Prof. Sky Alton

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Fancy getting a head start on point earning for next year? Head over to the HOL Forum and join in with Castle Clean-up. It’s all about the little, magical jobs the professors and house elves get to do when the school is empty over the summer. It’s an enchanting way to get to know the castle a little better while bagging yourself some points and possibly even an award. Deadline: 13th August

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Solutions received from: Janne Halla Emily Spencer Emerald Wolvenhowl Rory Devaney Rose Dove Submitted for fun: Dibyarup James Potter

It’s time for our End of Year and Spring term awards! Firstly though, I’d like to thank all of you for your hard work this year. While we didn’t finish as high as we’d have liked to in the house cup race, it was an incredibly close run thing. I honestly didn’t know what the result would be and that’s testament to the amazing performance you were all putting in. I know we can do even better next year! We also have another close fought race to celebrate. Gryffindor placed second in the interhouse quidditch tournament - our best result for many, many years. Thank you to @Prof. Maxim Trevelyan and to the rest of GQT for showing up and playing like champions. I’d also like to thank our prefect team of @Lorainia Riverrider and @Reyyan Azkendrafor their sterling efforts keeping everyone entertained and informed this year. They’ve put on some ingenious activities for us all and hopefully there will be plenty more magic to come! Now, I promised you shiny things and here they are…. We’re kicking off with our brand new awards! If you weren’t around earlier in the year, we had a contest to name our new awards. The winning names were chosen by Gryffindors in a vote and these are the result. Thank you again to @Janne Halla for submitting the winning names! These awards are designed to celebrate and thank every lion who works hard to gather house points during the year. We’ll be awarding these every school year from now on People who earned over 500 points receive The Brave @Avery Hill @Amanda Summers @Amethyst Silvermane Chasen Carter Davie Diggle @Doubhee Pevensy @Elizabeth Hermione @Ellie Vernez @Emerald Wolvenhowl @Ginny Chaves @Hanna Joyton @Harmony Potts @Janne Halla @Jessy Bleck @Lorainia Riverrider @Lucia Mayhew @Luna Lemongrass @Luna-Love Swan @Raevia Ward @Reyyan Azkendra @Timmy Le People who earned over 1000 points receive The Determined Davie Diggle Doubhee Pevensy Ellie Vernez Janne Halla Lorainia Riverrider Luna-Love Swan Reyyan Azkendra Timmy Le And people who earned over 1500 points receive The Daring Ellie Vernez Janne Halla Lorainia Riverrider Luna-Love Swan Reyyan Azkendra We did want to leave a little something as a surprise though. So I created a 4th award, for those courageous lions who manage to earn over 3000 points in a school year. I’m delighted to award the Minerva McGonagall prize to Janne Halla, who earned 3896 in total! And now onto our awards which are based just on people’s performance in the Spring Term… Platinum Quill – This goes to the highest points earner for the term. And it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that it’s going to @Janne Hallawho netted an incredible 2034 points just this term! And now for rubies. I’m delighted to award the Phoenix award to Janne Halla for being our highest earning Gryff on 155 and the Lionheart Award to @Lex Green of Ravenclaw for being our highest earning visitor with a sparkling score of 286! Finally, let’s close with the awards decided by the staff… Studious Simba – This is an award for someone who has distinguished themselves in their classes and possibly even found time to do some extracurriculars too. We’re glad to award this to @Doubhee Pevensy for a very impressive performance in class and in the Zodiac activity over on the HOL Forum. They were our second highest point earner for the term on 1490 - absolutely brilliant work! Golden Snitch – We’re reviving an old award this time! This used to be handed out to members who showed particular enthusiasm and after showing up for both the Triwizard Tournament and Zodiac activities, we think @Ellie Vernez definitely deserves that designation! Consistent Cub – this is an award for an all-rounder: someone who has been showing up regularly, trying everything and generally proving their Gryffindor daring all over the castle. With stellar performances in the departments, in activities and on the Quidditch Pitch, @Janne Halla is a very worthy recipient indeed. Friend of the Den – This is awarded to someone outside of Gryffindor who has made a significant contribution to the house. We’d like to hand it to @Prof. Sindor Aloyarc for designing our beautiful new award graphics! Congratulations to all our winners! We’re always looking to improve the awards process, so if you have any suggestions about awards you’d like to see or changes you think we could make, please do drop me a PM. For now though, let’s celebrate. Butterbeer awaits!

First we’ll be starting with One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. This weighty tome was written by celebrated herbologist and former Hogwarts headmistress Phyllida Spore during the 15th century. It’s an incredibly useful A-to-Z of mystical plants and fungi that you’ve probably encountered in herbology and potions lessons plenty of times. But when it comes to knowledge that could prevent you from accidentally poisoning yourself, a reread is always a good idea! Discussion: https://gryff.net/index.php?/topic/4150-herbs-and-fungi-task-1/ Colouring Page: https://gryff.net/index.php?/topic/4149-herbs-and-fungi-task-2/ Wordsearch: https://gryff.net/index.php?/topic/4148-herbs-and-fungi-task-3/

Do you have a favourite herb? With so many to choose from just in this book alone, there must be one that you find yourself particularly drawn to. Mint for a refreshing kick? Rosemary for remembrance? Lavender for relaxation? Whatever it is and however you use it, tell us about it and why you’re a fan in 80 words or more! Post your response below by 23:59 HOL-time on 31st July to earn 10 rubies.

