Prof. Sky Alton

9004

9002. Come on, folks, I'd love to see this finished in 2023!

8998

Hey there, Lions! We’re almost to May already! There’s still plenty of time to finish your classes, earn points and snag yourself some awards but make sure you don’t leave it all until the last minute - stress is no fun. Gryffindor is still lagging behind a little in the cup race and we need every single point we can get to try to narrow the gap. I know we can do it but only if each and every one of you helps us along in whatever way you can. Even if you only have time to earn a few points here and there, it all adds up and will help us to end the year on a high note. Let’s go, Gryffindor, let’s go! Now, speaking of points… There are department projects to complete! The Art Department are asking you to create a birthday card for the Weasley twins and to share your plans for spring break. Over in the Library it appears to be raining money (why? You decide!) and there are some mysterious bunnies popping up. All the current projects are worth 20 points, so there’s 80 available in total! Art Deadline: 30th April Library Deadline: 6th May The Howler’s latest theme is ‘Whirlwind Adventure’, so grab your map and lets go! Whether you like writing, creating art or devising your own puzzles, you’ll find something to suit. If you’re stuck for inspiration, why not check out The Idea Bank? Remember that each issue gives you the chance to earn up to 60 points! Deadline: 20th June

Welcome to the Den, Doubhee, Esor and Artemis! It's wonderful to have you here.

You join the group of students in the entrance hall, all gathered around a long, empty table that has been set up off to one side. Everyone is talking quietly and glancing interestedly around. “They know somethings up,” one girl mutters, “Sir Cadogan called me a cowardly nave yesterday.” “That’s just his way of saying hello,” her friend points out. Prof. Alton steps forward and claps her hands once for silence. “Many of the portraits here in the castle need to be professionally cleaned,” she explains. “This is rather… upsetting for their occupants and in the past we’ve had a bit of trouble with very noisy protests.” She looks a little worriedly round and lowers her voice. “So I’m asking volunteers to go and speak to the portraits concerned to explain the situation to them in a quiet and considerate way.” She gestures to the table. “Once you have gained a portraits trust and they’ve given their permission to be cleaned, please remove the picture from the wall and bring it down here where our magical art restorer can work on it.” “But what if the person in the portrait isn’t… in it when we get there?” a 3rd year asks. “Then I’m afraid you’ll need to search the castle for them,” Prof. Alton explains. “Now, if everyone will line up, I’ll give you your portrait assignments.” The Situation: You’ve been asked to convince the occupants of the Hogwarts portraits to let themselves and their paintings be given a spruce up. How you persuade them is up to you but remember you need to be polite! We don’t want a portrait uprising on our hands! The Location: The entire castle is fair game. Pick a portrait to go speak to - either one from the Harry Potter Books or one you’ve invented yourself. Feel free to make up their responses to you or find a friend who can do it for you. If someone else has already used a particular portrait, either ask if you can join them or pick a different one. Give the rules a read before diving in. Have fun!

Hi Evie. I'm afraid that feature has been broken for quite a while now due to an issue when we were forced to switch servers, so it's not just you. Prof. Brighton is looking into it so if you want to send him a message with the error you're getting, I'm sure he'd appreciate the additional info.

March is well underway and there are lots of points to be earned around the castle, so let's get right to it! First up, have you ever wanted to be a Triwizard champion? Well, now's your chance. The Triwizard Tournament is taking place right now on the HOL Forum. Prove yourself in 3 tricky tasks and earn glory, awards, beans and95 house points! Deadline: 31st March The Howler is still open for submissions for the 'Little Kindnesses' issue. Whether you like writing, creating graphics or puzzling up a storm, there's bound to be a way to contribute that suits you. And with 60 points available, it's really a golden opportunity. Head to the HOL Forum for more information. Deadline: 31st March Go test out our fabulous new navigation menu by visiting the Departments! You'll find them under 'Castle and Grounds' now. The Library Department are inviting you on a trip to Wonderland and asking you how people would mark a day named in your honour. The Art Department are asking you to decorate a lantern for National Panda Day and put your own imaginative spin on what the HOL gardens look like in springtime. Art Deadline: 1st April Library Deadline: 9th April

New term, new chances to earn points! The Departments are always a great place to be. This month, the Library are asking you to create an entry from Cupid’s diary and to solve the mystery of what happened to the groundhog’s shadow. The Art Department are inviting you to design your own kite and send a card to someone special in your life. All prompts are worth up to 20 points each, so that’s a possible 80 in all! Art Deadline: 28 February Library Deadline: 9 March The school newspaper, The HOwLer, is open for submissions! The theme is ‘Little Kindnesses’ and you’d certainly be doing one if you contributed. Remember you can submit articles, opinion pieces, puzzles, ads, artwork, creative writing and more. There are 60 points up for grabs, so get yourself over to the HOL forum to get your ideas approved. Deadline: 31 March Let's go, Gryffindor, let's go!

