| Owl Gazette issue: 57 date: August page: c |
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| New Cubs in the Den!
By Jay Kay For the past few weeks, Gryffindor has been welcomed with an explosion of new people. Normally, we don't get this many this fast, so it's really nice to see more people showing their brave side. I would like to take this time to extend a personal welcome to Elizabeth Edenborrough, Madison McWhirter Violet, Annie Doyle, Kevin Zegers, and Brielle Cross. Already they have all done their part to make Gryffindor a better place. We're sure they'll fit in perfectly. Again, welcome! Enjoy your time here at the Lion's Den. |
| Gryffindor: Spammer Royale!
By Nywag In Gryffindor, the spam topic (known as Spam-izzle, thanks to Professor Opal) is easily the most popular game topic. This is due to the intense battle for the title of spam queen. When the year started, as usual, the undisputed champion was no other than Hermy Wibberly. Some others tried to take her name away, others like Lynn Jennings and Hillary Stevens, but all was in vain. Then, one day, almost out of nowhere, someone had beat Hermy! Yes, the underdog, Cissa Daniels, beat Hermy in posts in Spam-izzle. Needless to say, she was not amused. Even with flood control and doing virtually nothing but spamming, she was still defeated. However, she's not down for the count. Since that day, she's been working non-stop to beat Cissa. Of course, Cissa isn't going out without a fight. Who will eventually rise on top? Who knows? |
| Gryffindor Dives Into Their Summer Reading!
By Lynn Jennings Gryffindor and books? Believe or not, they actually mix! Recently, a Gryffindor named Shannon Wood started a book club. Gryffindors who are a part of said club decide on a book to read, have a limited amount of time to read it, and then discuss it. This time, the book of choice is Lord of the Flies by Sir William Golding. Everyone has three months to read it. Personally, I'm about halfway though the first chapter, probably a little more by the time you read this. |
| They're Back!
By Ybrik Over the past two weeks or so, Gryffindor's had a lot to celebrate about. A lot of old faces have come back to our humble abode. We've had the pleasure of re-welcoming Angelina Locks, Braden Mills, Lucy Crookshanks, Sonic Uchiha, Scarlette Donne, Chris Lastor, and Zack Galman. Welcome back, you guys! And try to stay this time, will ya? We missed you too much last time. It's good to have you back. |
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| Sadly there were no submissions by Hufflepuff. |
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| Ravenclaw Welcomes New Staff!
By Blue Belt In each house, it's no only the prefect and the Heads of Houses who take all the responsibility for all that goes on. There are many minor staff roles as well. Recently, the Raven's Nest made room for five new staff members- some of which have main staff roles. Erica Lovegood is the Editor-in-Cheif of the Witch Weekly. Arya Drottningu is the Quidditch captain with Raelyn Ethania as co-captain. Jolie Taylor is the new Dueling Captain. And, last but not least, Ariene Callahan will be head cheerleader for the 4C's. Good luck to everyone who got a job. I'm sure you'll do this house good. |
| The Big Baddie of Ravenclaw is Back!
By A Minion He's bigger, he's badder, ladies and gentlemen, he's come back to Hogwarts! Hogwarts's favorite and most popular villain, Lucius Malfoy, has returned to reek havoc upon us all! His evil domain began during the ever-famous ninja v. villain battles against a Miss Emma Staunton. However, with her leave, the tides have changed. No longer feeling compelled to join with the ninjas, seeing as their leader is gone, many Ravens have joined with Lucius on the evil side. How will things turn out? Will evil finally conquer good? Now, the only option is the wait and see. |
| New Members!
