The Owl Gazette
Issue 40            March 2007                   D
Leprechaun Lost!
By: Myrr

There is a leprechaun on the loose! He tricked me and got away on February 27th, and I haven't been able to find him since! He's short, all dressed in green, and is probably carrying around a small pot of gold. If you find him, please contact Myrrima Goldenleaf.
Challenge yourself�Do the challenges!
By Ronald Weasley

It started off as the Sorceress Stone challenge. Then, five years later, four more challenges were created. The four others included The Chamber of Secrets, the Forbidden Forest challenge, the Broom Closet Trivia and the Observation Deck challenge. Each challenge is worth 100 points. But, you can only do each challenge once per month.
In the sorceress stone challenge, you must fight through each obstacle and answer a few questions. For the Chamber of Secrets, throughout traveling through the chamber, you have to answer questions. In the Forbidden Forest, you must travel through the forest and answer a couple riddles. And in the Observation Deck, you get to travel to space and visit several planets. At the end of the trip, you answer a few questions on what you had seen during your space adventure.

Remember, since you do these challenges each month, it would be very wise to remember the answers, so you don�t have to research the answer over and over each month. To find the answers to all these challenges, the best bet to find the answers to the questions is to look through the books. Or, if you wish to take a shortcut, then you can go to the Harry Potter Lexicon to find all the answers.
Stumbling into the Trophy Room

So yea, I was roaming around Hogwarts recently, when I saw a room that is hardly approached, up on the third floor. Most people bypass it to go see some three headed dog. Anyway, this room...it was the trophy room. Inside were rows and rows and stacks and stacks of shelves holding trophies, each with a specific accomplishment and name on the bottom. Here's one I saw that peaked my interest:

Rosie B. - For her tremendous school spirit while she attended here.

Rosie was in Ravenclaw, and I was here when she was, because I've been here forever. She's been gone for a while and I really miss her. She was a really excellent person and I'll never forget her.
The top 10 best/worst gifts a guy can give a girl on Valentine�s Day!
By: Ronald Weasley

Guys�has this ever happened to you? You bought a gift you thought was thoughtful, but then it turns out it wasn�t so thoughtful? Well, if so, then today�s your lucky day. Maybe this article would help you not make the same mistake you�ve made before.

The worst
1. Buying a girl a sweater that�s too big or too small for her. If you do get her that, she�ll either get mad at you and cuss you out and throw the sweater at you and kick you out of her house, or she�ll pretend to like it and when your not around, she�ll return the sweater for a different size.

2. Buying a card and writing a different girls name inside. That�ll definitely cost you a free trip to the hospital. If you do something stupid like that, you might as well hang a sign around your neck that says �kill me now.�

3. Buying the girl a box of chocolates and on the way to her house eating the whole box and giving her just the box. That�ll definitely not go well. Girls don�t like their boyfriends buying them chocolates and not being able to eat it themselves.

4. Buying her a bouquet of flowers that aren�t fresh. Be prepared for her to really get mad at you, when you hand her a bouquet that�s wilted.

5. Buying her a bottle of cologne instead of perfume. I know cologne may be cheaper, but this holiday is not the right time to be cheap.

If you buy the right gifts for your girl, then you�re probably still alive and in one piece.

The best
6. A FULL box of chocolates. Make sure you don�t eat the box of chocolates like mentioned in #3. Girls live for chocolate.

7. A boutique of sweet smelling flowers. Sure, this may sound girlie, but girls dig guys who take the time to buy sweet smelling things, like, candles, flowers, or perfume, especially when the bouquet is fresh and will last about a week.

8. A card. Make sure though, when you buy the card, you put a lot of thought into it. Don�t just pick the first card you see, take time and look for the best card, even if it takes you all day to do so. Oh, and make sure you put the right name in the card, to spare a trip to the hospital.

9. Buy her lots of jewelry. Girls love to look sparkly and shiny to impress guys. If you don�t give her enough jewelry, then she won�t be shiny enough, and she�ll probably not want to further your relationship.

10. Buy lots of perfume. Not only do girls love to look shiny and sparkly, they love to smell nice too. Make sure though when you buy her perfume, you buy a perfume scent she�d smell good in. Cause, once she wears it, your stuck smelling that smell.

So, take my advice guys, it really works. Being the heartthrob of Hufflepuff, I�d know what I�m talking about.
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine or Saint Valentinus refers to one of at least three martyred saints of ancient Rome. The feast of Saint Valentine was formerly celebrated on February 14 by the Roman Catholic Church until the revised calendar 1969.