So, we’ve talked about the herbs, now onto the fungi! There are some incredibly striking looking mushrooms and toadstools out there, with showy colours and patterns. Some are poisonous, some are just trying to convince us that they are. Here’s your chance to design some fun fungi of your own. Colour in this colouring page - please use a range of different shades. https://imgur.com/iVTtRIV Post your fabulous fungi below by 23:59 HOL-time on the 31st of July to earn 10 rubies!

Now if there’s one thing you need to get right with herbs and fungi, it’s identification! Knowing whether you’ve got a sprig of mint or alihotsy is the difference between a soothing cup of tea or a trip to the hospital wing with uncontrollable hysteria. To test out your identification skills, track down 10 herbs (and spices) in this wordsearch. Send your answers to me via PM (subject: Light Reading Wordsearch) and send them as a text list rather than an image, please. https://imgur.com/TXcvSLE Send your solutions in by 23:59 HOL-time on the 31st of July to earn 10 rubies!

Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms. ‘I never thought to look in here!’ she whispered excitedly. ‘I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading.’ ‘Light?’ said Ron. -Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone In honour of one of Gryffindor’s most famous members, we’re doing a bit of light reading of our own! Every month, we’ll tackle a different wizarding book, ranging from textbooks found in the Hogwarts library to page-turners witches and wizards read for fun. There will be 3 or 4 small tasks for each book, including puzzles, creative and discussions. Each task will usually be worth 10 rubies each, though we might increase that for trickier tasks. If you have trouble with a particular task for accessibility reasons, just send a PM to whoever posted it and we’ll work with you to come up with an alternative that works better for you. Happy reading!

Have a question about Light Reading? Please ask it here and we'll get back to you ASAP.

I'm sad to announce that we're retiring the monthly scenarios as of today. I'll be leaving the forum up over the summer, so please feel free to use the old threads if you feel like a spot of roleplay. Thank you to everyone who's joined us to RP in the last few years! PS: For new monthly fun, check out 'Light Reading'!

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We're into the last stretch of the term! Remember that most classes have a final deadline of the 15th of June (though some can be a few days earlier or later), so make sure you're not leaving everything too last minute. We're still lagging a little behind in the cup standings but with a concerted effort, I'm sure we can give everyone a run for their money. Whatever you can do, even if it's just sending in a single assignment, is a huge help. Let's finish this year in a blaze of glory. Let's go, Gryffindor, let's go! If you finish your homework and want to earn some last minute points, get yourself over to the Howler area of the main HOL forum. The final issue of the school year (theme: Whirlwind Adventure) is open for submissions until the 20th of June, so there's a small window to squeeze in a few articles, puzzles or creative pieces. You can earn yourself another 60 points and that's definitely worth having! Deadline: 20th June This month's department projects won't finish until after this school year wraps up but if you'd like to get a head start on point earning for next year, make sure you head over to check them out! The Art Department are asking you to create a celebration for the 7th years who are about to finish up their HOL education and then head off to the beach. The Library Department are asking you to describe a family reunion and your own personal trip of a lifetime. Exciting stuff! Art Deadline: 30th June Library Deadline: 8th July

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The evening sunshine sparkles off the lake as you make your way down to it. Trestle tables have been laid out on the shore and they’re already groaning under the weight of a huge buffet that must have kept the house elves busy for days. Fellow students chatter excitedly around you - it’s going to be a lovely night. The Situation: The staff have laid on an evening picnic in the grounds to celebrate the summer solstis and the end of another school year. There have been rumours flying around that there’s going to be a magical lantern display later and maybe even some fireworks to finish off the festivities. The Location: Feel free to roleplay anywhere in the general vicinity of the lake. Give the guidelines a read before diving in. Have fun!

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Happy, happy birthday to Raevia Ward! Butterbeer and birthday cake this way!

Great to see so many newcomers! Welcome to the Den, Katerina, Rose, Ina, Zagreus, Gracelyn and Hazel. I hope you have a great time chilling with the lions!

New month, new points opportunities! Have you ever wondered what’s written in the stars? Well, head over to the HOL forum and join in on ‘The Incredible World of Zodiac Signs’ to find out. There are fun tasks to complete and 80 points to be earned! Deadline: 31st May And over in the departments, The Art Department are inviting you to weave some flower crowns in honour of May Day and celebrate an ancient Greek goddess. There’s a few more days to join in on those magical Library Department projects I told you about last time and I’m sure there will be new ones to get stuck into after that. Library Deadline: 6th May Art Deadline: 31st May And don’t forget The Howler! Embark on a whirlwind adventure by submitting to the final issue of the school year. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Deadline: 20th June

The field just outside Hogsmeade is full of brightly decorated stalls and happy people. The sunshine finally seems to have some warmth in it and you enjoy the feel of it on your face as you stroll down towards the spring fete. The Situation: It’s time for Hogsmeade’s annual celebration of everything spring, the spring fete and luckily for everyone at Hogwarts, the headmistress has granted everyone permission to go for a few hours, including first and second years. Stalls are groaning under the wait of cakes, flowers and other goodies. There are games (some magical and some muggle) and contests of all descriptions to join in on. The maypole with its colourful ribbons stands tall over everything, just waiting for people to come and dance round it. The Location: Try to keep the action within the field where the fete is taking place. Feel free to invent any stalls, games or contests you like! Give the guidelines a read before diving in. Have fun!