The easiest way to help out your house and show your lion’s pride is to earn points! There are lots of ways you can do this so you’re bound to find some that play to your strengths. In this post, I’ll give you a brief run-down of the regular point earning opportunities available to you. Whenever a new one opens up throughout the term, we’ll post it as a reply so keep checking back! The first and most obvious is to take part in classes. All classes will give you the chance to earn 300 points in a term through homework and extra credit. If you take several classes (even if you don’t have the time for the maximum of 5 every term), those homework points soon mount up to quite a tidy haul. Class sign-up opened on the 1st of February 2023 and will remain open until the 20th of May, so remember to put your name down for the classes that interest you and get sending in that homework! (It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the individual assignment deadlines so that you don’t run out of time or put too much pressure on yourself) The next are the creative projects offered each month by the Library and art departments. If you enjoy getting artsy or brushing up on your writing, visit the 'Departments' tab on the main website. Don't be shy: your submissions are anonymous during the rating period. You can get started by going to your profile and telling everyone 'How you Got Into Harry Potter' in the designated section - that will earn you a cool 10 points! Finally there's the HOL Newspaper, the HOwLer. This is a great chance to earn plenty of points by writing about what interests you. If articles and reviews aren’t your thing, it will also offer creative prompts and the chance to submit your own puzzles, graphics and more. Keep an eye on the Newspaper section of the main HOL Forum for updates about the latest issue. https://hol.org.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=612 Throughout the term, there will be unique and exciting activities to take part in which will give you the chance to earn points along the way. Remember to check the replies to this thread for announcements and reminders about anything that might be occurring!

Hearing a lot of noise, you poke your head into a random classroom on the 4th floor and discover that it’s full of people playing games. People are chatting but you don’t know how they can possibly hear each other over the bang of Exploding Snap cards, the complaining of magical chess pieces and the gush of Gobstones. It looks like fun, so you step inside and start looking for a game to join in with. The Situation: It’s games night at Hogwarts! Whether you’re a Gobstones goddess or a chess champion, draw up a chair and have fun. The Location: Please keep roleplay to the games room. Give the guidelines a read before diving in. Have fun!

Hello, everyone! Before we start looking ahead to another magical term, I’d like to take a minute to celebrate the last one. From a quidditch victory to another spectacular Gryfftoberfest, it was a really brilliant one for the house. It was also great to see so many of you working hard in your classes and in other activities - however many points you earned, we appreciate every single one of them. And now it’s time to hand out a few shinies! First up are our points and ruby based awards. The Platinum Quill is awarded to the lion who earned the most points in the term. I’m delighted to present it to @Janne Halla who earned a staggering 1862points! The Phoenix Award is given to the Gryffindor member who earned the most rubies throughout the term. This time that’s @Raevia Ward with a fabulous 418! And the Lionheart Award is for the visitor with the highest ruby count. With a mighty score of 533, that’s @Prof. Will Lestrange! And now on to the awards decided by the Gryffindor staff… The Studious Simba Award is for someone who has truly distinguished themselves in classes. We couldn’t think of anyone more worthy of this trophy than @Janne Halla who has put in a herculean effort since joining us in the summer, in classes and in other areas too. The Curious Kitten Award is given to someone who is a welcoming and encouraging presence around the Den. This term’s winner is @Reyyan Azkendra whose boundless enthusiasm has made The Den such a warm and friendly place to be. The Exploding Snap award is given to a lion who has knocked our socks off with their creative ideas. She began the term by masterminding our Bright Beginnings Bingo activity and is hard at work on another ingenious plan as we speak, so @Lorainia Riverrider is a very deserving winner for this one. Congratulations, folks and here’s to another amazing term. Free butterbeer this way!

