By Adrianna La Cerva
Watch out, the Hufflepuff hourglass is going to bulk up considerably, as we�ve just ended another Point Brawl! The infamous competition where we duke it out for fame and fortune, and points!! Our October BPB winner is Zoey Taylor! Zoey came out on top, earning 2515 points for the house. As winner, she receives 25 Galleons from Prof. Lockhart�s personal hair care fund, as well as bragging rights! Congratulations Zo!! Hufflepuff is proud! The next Point Brawl is underway. Who will be the next big winner? Find out in the next issue of the Owl Gazette!
By a certain Gryffindor
So you just lost your Post-A-Thon by a mere hundred posts? Or maybe you lost by one thousand because a) the winner is addicted to this place and has enough spare time to post that much in a mere week or it takes you a week to get a hundred never mind a thousand or c) your Muggle life takes up way too much vital posting time. Well, that's pretty much been the Gryffindor case. Hermy-own Granger managed to clinch a victory off of Hilary Stevens by a mere 140 posts. Betcha she feels depressed. Betcha everyone else feels depressed too, since third placed future world dominator, Audrea Martin, was 450 posts away from Hermy. Let's not think about Hermy's future fate, now but focus on this. How exactly do you beat those monthly blues? Well, your first very obvious distraction is for the next month practice for the event. I advise finding some good music; whether it's internet radio, or a good old CD, just shove on the music and post repetitively somewhere.
Preferably Spam. Just post one smiley over and over and over. And before you know it you have one thousand. Your next option is to post so much that you have more posts than the person that won. Or if they're seven thousand away, try and note how many posts you have and count it up about three months later. When you win, feel free to rub it in their face. So anything that involves beating the winner that has a connection to posting works. Then again, we could just lock them in Audrea's torture chamber and throw one tomato at them for every post they made. I'll let you all work the rest out; I think doing that right now sounds especially good....
By Jennifer Kull (JUNK)
Of the returning students in Slytherin, we have Saya Erikson, Avin Holmes, and Skye Malfoy. Because of the icky Muggle life that sometimes gets in ALL of our way when it comes to PADs, these three had to take a short leave of school. Avin, our Senior Prefect, is already showing us her dedication to us by catching up and helping with suggestions to make the common room even better than it already is (which, granted, is really hard). Saya is a student that has been at PADs for a while, but has taken a couple of different leaves from us. She promises to stay for much longer this time, and I for one will hold her to her word! Skye has also been here a while, but is not able to be as active as she wishes because of Muggle life. We are all glad that they have returned to us, and we are sure that they will stay active this time...or else. [[[totally kidding]]].
There have been a plenitude of newbies, as always, in the Slytherin common room. Among them are Miranda Minx, Katie Robinson, Malia Kine, Victoria Tabareth, Elementress, Emma Powell, Nicnevin Rye, and Lupine Galvan. A warm welcome to the family, all of you! I have already seen a few such as Emma, Katie, and Nicnevin, who have shown a lot of activity already, and yay to that! It is with lots of hope from the entire house that all of you remain active and join in our craze - erm, wonderfully fun family forever more.
By Beonca Aims
It�s been a week! We are still are voting for our Halloween costumes, but by the time this issue comes out, it will have been decided and most will know what the Snakes came as. Other and much bigger news, Professor Snape is back as our Head of House! What else is there to say, hugs all around. I am sure there will be some changes down the line, and some new stuff coming with his return, but having been under the rule before, as are many of those in the house, it will all be for the better! We have had some newbies enter and some returning students so the house is growing and become strong, fair warning to those in other houses.
By Summer Levy
Ever since the beginning of term, Andela Schmorgie and Amber Thatcher have been our Prefect Assistants, helping out the Ravenclaw staff tremendously with administrative duties. They have done such a great job, and have contributed so much to the house. But you know, as school goes on, the more work you get, and unfortunately, Amber and Andela do not have the time to help out as much as before. But you two girls have done a great job, and thank you for being there when we asked you to be there.
Taking their place would be Raelyn Ethania and Luna Lovegood. These two girls have so much house pride, and contribute so much to the house. Raelyn, surely you should recognize her face by now, participates in Quidditch, and was the Student Council Vice-President, and lends her artistic abilities to making the new cover and layout for the Witch Weekly magazine. Luna, on the other hand, is part of this huge family tree with too many names and relationships for me to remember, and is definitely active both in the CR and the BB. She contributes regularly for the OG and the WW, and is constantly trying to raise her post count in the CR.
Congratulations to both girls and the best of luck in your new position.
By Summer Levy
"To be, or not to be" (Hamlet), on Halloween, that is the day to be who you want to be and the day that holds such significance in the Harry Potter saga. This year, the five houses of Hogwarts dressed up in relation to what their Head of House dressed up as.
