown
9. iocane powder
10. YOU WILL AWAKE TOMORROW MORNING WITH ALL THE ELASTIC MISSING FROM YOUR UNDERWEAR
11. bra
12. kicked
13. amnesia
14. lemur
15. mango
16. CARPE DIEM
17. knee
18. magical leopluridon
19. garlic
20. nosehairs
21. cuddling
22. WANNAWANNAJUNGDA!
23. dead sea tupperware
24. backside
25. yarn

I can't wait to see how this story shapes up...

Care of Magical Creatures

Care of Magical Creatures is one of my favorite subjects at Hogwarts! I didn't even know my cat was part kneazle until my second year. Crazy!

Part One

First off, this is Orlando Hoo, my pet owl (and also my originality marker):

Here are a few items I would use in everyday care of magical creatures:

1. Scissors for trimming overgrown fur.

2. Tape measure for measuring growth over time.

3. Herbs for making salves and medicines in addition to magic. Sometimes the animals just respond better.

4. Hot pads for handling hot and fire-breathing creatures, such as blast-ended skrewts and salamanders.

5. Raw meat for thestrals and hippogryffs.

Part Two

1. House elves are short with large bat-like ears and enormous eyes.
2. Kreacher is bound to the Black Family, and later to Harry Potter.
3. Hermione makes small hats and socks for the house elves.
4. A house elf is freed when his master gives him clothes (the ultimate shame).
5. S.P.E.W stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare.

Transfiguration

Whew! I almost didn't finish my homework in time--what a shame that would be! Well, I have to say it's not entirely my fault. All week I've had a cold, and Madam Pomfrey's usual Pepperup Potion only helped for a few hours at a time. I knew I wouldn't be in top form for the first matchups in the Dueling Club, but I certainly wasn't expecting someone to push me into a Vanishing Cabinet! Luckily I managed to apparate out (not into a toilet, thankfully!) but was miles away from my needles and yarn and out of Pepperup Potion. How disappointing!

I know I'm usually an overachiever, but this week has been so trying I'm cutting a few corners and practicing these transfiguration spells all on my kneazle, whose name is also Olive:



Here goes!

Bowtruckle


Remembrall


Golden Snitch


Hagrid's Rock Cakes


Decoy Detonator


Nose-Biting Teacup


Spectrespecs


Time Turner

Back in the Tower

It feels so great to be back in the Ravenclaw tower again! I've got my same old bed with the blue and gold hangings, and the house elves even remembered to bring me my morning cup of tea right to my nightstand. I think today I'll take a walk down to the lake and try to see the giant squid. It's been so long!

Before I go wandering the grounds, I must finish my homework and explain the 3 characters I chose: Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, and Luna Lovegood.

Hermione

I adore Hermione for her cleverness and hunger for knowledge. She's always forging ahead of the other students, eager to learn. I share her love of books and loyalty to friends, and I suppose I can be a bit of an obnoxious overachiever sometimes, too. I love how Hermione fought for the rights of house elves when no one else cared, and was always learning and using useful advanced spells.


Sirius

Sirius was so misunderstood! The black sheep of the Black family, I admire the way he made his own path in life and protected the people he loved. He was never afraid to be different, even if he did let it go to his head sometimes. He was always a bit dark, but had a good heart. Once he got out of those prison clothes, Sirius definitely had style!


Luna

Oh Luna! Another misunderstood person! She doesn't care what other people think at all, and is truly unique and happy for it. She's helpful and loyal, and brainy as well! While I don't believe in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, I tend to think differently than most people around me, too.