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It seems as though an announcement featuring all of the spectacular lions of HOL and a few of their friends has been long overdue – so without further wait, here it is! Each month (Except September, we already got that posted here! Woo!) features the greats from the house of the brave, and I am pleased to offer warm congratulations to all of them! Exploding Snap is the award given to the most humorous lions for all of the laughter they bring us throughout the year. We would like to feature for this year Prof. Missa Matz for her humor provided during Gryfftoberfest in October. Eno Thomas received the award in December for being particularly humorous no matter what the occasion, and even hosted a game all about survival of the funniest (also known as Apples to Apples) to prove it! In February Chadwick Cadet warmed up the Common Room with continuous laughter and her secret stash of butterbeer she so graciously shared! Prof. Miette Bynny brought about by far the greatest Gryffindor blog post of the year as she used My Little Pony to advertise the Paw Print and received the award in April! And finally, Pandora Gotham wrapped up the year in June by posting some of the funniest posts and status updates we have seen all year! Congratulations to all of our great Gryffs following in the footsteps of our beloved Fred & George Weasley! Gryffindor students in their second year or up are eligible for the Golden Snitch award, which is given to the lions who are vocal, active, encouraging, and enthusiastic in all ways for the house! To start us off, Nina Messersmith got the award in November for her hard work and contagious energy at the start of term for classes! Laurie Lovegood followed her up with the award in January as she actively fought to earn last minute points and get as many of them as possible for the year. Hailey Potter continued the trend through March as she started to really out-nerd herself in all of her classes and OWLs, bringing in tons of points for Gryffindor while still being in charge of one of the most active clubs in Gryffindor during that time! Risa Swan finished up the year in May as she not only earned a lot of points for Gryffindor, but also encouraged a ton of activity and communication in her house den during that time! Following the Golden Snitch award is the Lively Lionet award, as it is given out based on the same criteria, but is for the shining First Year students only! In October, Kaiwa Alexandra stood out for how helpful she always was and her eagerness to get to know her fellow Gryffindor students! Anneliese Lee followed swiftly after her in November for being extremely excited about earning points and quickly becoming active in as many areas of Gryffindor as she could! Bay Reilly swept away the award in January as she really began to shine as Gryffindor’s most helpful and cheerful new student through her work in the Spice Squad. Following in her footsteps, Wicket Wilcox took this award in March for her help in creating puzzles and wordsearches for Gryffindor during a new event. Fumei Shirokuro earned this award in May with flying colors, quite literally, as she began to excel as Gryffindor’s most recent graphics extraordinaire. And finally Destri Weasley grabbed this award in June for helping out in many areas around the common room and really bringing them to life! The Nimbus 2001 Award is given to those Gryffindor students that are always seen helping out other areas of the common room whenever they can! Prof. Jenny Lupin and Julie Garnet flew together to earn the award in November as they began to captain GQT! In January, Bay Reilly and Chadwick Cadet stormed the Spice Squad to bring back the glory of its original form! Eno Thomas earned the award in March for his continual help running events both in Gryffindor and in HOL, while Hailey Potter took home this award for really bringing to life a lot of the activities and events that brought Gryffindor the excitement it now has! The Phoenix Award goes to most innovative of students in Gryffindor, and whether it is by creating a new event, sparking up new conversation in the common room, or something entirely of its own – these students really shine! In October, Risa Swan brought home this prized award for her work on our September event. Hailey Potter expanded the house awards with her innovative idea and event through a GQT Pep Rally earning her the award in November! In February, Laurie Lovegood and Eno Thomas together received the award for their creation and running of the HOL Valentines event. Bay Reilly received the award in April as she spearheaded the Lion King and Queen Competition. Hedra Longstride and Chadwick Cadet wrote their way into this award as they restarted the roleplaying forum for Gryffindor together in May! And finally, Gryffindor’s own Tom Foster received the award in June for contributing an almost overflowing amount of ideas for the house to try out! Students who actively participate in classes, HOL, projects, and house papers receive the Consistent Cub award if they are in their Second Year or older. This year the award was monthly given (in order) to Lucy Greyback, Angel Blackstone, Risa Swan, Ikah Swan, Drake Zodiark, Jinxy Jo, Eno Thomas, Jade Packer, and Emma Walker! Congratulations to all of these hard workers! The Studious Simba award goes out to the First Year students who follow in the paths of the Consistent Cub Awardee's. Each month (consecutively) this award went to Elle Xander, Kaiwa Alexandra, Angel Pevensie, Eia Donne, Ailis Flanagan, Kynthia Near, Saskia Sing, Caleb S Club Juniors, and Hedra Longstride! May the lions of point hoarders past help you continue on your point earning journeys! The next award, the Curious Kitten, goes to the top First Year students each term. This covers earning points, posting in the common room, and IRC activity. Chadwick Cadet earned this award in the Fall term for all her fabulous point earning and tons of enthusiasm and participation! Fumei Shirokuro followed up with all of her ideas and pro-activity to earn this coveted award in the Spring! Only two Platinum Quills are awarded each year in Gryffindor and they are given to the top point earner for each term! In the fall, Laurie Lovegood stole this award by a mere handful of points and in the Spring, Hailey Potter dominated the board with her point hoarding ability! Congratulations, girls! And finally, our Lionheart award. This is bestowed upon the members of other houses whom have been active within the Gryffindor Common Room or have helped out Gryffindor in various ways. In November, Hermionie Miranda won this award for her continued cheer throughout the Gryffindor common room. Hermionie has cheered for Gryffindor in Quidditch matches (not against her own house of course!) and has shown support for many Gryffindor activities, and has certainly proven herself deserving of this award! Maya Winters took the award in January for letting her inner Gryffindor colors shine! Maya is always supportive of the Lions and we definitely think she has a lion-sized heart! Gryffindor's own pet eaglet received this award in March - Allyson Celestra! She has always been incredibly cheerful around the house common room, and could even be considered a chatterbox of our own! Zoki Phantom received the award in May for his substantial help in running the Lion King & Queen event, without his help we may never have seen a crown! And finally, Lisette Westerveldt took home the award in June for all of her magnificent help in establishing the Paw Print and for being incredibly active in the Gryffindor roleplaying forum! Congratulations to all of these out of house members! Again, CONGRATS to all those names on this list! We really appreciate all the hard work, creativity, and enthusiasm you've put in throughout the year~ :D