By Luna Lovegood In the past month, we have received three new members and are about to get another. Ravenclaw welcomes Wildas Haim, Jocelynn Jae, Kayla Avalon, Samantha Hill, and Elizabeth Cullen to the house. Already these members are posting around the board and enjoying themselves in the house. Though, one has already picked a fight with about half the house. *cough*Wildas*/cough* But he is loved, all the same. So welcome once more to Hogwarts, you guys! |
| Latest Point-a-Thon
By Luna Lovegood I'm back with the results from yet another Ravenclaw point-a-thon! This time, we did teams [with very uncreative names]. In first place was team four. Those in the team were Rosedolphin, Sir Hugo, Ariene, and my self! w00t! In second place, with just over a hundred points behind, was team one. That team consisted up of Ladius, Gwen, Reva, and Arya. Great job you guys! With a quite a few points less came team three with Erica, Eylon, Jacyn, and Augustus. Nice work, you four. And last, but not least, was team two. Those in team two were Summer, Jolie, Roxas, and Fabian. They did quite alright as well. With this we got so many points! Goooo Ravenclaw! |
| Interview With a Newbie: Reva Bouldelaire Edition
By Jolie Taylor and Reva Bouldelaire I have a wonderful opportunity to talk with one of the newer Ravenclaws. She has already done a lot for the games section and is quite active. Here's what she had to say. [[JT: Jolie Taylor, RB: Reva Bouldelaire]] JT: How do you like Ravenclaw so far? RB: 5/5 (rating) JT: What about it do you like the most? RB: Games and activities. JT: Is there anything you would want changed? RB: I don't think so. JT: What do you think of the people here? RB: Cool, friendly and clever. JT: Did you think they were helpful in helping you settle here? RB: Yes, absolutely. JT: How are you (your character) planning to spend the summer? RB: Holiday in Scotland. JT: What are you looking forward to most this summer? RB: Fun and relax. JB: What are you looking forward to most this term? RB: More announcements and more members. |
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| Adrianna & Toby Join Paddington Staff
by: Jenii Chang Since the beginning of term the Paddington staff has added to additions, Toby McDermont and Adrianna La Cerva. They both joined Rose Wick to make up the prefect assistant team. Both students are active contributors around the house and we welcome them happily onto the house staff. They've jumped in quickly, helping out & sharing ideas. It's wonderful to have both Toby & Ade on the staff. Congratulations to both of you! |
| Student of the Month
Professor Riddle The Paddington HOH team recognizes Soma Cruz as our student of the month for July! Soma has definitely shown a lot of Paddington Pride as of late! He's a writer for the house mag "The Alohomora", he's made a shop (The Artic Zoo), he participated in our recent first ever Polar Point Plunge he's a member of The Lunar Lights, & a member of the Quidditch Team. He's always putting presents in other students' lockers, he makes siggies for people, he's active in the chit chat/games section, & he's very supportive of his housemates when anyone has an idea or has accomplished something of significance. He likes to joke around a lot, too, & has been quick in making lots of friends around the CR. Look for more about Soma in 'The Alohomora!' coming out in August! Congratulations Soma! We're proud of you! |
| Paddington's Polar Point Plunge
by Tyler Keegan In July Paddington held its first Polar Point Plunge where the house was divided into three teams (Blue, Purple, and Green) to compete against each other for house points. Everyone was pretty excited to participate in the PPP and the competition was fierce! The Blue Team included me, Adrianna La Cerva, Katlin Sawyer, and Jenii Chang. The Purple Team included Yaxley Chambers, Lana Laramie, Zoey Chang, and Soma Cruz. The Green Team included Brady Lennox, Mort Johnson, Summer Whites, Joe Nworb, and Dawlish Ledgerwood. Everyone spent the week doing monthly challenges, writing articles for the OG & house magazine, participating in the Summer Club, and making shops. After a week of knock-down drag-out point earning, the Blue Team won! According to Prof. Kenzie, all three teams together earned over 7,000 points for the house! Way to go Blue Team and congrats to Paddington for their first successful PPP ever! |
| Abrupt End to the Nickname Queen's Reign?