His birth date and birthplace are unknown. The feast of St. Valentine was first decreed in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." The creation of the feast for such dimly conceived figures may have been an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia that was still being celebrated in fifth century Rome, on February 15. As Gelasius implied, nothing is known about the lives of any of these martyrs. Many of the current legends surrounding them were invented in the late Middle Ages in France and England, when the feast day of February 14 became associated with romantic love.
Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Ch�x� (??). Chu literally means "change" and xi means "Eve".

Celebrated internationally in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had a strong influence on the new year celebrations of its neighbours. These include Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians, the Nepalese and the Bhutanese (see Losar).

In countries such as The Phillippines, Thailand, and other countries with significant Chinese populations, the Lunar New Year is also celebrated, largely by ethnic Chinese, but it is not part of the traditional cultures of these countries. In Thailand, for example, the true New Year celebration of the ethnic Thais is Songkran, which is totally different and is celebrated in April.

Around Chinese New Year is also the time of the largest human migration, when migrant workers in China, as well as overseas Chinese around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's eve. More interurban trips are taken in mainland China in this 40-day period than the total population of China.

This year is the year of the boar.
Review A Shop

Curio
Owned by: Me!
Located: Hufflepuff House Co-op

Now, where could you go in Hogwarts and basically get anything you need? That's right, Curio, why else would I be reviewing it? Well, in addition to getting what you need...you can also get anything you want! That's right, Curio has a function that let's you e-mail the owner, also known as me, and I will put whatever you need into the shop within a day or so at a reasonable price. (You know I have to make a profit!) I have a lot of items in my shop that are hard to find anywhere else. Plus, I'm really cheap!
Leap Years
A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day (or, in case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days instead of just 28. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year which is not a leap year is called a common year.
March Holidays
By Kiley Blaire and Jennifer Kull


March 1 is . . . . . Peanut Butter Lover's Day
March 2 is . . . . . Old Stuff Day (I like it, so it's staying!
March 3 is . . . . . I Want You To Be Happy Day
March 4 is . . . . . Blow Something Up Day
March 5 is . . . . . Schizophrenia Day
March 6 is . . . . . National Frozen Food Day
March 7 is . . . . . Professor Day
March 8 is . . . . . Be Nasty Day
March 9 is . . . . . Panic Day
March 10 is . . . . Festival Of Life In The Cracks Day
March 11 is . . . . Home Depot Day
March 12 is . . . . Alfred Hitchcock Day
March 13 is . . . . Heart of the Ocean Day
March 14 is . . . . National Potato Chip Day
March 15 is . . . . Everything You Think Is Wrong Day
March 16 is . . . . Everything You Do Is Right Day
March 17 is . . . . Submarine Sandwich Day
March 18 is . . . . Silly Song Day
March 19 is . . . . Poultry Day
March 20 is . . . . Proposal Day
March 21 is . . . . Fragrance Day
March 22 is . . . . National Goof-off Day
March 23 is . . . . National Chip and Dip Day
March 24 is . . . . National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 25 is . . . . Waffle Day
March 26 is . . . . Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
March 27 is . . . . National "Joe" Day
March 28 is . . . . Jalapeno On A Stick Day
March 29 is . . . . Festival Of Smoke and Mirrors Day
March 30 is . . . . I Am In Control Day
March 31 is . . . . Burn Down the Chemistry Lab Day
For Hufflepuff, by Amanda Dasaro.

Groundhog Day is a traditional festival celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It is a cross-quarter day, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.

In traditional weather lore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks.
The ABC's of Perseverance
Inspired by a logo, written by: Imani Poltrov

When life leaves you hanging, don't quit!

Anything can happen
Bend, don't break
Challenge your potential
Destiny is a choice
Effort creates opportunity
Follow your intuition
Get back up and try again
Hold on to your vision
Impress yourself
Just dig a little deeper
Keep knocking on doors
Learn from mistakes
Motivate with compassion
Nothing worthwhile comes easy
Own a positive attitude
Problems hold messages
Question what's not working
Regroup when you need to
Stand up for your principles
Think outside the box
Unite perseverence with resolve
Value knowing when to walk away
Work smarter, not harder
Xhaust all possibilities
You can, if you think you can
Zzzz's, take naps when needed.
PAD's Reminders:

- Don't forget to cast your vote for your favorite IHC entry!  This month we'll be voting on the Knockturn Alley Graveyard!  See the BB for voting dates.
- Voting will take place this month for your favorite Monthly Contest entry for the Hogsmeade Village Zoo!  See the BB for more info.
- It's a school-wide post-a-thon!  Be sure to find out which team you're on & post until your drop!  See BB for more details.
- If you need a free email account, sign up for a PAD's FREE E-owl Account today!  Details are located on the BB in the Entrance Hall.
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