For us Ravenclaws, we were rather torn between two themes: Mythological deities, or, Shakespeare. Initially, we went with the former, but to make our lives simpler, we went with the latter. Needless to say, we would have fun no matter which theme we went with.
If you are confused about who was who, or who is what from which play, here is a master list of who attended the Halloween ball as whom, and which Shakespearean play they are from:
Prof. Wallace - Shakespeare
Summer - Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)
Gemini - Hero (Much Ado About Nothing)
Dawlish - Yorick (Hamlet)
Sarah - Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra)
Lucius - Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
Myrrima - Romeo (Romeo and Juliet)
Olive - Peaseblossom (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Arya - Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Luna - Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Gwen - Rosalind (As You Like It)
Jolie - Hermione (A Winter's Tale)
Erica - Portia (The Merchant of Venice)
Emma - Viola (Twelfth Night)
Paris - Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew)
Birdie - Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Jacyn - Hermia (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Emily - Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
Lily - Helen (Troilus and Cressida)
Will - Macbeth (Macbeth)
Ariene - Miranda (The Tempest)
Raelyn - Olivia (Twelfth Night)
Joe - Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Artemius - Benvolio (Romeo and Juliet)
With many of our Ravens attending the ball as characters of one single play, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Halloween Bash is bound to be an eventful evening, where we act in character and speak in Elizabethan English (regardless of where the setting of the play is), speak at the rhythm of the iambic pentameter that the genius of William Shakespeare, or in this case Professor Wallace, had so well written in.
With characters ranging from historical figures like Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and Julius Caesar to mythical characters like Puck to entirely fictional people like the famed star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, the Ravens dressed up as a whole variety of characters, and yet, still carrying out the one major idea that we are all the creation of William Shakespeare.
By Amanda
The Penshire staff had an awesome idea to get all of us involved in the common room in October. Immediately following our October Posting War, which the Good people won, we had a pajama party! And it wasn't a pajama party, it was two-faced. Not only did we have an RPG in the common room, we had a live house chat in our common room chat room on October 12th-14th. All the students dressed up in costumes and as of right now, the party is still going strong. Their playing games, telling ghost stories, and just having a jolly good time. The members of the Penshire house would like to thank their staff for giving us such a great time.
By Ava Black
Penshire had another great month. We have seen several new members come to the common room and most have jumped right in! There was another post-war which was met with great success! I believe we earned over 17,000 posts during that time!! Of course Faith had the most post, but Bryony was in a close second!! Great job everyone. Penshire is getting ready for Quidditch, having practice every day! Captain Casten is determined to keep the cup. Now, we are still last in points but don�t be surprised if that changes soon! Lastly, we released the 21st edition of the Wizard Digest this past month. It was a jam packed issue and I hope you check it out!
By Rose Granger
Recently, Penshire House had a posting war - good costumes vs. bad costumes. It was really fun, and good costumes won. Congratulations to them. Penshire house has really increased the amount of posting. Next month�s posting war will be Indians vs. Pilgrims. That should be fun. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about the posting wars in Penshire.
By Amanda
Penshire is famous for its posting wars. We have one each month where everyone signs up and Sam, the coordinator, divides us into two teams. The teams are usually themed: this month we had costumes. There was good versus bad. The posting war is being held from October 7th to October 14th. Right now, it looks like the good costumes are winning. Sam's pretty generous with the avatars he gives us to represent our character. This is just one fun and interesting way to gain posts and interact with one another while adding some friendly competition.
By Keato Abbot
On October the twenty fifth the first ever Penshire character of the month award started. A poll was set up in the heads up section and nominees we�re Katalina Jones, Billy Raven, Amanda, Bryony Casten, Cauly Hauster, and Rose Granger. Voting lasted until October the twenty-seventh and I am proud to announce that the first ever Penshire character of the month is Amanda. A few voters stated why they voted for her one Shireling said �I think it being PAD's 6th birthday and all, Amanda should be it hands down! She's been here since the beginning and it would be fitting�. I got a chance to ask her some questions and her answers really show why she is character of the month.
Question: How do you feel being Penshire character of the month?
Answer: I'm actually really honored and for the first time in a while I feel like I belong somewhere.
Question: You were first a Hufflepuff; did it take a lot of adjusting to move to a new house? Answer: It did at first... I really thought I wasn't going to be accepted. But I was immensely wrong.
Question: Since you're a seventh year, what do you think is next for you here at PADs?
Answer: Um... I'll be an 8th year.
Amanda�s honesty helpfulness and sense of humor makes a great person that everyone wants to be around. Check next month�s issue to see who the November Penshire character of the month is!