Isa’s father is a British pure-blood Squib and Isa’s mother is a Japanese half-blood, making Isa a Japanese-British half-blood also. Growing up, her household was very odd as her father worked in the muggle world in advertising as a graphic designer and her mother worked for the Ministry of Magic as a Hit Witch. Because her mother was away from home a lot of the time due to her job, Isa assimilated into Muggle culture for much of her adolescence, going to muggle schools and having muggle friends. She even began to resent magic after a while, wishing that it wasn’t real so that her mother could stay at home more often and that her father— who had become an outcast from his pure-blood extremist family and magical childhood friends— might still have had these relationships intact if not for magic. This made Isa suppress her magical abilities, not wanting to have anything to do with the magical world and preferring to stay in the muggle one as much as she could. She still exhibited a sign of magic growing up, much like every other witch or wizard, though Isa only exhibited these signs once. Growing up, she had suppressed the signs of magic so well that people around her believed that she had taken after her father and been a squib. However, when she was ten years old, three years past the normal period of wizard magic-using, she had her first occurrence. Her mom had been on a business trip and her dad hadn’t come home from work yet, leaving a muggle nanny in charge of Isa until he got home. A muggle man broke into Isa’s family home while she and the nanny were playing upstairs. The nanny shushed Isa and they both hid in the closet. After a while, the burglar, not knowing that people were inside the house, stomped upstairs and into the playroom the two were in. Isa, who could see through the cracks between the closet doors, saw the man reach toward the handle in an attempt to open the door and screamed. The scream inexplicably shook the floor and caused the closet to explode outward. Some of the wood planks flew toward the man, hitting him on his head and knocking him unconscious. The nanny ran from the house in fear away from Isa, leaving her alone with the unconscious burglar. The matter was settled after Isa’s father came home and called the police, though they were confused at exactly how he had been knocked out. Isa’s father quickly made up a story about how the wood had likely overheated, causing the pressure inside the cabinet to change and suddenly explode outward. The police still thought it odd but closed the case quickly as the burglar confessed to breaking in and the nanny was cited as a witness. After this incident, Isa’s mother was also called back from her business trip and she speculated that Isa had a three-year pent-up of magic that had released in that moment, accounting for the abnormal magnitude and lateness of her magic. Isa soon after went back to doing her best to ignore her magic and vowed to never use it, seeing how catastrophic it could be. However, everything changed on her eleventh birthday when she received a Hogwarts letter. For as long as she could remember, Isa had dreaded this moment, though she knew it would arrive some day. She didn’t want her father— whom his whole family had abandoned because of his magical inabilities— to loose another person or feel guilt for making her stay and decided to pretend as if the letter had never come and threw it in the trash. The day after she had done so, a second letter appeared in her mail and after disposing of it, a third and then a fourth, fifth, and sixth popped up the morning after she would throw them out. Eventually, she was throwing out so much mail that it became evident to her father that something was suspicious. Peaking through her garbage, he found that all of the letters were addressed in from Hogwarts. Knowing that his daughter was only throwing these away because she didn’t want to hurt him, Isa’s father took one of the letters from her trash and pretended to find mail on the doorstep and acted as though he was rejoiced at the prospect of his daughter learning magic. Isa, none the wiser, believed her dad was being truthful and the two finally opened the Hogwarts letter together. Though, throughout early life, Isa’s mom had taken her to magical places such as Diagon Alley, Isa wasn’t very interested in magic until her eleventh birthday, when she got her Hogwarts acceptance letter. When she realized that being unable to ignore her magical abilities and attempting to fit into the muggle world was dangerous, she decided to go to Hogwarts in order so that she wouldn’t have to live life fearing for another outburst. In order to prepare herself for Hogwarts and entering into the wizarding world, Isa trying to find out everything about it; she started by reading magical books and the Daily prophet but her enthrallment soon led her to visit Diagon Alley by herself— to the point where she was making unlikely friends with Gringotts goblins and the owner of Gamble and Japes began secretly giving her Filibuster fireworks and luminous balloons on the side— and Isa even visited the Ministry of Magic with her mom on “bring your child to work” day, smiling when her mom’s co-workers told her that she had the aptitude and was growing up to have the make of a great Hit Witch or Auror. (I’m so sorry to anyone who tried to follow that 118 word sentence) This trip to the Ministry led Isa to take a strange liking to Defense Against the Dark Arts and, throughout her time before going to Hogwarts, she would spend hours slowly reading through books focused on defensive and offensive incantations and when she got her wand, she would wave it around and pretend that she was casting complex spells. Her wand, by the way, is a 13 inch Sycamore wood wand with a Curupia hair core, quite springy. The springy nature and length of her wand are due to Isa’s high-energy, bouncy, and full-of-life personality. She loves being a social butterfly and is full of liveliness. The Sycamore wood is, similarity, thought to be particularly matching for Isa as she loves looking for adventure and, sometimes slightly recklessly, stumbles into dramatic situations that make her use her wit. The wand’s Curupia hair core, a notoriously unstable and unpredictable wand, gifted to talented and similarly unpredictable wizards, also perfectly matches Isa’s recklessness and simultaneously her drive for excellent wizardmanship. Isa has a few general likes and dislikes. Throughout her days before Hogwarts, she had joined a local field hockey league and much of her free time was taken up by practice and hanging out with her teammates. It was one among the only things she missed dearly when she started Hogwarts and, even when she started