by Tyler Keegan Ever since Paddington opened, Summer Whites has dubbed herself the reigning nickname queen. Without fail, the minute someone joins the house she is giving them a nickname whether they want one or not. Recently, though, it seems the house has began revolting against Summer. In welcome posts other house members are now starting to come up with their own nicknames for newbies, too, and then an ugly battle ensues. One such battle came to a head when a poll was started for whose nickname was the best. Sad to say, Summer's name didn't win. Most people would probably take a hint and give up their crown to someone else when the house starts voting against them, but not our Summer! She just keeps plugging away. I think I'm going to give her a new nickname - Timex. She takes a lickin' & keeps on tickin'. |
| Missing Student Due To Bat Attack
by Tyler Keegan Recently Dawlish Ledgerwood decided to visit a neighboring dorm and was violently attacked by a bat. The bat belongs to one Soma Cruz. It's rumored that Soma sicked the bat on Dawlish but the reasons are unknown. Witnesses to the attack have been pretty tight-lipped about it so it's hard to piece together what might have actually happened. All we know for sure is that no one has seen or heard from Dawlish since the attack. If you have any information about the incident or Dawlish's whereabouts, contact a Paddington Staff Member as quickly as possible. It seems the house has run out of cake and until Dawlish returns, everyone's having sugar withdrawals. |
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| Penshire Prattle
Billy Raven Though we have seen only one newbie since the new term started, we have had some returns! First to come back was Beverly Heaven, next was Avery Montana, and finally, Makayla Malfoy! We were excited to see all three return from a long absence. The Penshire Camping Trip is going on, we are about to roast our hotdogs and mom is cooking the hamburgers, others are setting the table and I am getting hungry! We have a summer house challenge going on, but I can't give you the scoop on that...its a Shirething. Otherwise the games and other things are going strong. We have also seen some take vacations, like Sam, Keato, and Lynexe, all promising presents, and Roger Davis was in Europe and is now in Greece, soon to be home. The Summer Reading thread is growing as we finish up one book and start another. |
| The Crane Train: Newbies Nowhere to be Found
By Bryony Casten In the last issue of the OG I couldn�t help but notice Ravenclaw�s eight new members, Paddington�s seven newbies, the return of a handful of Slytherin�s members plus another new one� and what did Penshire get? A big fat nothing. That�s right. Penshire has still seen NO new members since the End of Term common room clean-out. Have we wronged the Sorting Hat somehow? Why does he now have such a vendetta against us that he refuses to sort any new Penshires? I am currently assembling a team of housemates in a vain attempt to rectify the situation� will our pleading have any effect? We�ll see� but for now, the Crane Train is still devoid of passengers. |
| Penshire Camping Trip A Success!
By Bry Casten This month Penshire has tried something new� after a few pajama parties and other such various activities in the common room, we�re heading out to the great outdoors! That�s right� Penshire has organized its very own house camping-trip, and everyone is invited! (Provided, of course, you have the password to the Penshire common room, have cheered for the Crafty Cranes at every Quidditch match, & call Professor Ripley �Mom�). With Professor Ripley getting there early to get camp started and provide all the necessary anti-Muggle protections, the first-annual Penshire camping trip was off to a great start. There is an awesome turnout and everyone�s having fun� watching Keato and Sam start a fire without magic, collecting firewood, Professor Ripley�s tasty baked beans� and it�s only going to get better. The verdict? Even though we�re only partway through it, this trip is a definite success! |
| Penshire Reading List
Emmaline Bagman The summer, busy for some and laid back for others, has provided Penshire students the opportunity to catch up on some of their reading they missed out on during the past term. A variety of books have been suggested from several students to the rest of the house. A popular series amongst the house is "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. This series consists of 4 books, the fourth of which will be available to the waiting readers in just a few short months. The series tells about a human girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward, who happens to be in love with Bella. This series combines the teen love story with action, with multiple battles arising, sometimes when you least expect it. Other books that seem to be a good read among several students are "Eragon" and "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini. Billy Raven is one of those students interested in the series, and said about the books and author: "I liked them both and the fantasy world he created. He's almost a mini-version of Tolkien and you can see he was a fan." Other students, such as Keato Abbot, had difficulty getting interested into the series. Discussions about "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman also arose. As in every community, there were students who read the books - ignoring the feelings and comments from the author - and students who could not read the series because of the author. Other books on the Penshire reading list include: --"Looking for Alaska" by John Green: This book is about two brothers who communicated for a whole year using only videologs. --"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card: part of the Ender series. This series is set in the future after two alien invasions. --"Double Identity" by Margaret Peterson Haddix: a mystery, telling of a girl names Bethany who strives to discover family secrets that cause her parents to leave her with an aunt she had never known before. --"How to Read Like a Literature Professor" by Thomas C. Foster: a book that discusses the 12 themes to a story, and goes into depth about how every story is the same. Other books and series are sure to be laying beside the beds of many Penshire students, and surely the same goes for other PAD's Hogwarts students. |