Well played, folks - I'm so proud of you all! And congratulations to Maxim for being named MVP.

Beans should also be sent! The tool seems to have glitched and left someone off but there's no way for me to see who, so if you didn't get your beans just now, please let me know.

It’s time to bid farewell to the Frost Fair! We’d like to thank you all for making merry with us out here on the ice. We’ve had tons of fun admiring your chilly creations and dodging snowballs. All rubies should have been awarded now but if you think we’ve missed something, please let us know so we can look into it. An impressive number of people did every task available and earned the full 155, so kudos to you all! Now, we’d better head back inside before the ice starts to melt…

Hi Jaime, Dylan and Tom, welcome to the Den! Grab yourself a comfy chair and a mug of your favourite hot drink and join us by the fire.

Growls, barks, squawks, whinnies and noises you can’t put a name to fill the air. You peer into the first pen and a young crup wags its forked tail at you, grinning at you around the bright rubber ball in its mouth. The Situation It’s vital that all the magical critters that feature in Care of Magical Creatures lessons are kept warm, comfortable and happy in the colder months. That’s why you’ve volunteered to help. Enjoy some one on one time with your favourite creatures while you make sure they’re well fed, clean and entertained. The Location You can roleplay anywhere in the grounds where magical creatures are likely to be kept, whether that’s around the groundskeeper’s cabin or in the pens and paddocks nearby. You can include whatever creatures you like but remember that they should be ones that are suitable for Hogwarts (no dragons or chimeras!) and you should be handling ones that roughly tally with your school year/experience level. Give the guidelines a quick read before diving in. Have fun!

Remember you have another week to explore the Frost Fair and try your hand at the tasks! Everything is due at 23:59 on the 8th of January.

Hello, hello! I can't believe how far through the term we are already, can you? It's getting to the point in the year when you'll want to think about making sure you have enough time to get your homework submitted before the January deadline. If you're on top of your classes (or just need a change of pace for a little while), I have a couple extra point earning opportunities to share today! You'll need to move quick on this first one! Secret Elf (our very own HOL gift exchange) has returned to the castle for another year of giving and fun but there's not much time left to join. When you sign up, you provide your wish-list of the gifts you'd love to receive and those you'd love to give (and those you wouldn't) - these need to be digital (and free) gifts, such as book recommendations, recipes, puzzles, creative writing and graphics. You'll then get given the name of someone to create a gift for and have the rest of December to come up with something brilliant for them. You'll earn 30 points for your efforts! Go here to find out more: https://hol.org.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=655 Deadlines: Signup deadline: 11th December Gift deadline: 31st December The departments also have projects to entertain you this December. Indulge your sweet tooth in the Art Department with projects themed around icecream and candy canes. Over in the Library, they're inviting you to get festive and create your own holiday - be aware though that there's a glitch effecting the project descriptions, so you may want to hold off on posting your submission until we're able to get that ironed out. You can still get writing though! Art Deadline: 31st December Library Deadline: 1st January As Maxim mentioned last time, the school newspaper, the HOwLer, is also ready and waiting for your submissions! The theme for this time is dreams and you can interpret that however you like, whether that's the dreams you have when you're asleep or your dreams and aspirations for the new year. You could also create something totally unrelated to the theme - it's up to you. There are 60 points available! Head over to the main forum for more information. Deadline: 20th January

Hi Rhaneyra - the forum must have stripped out the formatting when the posts were transfered. I've readded the links, so you should be good to go. Thanks for letting us know!

You crunch through a thick, fluffy blanket of snow on your way to the lake. Colourful stalls and booths have been set out on the ice and students and teachers are already milling around them, discovering what’s on offer. You rub your gloved hands together to try to stave off the chill and hope they’re serving something that’ll warm you up! The Situation: Welcome to the Hogwarts Frost Fair! The lake has frozen over and the professors have decided to take inspiration from the ancient frost fairs in London and set up a cosy little market on the ice. There are warm drinks, games and wintery activities to try your hand at. Join your friends and celebrate the snowy weather. The Situation: You can roleplay anywhere on the frozen lake and in the surrounding area of the grounds. Feel free to invent your own stalls or games but try to keep it on theme! Give the guidelines a read before diving in. Have fun! (Remember that you can earn 20 rubies if you make at least 4 posts!)