school, she’d practice by herself in remote areas of the grounds for hours at a time. Isa also likes anything artistic. As mentioned earlier, her dad was a graphic designer and he taught her how to sketch. Though a long and hard process, she developed her skills and likes making art. She even branched off into other art-adjacent areas such as knitting, macrame, and embroidery, though she’s sometimes embarrassed to admit that she spends time doing such “grandmotherly” things despite no one really caring either way. Isa is also has an affliction with lizards, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans (she loves the thrill of unpredictability!), and Eunice Murray, ex-player for the Montrose Magpies. In addition to having a Horned owl named Albert, she has three lizards (Pirn, Beano, and Snow) and used to have a fourth (named Cat; she thought it ironic to name a lizard by a predator name and lived to regret the name) that was eaten by Albert when she first bought him. On the other hand, Isa dislikes woodwork, walnuts, Erklings, and the dark. She failed her woodworking class while enrolled in muggle middle school and wouldn’t, for the life of her, be able to nail together two pieces of wood. Isa simply dislikes walnuts because she thinks they taste horrible (unless they are in cake, then they’re okay). Isa not only hates Erklings, but is terrified of them. When she was young, her mother read to her a picture book in which an Erkling terrorized a medieval village by eating the citizen’s children by night. This picture book scarred her for life and made her dread both the creatures and the dark. House elves, which are thought to be related to Erklings also freak Isa out, despite most of them being caring and wonderful creatures. Even when Isa grew up, she couldn’t sleep without a nightlight, fearing that she would bump into some dark and fearsome creature on a nighttime stroll to the bathroom if she couldn’t see. Isa is, characteristically, both emotionally sensitive and crude at the same time. She likes to make mildly offensive jabs at her friends but usually knows when a joke has gone too far (though she sometimes gets a bit carried away). When it comes to people who are struggling, though, Isa knows how to calm down and listen to them, though she’s not the best with giving advice. Because she knows of her own tendencies to act recklessly and without much thought, she becomes overly cautious when someone else could be put in danger for her actions. This occasionally makes Isa a hard person to collaborate or form deep, meaningful friendships with because she is always worrying about the negative impact she might have on other people’s lives. Her caution also tends to make Isa close up and shut off any negative emotions until she can’t take it anymore and explodes, much like she did in her first magic usage. Isa shuts off and suppresses magic usage until it comes to learning or doing things that are absolutely necessary or help defend people, leading her to be mildly horrible at studies such as Astronomy and Charms while being very adept at Defense Against the Dark Arts. In addition to the dark and Erklings, Isa is scared of being perceived as boring. Growing up she would fill her life with activities and would never really take time to contemplate or think over things. She liked to fit in while also being the center of attention and, unknowingly, built a false persona around herself as a never unhappy, coolly brave, and confident character. Going to Hogwarts gave Isa the chance to start all over and, though she has retained somewhat of a confident, nonchalant personality, she’s working on being more transparent and open with her friends while ditching the aloofness of her false persona. What Isa wants most in life is to build a connection with her mother. All throughout childhood, she wondered why her she would always be away from the house and started hating both her and the magical world. As Isa got older, she realized that her mother’s place in the Ministry protected the wizarding world at large and that her mother wasn’t purposefully cold or distant but just didn’t know exactly how to interact with her daughter. Though the two never really got close, Isa secretly wanted to have a more of a connection with her mom. Style and items: When Isa isn’t in Hogwarts robes or Gryffindor merchandise, she can usually be found wearing bright 80s style jeans and sweatshirts. She likes to listen to punk rock and occasionally pop music. When Isa goes questing, she makes sure to bring her wand with her. Though she’s still a beginner, she’s been able to quickly pick up defensive and offensive spells. She also brings her hockey stick along with her as well as several balls so that she can have some entertainment. If she has to climb a rocky hill or hit someone suddenly, her hockey stick is also a very good option for that. One final item that Isa makes sure to have is some sort of healing essence, usually Essence of Dittany. Despite being proficient in defensive and offensive spells, Isa is sometimes unable to cast simpler spells such as healing charms so she carries around essences as a backup. Physical appearance: The Isa Vestal in HOL is currently a 12-year old 139 centimeter tall girl but her adventurer self is a few years older and 15 centimeters taller. She has long, silky, silver-blonde hair and electric green eyes with cat-like pupils. She has fair to lightly tanned skin depending on the time of year and has freckles all across her face. She is short and has a slightly bulky build. One interesting feature of hers is her abnormally pointy, fang-like teeth. They don’t allow for any special abilities but they do allow Isa to cosplay as vampires and cats very easily! As Isa is half Japanese-half British, she has a combination of European and Asian features. Her green eyes came from her dad while her silver hair was likely from her mom, who grayed very quickly. When Isa was younger, she had pitch black hair, following her Japanese heritage, but from the time she was seven, her hair began turning gray as a result of stress from magic suppression. For a while, Isa would dye her hair black but, when she got her Hogwarts letter and decided to go, she let her silver hair grow out, thinking it would be nice to both embrace her hair and also that it would fit in with a more “witchy” vibe. Even after Isa stopped suppressing her magic, the silver hair continued to grow, though she doesn’t exactly know why. Though she hates that her eye and hair colors combined make the Slytherin colors (as she is a Gryffindor and has even gotten angry at a few Slytherins for remarking on the fact after her house lost to theirs in a quidditch match), she has come to love its color.