| Be Random
Emmaline Bagman A fun game for the Shirelings of Penshire is "Be Random," which is pretty self-explanatory. These posts range from random one-word sayings (ie. "boo," "wahh," "what?!") to crazy, somewhat maniacal laughter (which we could only imagine how it would sound in real life) to names of movies and activities. With a game like this, the Shirelings are able to show off just how random and odd their thoughts are. If I post the article for the summer reading on here, can someone let me know if there's anything I need to change? (And I hope Billy and Keato don't mind if I mentioned them in the article...just pulling from the thread what you thought of the books by Christopher Paolini) (and I'm going to try and think of a better title...lol) One, two, three... Emmaline Bagman Penshire has surely shown that they know how to count. To spend time posting on the board, an ongoing game of "Counting to 50,000" is provided for the Shirelings to show off their counting skills. This game becomes prominent in times of posting wars and complete and utter boredom. |
| Penshire of the Month
By the Penshire Staff This month's Penshire of the Month is none other than Adrianna Lunar! Adrianna has been a member here for a few months now and has certainly made a difference not only in our house but in the school as a whole! In addition to creating a magical creature�s class for the summer club, Adrianna is always posting in the common room, participating in activities, and working hard. Thanks for putting everything you've got into it, Adrianna, and congratulations |
| Random Polls
Billy Raven Random polls have always been a Shirething. Many are pretty random, thus the name. Like picking your favorite animal and they range from 'purple elephants', 'green cats', to 'yellow hippos'. Others are just as silly, but are so fun to take and see how other feel about the strange to the sublime. We could have one on favorite shoes, sneakers or slippers, or even boots. There is not telling what will pop up next and they always have these strange numbers attached. Like Random Poll # 6778, like that is how many we�ve had...not! So the number is just as much fun and the poll itself. We've had 'favorite actor/actress', 'favorite ice cream', movie, color, bread...the lists go on. So either we are poll crazy or just want to know. |
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| Slytherin Scoop
Beonca Aims Not that we have been inundated with new students, we still have been quite active in the house. Many of the games were re-started by staff, which had signed up for the most popular ones and reset them. We have had some new games created, which are always new and fun. Of course working on the Daily Prophet issue is a hot topic, as are the articles for the Owl Gazette. Many have joined not only Summer Herbology, but also Summer Potions, I mean, they are being taught by both our HOH and AHOH and showing support is important and besides they are fun and interesting, mind you stay out of the way of flying dirt gobs by the house mascot! |
| TSSS Reformation
Beonca Aims With the new term, comes a new formation of the Slytherin house�s secret club. With students leaving, other coming back, and some just going MIA, it was decided to have the sign-ups for high positions and members. One student stood out as High King, and easily won the position, other positions had only one apply, so they easily got the spots. One position had to be made into a poll to see who won that spot. If I am not giving you names and a lot of information, it IS called The Slytherin Secret Society after all. What they plan and what exactly they do is just for Slytherins to know, I am sure you will discover this group, of which I am a part of, definitely has plans. |
| Slytherin of The Month - August
By:Viktor Yes..you heard it right�the award is back again�with a bang! Unlike the previous the months�we have got TWO Slytherins of the Month! They are none other than our assistant Head of House, Professor Kelina Bliss and Riley Jake! Professor Kelina Bliss has become a house favorite of late mainly due to her good participation in House activities and joining in the games and also other activities in the common room. She has been nominated for this award because mainly because she cares for the house a lot within the common room walls and she readily gives advices to anyone who seeks. She also is really very funny, nice and also helpful person�and moreover on an interesting note�she owns a pet squid�look it out if you can. And you notice the tentacles are like 8 snakes attached to a single body� The only other person who has tied with our loving Professor Bliss is none other than Riley Jake. What is there to say less of Rye? She is a model Slytherin student�and she is noted for her activity in house activities and has been helping us earn a lot of points. She is also a very friendly and helpful person and is ready to help new Slytherins settle down.. And this sweet and loving Slytherin has a burning desire to bring the House Cup to Slytherin to our house! Congratulations to Riley and Professor Bliss�we love you guys! |
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| OPPS!!! Ran out of space for Slytherin to continue, so..........TURN THE PAGE! lol |