I spotted the Boggart in my dorm room. He turned into my alarm clock and I imagined him being a soft pillow and blanket so I could go back to bed :P

It's the time of the year when we take a moment to celebrate the heroes amongst us! Please join your hands in applause as I present the winners of this term's Gryffindor Awards. In the category of house points... With an amazing 1,780 House Points earned for Gryffindor, the Platinum Quill Award goes to @Sky Alton. Moving on to our house's internal points, we have... The Phoenix Award, which is presented to the Gryffindor with most Rubies: @Iverian Gnash with an incredible 693 Rubies! Similarly to the Phoenix Award, we offer the Lionheart Award to a non-Gryffindor friend, who managed to earn the most rubies overall. Let's hear it for @Maxim Trevelyan of Ravenclaw with a jaw-dropping 984 Rubies! Now, shifting focus to awards to which I like to refer as Staff Choice Awards... I present the Curious Kitten Award to @Iverian Gnash, who helps make Gryffindor's presence felt all around Hogwarts and who is constantly leaving us in awe with her enthusiasm and eagerness. For her omnipresence, reliability, willfulness... The person who is definitely one of the main backbones of Gryffindor, @Sky Alton is presented with the Consistent Cub Award. Last, but not least, @Prof. Zenix James, for her immense pride in the things she does for our House and the brave and bold spirit, is awarded the Lively Lionet Award. Congratulations to all, I am very proud of you!

Great job GQT! Wish I could have been there. Hope everyone is having a good term so far.

I know the End of Year Feast is behind us, but we are not quite done until we take a moment to acknowledge the people who have contributed to our proud House. With the most House Points earned we have @Iverian Gnash, who collected 1,963 House Points for our House in the previous term. To her we present the Platinum Quill Award. Not only has she collected the most House Points, she’s also the Gryffindor who managed to collect the most Rubies, which earns her the Phoenix Award! Well done! Speaking of Rubies, one of our non-Gryffindor friends managed to collect a total 411 Rubies for the term. Well done @Maxim Trevelyan for earning the Lionheart Award. Thank you for hanging out in our Common Room. The Gryffindor House values hard work. On that note, I would like to present the Studious Simba Award to @Lizzi Long for her school and class-related efforts. Next on is the Exploding Snap Award, which coincidentally goes to one of the main backers of the Exploding Snap activity, @Iverian Gnash. Iverian has contributed a lot to Gryffindor even outside of her duties as member of staff. Having said that, I would also like to congratulate her on being promoted to a Prefect. Well deserved! Last, but definitely not least, I am delighted to present an award which is a true honour here in Gryffindor: The Pride of the Pride. For her immeasurable effort and contributions, for her positive attitude, true Gryffindor spirit and unquestionable loyalty to the House, the Pride of the Pride Award is presented to our @Sky Alton. Thank you!

After two tie breakers where one poll ended in yet ANOTHER tie breaker...We finally have the finalists! Below are the newly named sections of the Gryffindor Paw Print Newspaper! Thank you all for your contributions and participation! I actually just counted how many total submissions we had and it was 140 submissions from different houses! Wow, that is incredible! You're all amazing and you rock my socks. News The Regular Roar – Submitted by Sky Alton of Gryffindor. Way to go, Sky! Congratulations! Sports Move Your Paws – Submitted by Robin Blackwood of Gryffindor. Awesome job, Robin! Gossip/Entertainment Riddikulous Rumos – Submitted by Prof. Zenix James. Uhh, go me? Editorials Minerva’s Musings – Submitted by Sky Alton of Gryffindor! Sky had most of her submissions make it through to the final round because they were so very good. Adverts Scratching Post – Submitted Marie Dark of Gryffindor. Way to go, Marie! Also, it is a completely random coincidence that all the finalists are from Gryffindor. We had submissions from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and even a representing Squib that made it into the voting rounds. Thanks again!

Now that the year has come to close, we at Gryffindor always take this time to acknowledge students who have worked hard, either on HOL, Gryffindor, or even both. This year's recipients are... Alessandra Grace for both Golden Snitch Award and Consistent Cub Award! Rowan Dream for the Phoenix Award! Regulus Riverwater for the Studious Simba Award! Victoria Gingerfox for the Curious Kitten Award! Kim Alting for the Platinum Quill Award! Congratulations, and thank you for all your hard work and participation!

I've got a jar of dirt! I've got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it?!

As my first year at HOL comes to close I want to thank everyone being kind. I was nervous about start here because am deaf. Sometime new people be not nice to deaf person. Everyone here is nice. As some might notice for while my post in activity were longer and could do puzzle without help. That because sister help. Sister and self have decided need to be independent. Sister is having very busy term next year finish university. Start independent here and work into personal life independent. So may need more help in HOL from others. I will stay long time if don't mind help sometime. Thanks Sky and Ivey and Tarma for great help and be patient.

I slap Emerald for bowing to Ivey so much her head will get too big for her crown

Thanks to everyone who participated in this activity. All rubies for Gone Camping have been awarded. If you feel I have missed any, just drop me a message.

Way to go, GQT!

I'd wave my wand and cause the fire to sink into the ground a bit, and then smother it with dirt

While everyone scrambles around setting the fire out with water, I make sure there's nothing lighttable around the tent. Pushing all manner of leaves and sticks out of the way, I use my wand to make a ring of dirt around each place where there's fire. This will contain it so it can't spread nearly as easily. Then I help the others using aguamenti and a jet of water erupts from my wand, hitting the nearest tent. The fire sizzles out.

I think I would first use the flame freezing charm to prevent more damage from the fire. Then I would use the Aqua Eructo Charm to extinguish the flames, by adjusting the flow of the water to be almost as strong as a fire hose (but not as strong since it is a tent). If this didn't work then I would use Aquamenti on the ground to make mud. Then I would use Bombarda on the mud, directed towards the flames to try to extinguish them.

Time for a rain dance! Quickly - Get four folks to play drums and bagpipe and flute, maybe something like Highland Cathedral. Erect a shield charm over them, to shelter them from the upcoming rain storm. Have two people singing and chanting Weather Modifying Rain Charm, inserting the word aguamenti when appropriate. Everyone else conga dance and stamp their feet and shout aguamenti whenever that word comes up in the Weathering Modifying Rain Charm. The tents will be okay. Prepare to be drenched.

My tent is pretty nondescript on the outside, deceptively looking like your average, run-of-the-mill one person 'pup' tent. However, it's a whole different story once you enter. Borrowing from a Muggle television show that I actually do like, Doctor Who, the space really is bigger on the inside. I won't even bother going into how many rooms there are, but hit on the highlights. The 'main' rooms, if you will, are the living room, kitchen/dining, my bedroom, a pool, and a library. All of the walls are the purest white marble, and the floor is white marble shot through with gold streaks. In the living area, the color scheme is reflective of my House, mainly green and grey, with various velvet tapestries hung throughout. The dark green couch is adorned with lush grey, gold, and white pillows, and the rug is an Oriental one of he same colors. The room also boasts a huge fireplace to keep me warm on those chilly nights. The kitchen is done in dark mahogany cabinets, and a large cupboard for herbs, various seasonings, and the like. I love to cook, so it stands to reason that the kitchen is probably my favorite room in the place. The large table is crystal, and can comfortably seat at least 10. My bedroom has a queen size canopy bed, with gossamer sheer drapes of softest moss green. It is probably the 'airiest' room in the tent, and very few are granted a view of it, so I will leave it at that. A girl has to have some mystery, you know! The pool-ah-what can I say?! Think Roman bath and you get the picture. I like luxurious things, and if I have to go camping, I'm going in style!!

It’s my privilege and pleasure to announce the Gryffindor awards for the autumn term! Before I begin, I just have to say that this was the most difficult term to judge I’ve had since joining the staff (and I’m not just saying that to be polite). We currently have so many talented, enthusiastic and hardworking lions that it was a struggle to narrow it down. If you missed out on an award this term, please don’t be disheartened: trust me, we see and value each and every one of you who contributes or makes an effort to brighten up the CR. If you keep it up, hopefully we’ll be honouring you with a shiny trophy next term. Let’s start with our points based awards: The Platinum Quill award goes to @Iverian Gnash! This award goes to the Gryffindor who earned the most house points and with a staggering 2278 (509 points ahead of the 2nd place earner), Iverian absolutely knocked it out of the park this term. The Phoenix Award goes to @Lora Wallabenger! This award is given to the Gryffindor with the highest number of rubies and with a solid 277 earned over many of our activities this term, Lora is a very worthy winner. The Lionheart award goes to @Maxim Trevelyan! This award is given to the visitor with the highest number of rubies. Yet again, our friend from Ravenclaw has shown he is the master at gathering sparkly red jewels as he racked up a staggering 927 for his efforts over the course of the term. Congratulations! Now for the awards decided by Gryffindor Staff: The Studious Simba award goes to @Lizzi Long and @Narcissus Delmenia! We award this trophy to those lions who distinguish themselves through hard work in their classes and potentially in other places. We couldn’t pick between Lizzi (who earned 1189 points) and Narcissus (1142) and decided that both deserved recognition for their truly impressive performances. The Curious Kitten award goes to @Lora Wallabenger! This award is for someone who has been an encouraging, constructive or heartening presence in the CR. Lora went out of her way to welcome newcomers to The Den this term and has certainly raised our spirits with her exuberant personality and undeniable spirit. The Consistent Cub award goes to @Lorainia Riverrider! This award is for a lion who is everywhere, doing everything and inspires us all to get involved. Lorainia not only earned 1339 points (the third most points out of all Gryffindor this term), but has also found the time to throw herself into activities all around the castle. Not only has she inspired us with her activity but left many of us wondering just where she gets her energy from. The Lively Lionet goes to @Raevia Ward! This award is for someone who displays great pride and loyalty to the house. While she might not be the loudest or top in points, Raevia has been a friendly and diligent presence throughout the term. Her courage to try new things and her positive attitude reflect well not only on her but on Gryffindor too. The Exploding Snap award goes to @Prof. Dario Brighton! This award is given to someone who makes the CR a better place through their innovative ideas. As Dario essentially keeps the CR (and all of HOL) running, we’re always trying to nominate him for this award. As he designed the scoring system and beautiful cards for our wildly successful Exploding Snap activity, set up webmail and built a new website for the house newspaper, we couldn’t let him turn it down this term. That’s it for awards for now but I just want to reiterate how proud we all are of everyone who did their bit to support the house. Keep up the amazing work, lions!

Guilty. It usually ends up with me snorting with laughter which is even worse Has lied about already eating to save someone's feelings

Oh wow! Thank you and congratulations to everybody, let's have another exciting term!

The Chocolate Factory doors have just opened! Join us for a tour of the famed factory while watching out for oompa loompas and eating an inordinate amount of candy :D

He went out of the house to go to the healer on the doorstep there was a mouse who made the lad a squealer.

Who's excited for the new school year? :D

I've never actually had a surprise party thrown for me. Do you still have to act surprised even though you kno it's coming? And I totally agree, Kalina, you are never to old to pretend to delicately sip tea while eating far too much cake.

Mine is on the 16th of March. It's usually pretty cold, so I don't get to go do any fun outdoor type parties. This year I am having a tea party. Never too old for one.

Shout out to GQT for their great Quidditch match today! Props to Jenny Lupin for catching the elusive snitch!

I started in 2015 and should be on my fourth year right now. Way after the battle and the construction was all finished.

I am honoured to present the Gryffindor End of Year Award winners! Join me in congratulations to... @Zach Jameson for the Golden Snitch Award! @Amanda P. X. Sim for the Consistent Cub Award! Ellis Nash for the Studious Simba Award! @Ziana Rhapsody for the Curious Kitten Award! @Sky Alton for the Platinum Quill Award and the Pride of the Pride Award! A special mention goes to @Guinevere Avalon for returning to Gryffindor after a long leave of absence and demonstrating what a hard worker she is. Also, congratulations to @Patrick James for being chosen to co-manage the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. We are very proud of our high-achieving Gryffindors. We thank you for your effort which sets an example for others to follow.

Well, that was one fantastic match! If you missed it....how dare you! We had a formidable team to go against, what is considered the best team in the league, SQT. I want to go ahead and give mad props to Patrick James who scored against this amazingly scary Slytherin team. He deserves so much praise and accolades for scoring. But not just him, the whole Gryffindor Quidditch Team gave their all against this crazy talented Slytherin Team. Don't worry, though. This is not the last game of the season. Stay tuned for announcements about future games! Also, if you are interested in joining the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, contact Jenny Lupin. We are looking for new players. Don't be intimidated at all or apprehensive. We all started somewhere, basically at the bottom (like me), and now we are legends. Make your mark for the Gryffindor House! I look forward to seeing you at the next match, if not playing in the next match! Much love, Prof. Zenix James.

Hello everyone! I really took my time with this crest and gave it a lot of thought. Here is the result: The Colors: The red shield on a white background, is meant to bring the Japanese flag to mind. My heritage is an intrinsic part of who I am, and I am very proud of it! The blue cross inside the shield represents Ravenclaw, my Hogwarts House. The golden banner represents the golden rule/motto that I try to live by. It will be further explained bellow. The Symbols: I researched a bit of heraldry in order to create this crest. The cross is actually St. Andrew's Cross, also known as Saltire. I chose it because it represents resolution. In this specific case, it's meant to symbolize a Ravenclaw's resolve to never stop learning. The swan in the middle of the shield is what I believe my Patronus would be. In real life, I have a small tattoo of a swan on my hip. The inspiration for it was the tale of the Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Andersen. Without going into too much detail about my personal life, it serves as a reminder that, no matter where you come from or what your childhood was like, you can always create a better, brighter, more beautiful future for yourself. (Fun Fact: Japan has serious issues with tattoos because of their association with the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia. As such, my tattoo is an act of societal defiance, even if very private. It stays covered even at the beach). The background has three designs, which are meant to represent the three remaining Hogwarts Houses. The leaves represent the delicate and gentle nature of the Hufflepuffs; the sword and the axe symbolize the nerve and the bravery of the Gryffindors; and the crown portrays the ambition of the Slytherins. I included them because I believe that I have a little bit of every House within me. In my life, I strive to be as loyal, patient and hardworking as a Badger; as brave and adventurous as a Lion; and as resourceful as a Snake. I opted to leave these designs uncolored because, even though I embody some of the traits of each House, they quite literally pale in comparison to my most dominant Japanese values and Ravenclaw qualities. The Motto: The golden motto by which I live my life is Wabi-Sabi (侘寂). This is a Japanese word which designates a very particular way of living, which focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life, as well as peacefully accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay. I hope you had as much fun reading about my crest as I had making it!

The first thing I thought of when I thought brave was that Sarah Bareilles song "Brave" "Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly, I wanna see you be brave" Which is about speaking out and standing up for what you think is right instead of remaining silent and passive. I think this sentiment applies to far more than words, though. It's about not lying down and taking it, even when it would be easier to remain silent, inactive, and let something consume you. Being brave is about gathering the willpower to move life in the direction you want it to go, regardless of whatever forces are working against you. Fighting as hard as you can for what you want.

I failed and the zombies ate. me. NOOO.

Happy Birthday 2 my Awesome Study Buddy Alex. Hope you have a Gryfftastic Birthday !!!!!! So here's some cake And some Butterbeer Don't forget to make a wish Buon Compleanno Alex

Hear ye, hear ye. Owl Posts are back! Where else can you keep up with the incredible goings on of the great house of Gryffindor? How about the current events on HOL? Now that the Owl Posts are back, you'll get all of these in just one shiny email! Owl Posts will come to each Gryffindor member only once a month by way of email. We hope that you take the time to read them each month and update yourself on the newest happenings, but what you decide to do when it comes to your email is really up to you. You cannot unsubscribe, but we hope you will come to appreciate these messages of information!

Staff Changes! Welcome to the almost start of the 2012/2013 HOL school year! We've had a few staff changes, so we thought we might as well let the students know, so that you can bug THEM not us. First we have Hailey Potter moving up in the world of Prefectdom in Gryffindor and will be our newest Prefect In Charge In Training! (Wow, that is a mouthful.) Kadina Tigano will be showing her the ropes on how to whip all the other prefects in shape. Stepping down from prefect and being moved back into junior prefect for at least this term are: Jinxy Jo and St.John Aloisius Sloots. Taking their places as full Prefects in HOL are Chadwick Cadet, Bay Reilly and Tom Foster! *round of applause* Finally, we had a LOT of wonderful application submissions for Junior Prefect. We've had one JP step down (Alexzandria Lestrange), and of course 3 JP's move up. So here are your new Junior Prefects for this year! (Or until I can fire them...) Anneliese Lee, Destri Weasley, Fumei Shirokuro, Nina Messersmith, Pandora Gotham So, if you students need help with anything, bug the JP's and Prefects and leave me alone! *G*

Arnold the pygmy puff is an adorable pygmy puff

Oh no! The Incendio spell has gone horribly wrong and instead of lighting a nice campfire, it set all the tents on fire! Quick! Find a solution to put out the fire! Respond by April 12 at 11:59 p.m. HOL time for 5 rubies.

My tent looks like one of those Muggle pop up tents which is used in wilderness situations, when you want the wind to flow smoothly over and around the tent, and not pick it up and send it sailing off (with you in it). Low dome and small footprint, but definitely not aerodynamic. However, when you bend down to creep into the tent, after you pass the 'seal' of the enchantment, you are like in a cabin which is set in pine trees. It's not very large at all, of but one room which is sectioned off into living area, bathroom, kitchen and sleeping room. The floor is hardwood and the walls are of logs. There is a fireplace, too, and it's nice and toasty in there! Shades of browns and golds, with some touches of red and green and purple and blue, give the room a cozy feel. On the hardwood floor are scattered Axminster carpets of rich hues of reds, browns and golds. The windows (placed on the South and East and West walls) look out into (your choice) the actual surroundings or a mountain scene.

Mmm, that sounds great, Lora A lot of our family's made up recipes are the 'I have this, this and this in the cupboard, can I make a meal out of them?' variety. Through that though we've found some really good pasta dishes (the one with tuna and olives springs to mind and yes, I can hear lots of you gagging - seriously, it's good!). When I was at university with limited supplies, I did a lot of the 'stick it in the microwave and see what happens' style of experiments: the cake with extra chocolate worked, the frozen bread roll that caught fire? Not so much. Speaking of university, a flatmate once asked me if she could make cheesecake out of milk, icing sugar and the wrong kind of biscuit. I seem to recall I managed to convince her just to make a bowl of icing to dip her biscuits in but that might be wishful thinking.

just chilling in the common room :)

Here goes , Even one of my friends had this problem. Rumours really hurt when you somehow got to know them coz rumours gets into you emotionally . They just spread around so fast, making others to look at you in a really misunderstanding way. Somehow, I hate it for they put most of the people in to a total meltdown. People will say you names, they will try to put you down in all sorts of ways and tease you to your own behaviour. You can also be called a wierdo, an oddball, a looser, a pathetic but don't put yourself down because the others don't know you, they haven't seen you. You always know who you are and don't go being others but only your true self. Being yourself makes you really confidence and the other people will get to notice you. Rumours misjudge people but speak up to yourself when rumours spread about you (you don't have to be afraid ) and keep close to your friends who will stick with you in every way. "Don't let someone dim your light simply because it's shining in their eyes" :)

Big thank you to GQT for the fun season, we'll come back stronger for the next one! If anyone wants to join, just message Prof. Jenny Lupin or myself!

Happy birthday!!

Wanting something to do after you finish the latest Beedle the Bard challenge? Come to the Sett! We're playing with Fantastic Beasts there. :)

Happy Birthday, Hal! Hope you'll have an amazing birthday, in the meanwhile please have a slice of this cake we baked for you! Keep being so amazing, cheers!

Happy bday :)

Black Bird by The Beatles where's your favorite place to hang out?