Mia Fountain

To relax during activities that I find stressful, I practice one of two techniques. The first technique I use consists of focusing my thoughts inwards and going through a kata, or several depending on the situation. I do this by visualizing the kata from beginning to end, and focusing on the stances, movements, strikes, and blocks. The second technique I use consists of focusing on taking deep breaths and expelling the air slowly, and focusing on the feeling of breathing and trying to relax.

Thank you for the fun activity Lorainia!

Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis) is a member of the Savory genus, which is a member of the Mint (Lamiaceae) Family. It is used to flavour foods, and it has a hot, peppery flavour. It grows to 30 or 60 cms, it has lilac tubular flowers, and slender bronze-green leaves. It is said to act an an antiseptic and an anti-fungal, due to some of the essential oils found in it. If it is distilled into warm water, it can be helpful for a sore throat. It can also be used on insect bites and stings. It is also said to have anti-flatulence, digestive and expectorant properties.

Hello Students! We've decided to change things up a bit. We will be having the Professors switch places. What this means is the Professors will be teaching different classes. You may see Professor Snape teaching Herbology, or Professor Sprout teaching Charms. This is to help the Professors gain more experience teaching variety of classes, and a chance for you to show what you have learned. This does not mean you can neglect your assignments, because your regular Professor won't be there.

I placed some nesting material (twigs, old fabric, fur, etc.) in a large cardboard box, for the Owls to gather material out of to make warm cosy nests. I also wrapped some Owl treats in burlap, for them to eat, because who doesn't enjoy a treat once in a while (also they deserve it for all of their hard work). I've also put some Owl food into a bucket for the Owls that don't want to or can't hunt for their food.

My first design is a wrapping paper that feels and smells like old leather bound books. It is perfect for wrapping presents for your friends who live in the Library, or for those people you are gifting books to. My second design is a wrapping paper that will refuse to allow you to open the present without first correctly answering a question from the sender. This type of wrapping paper would be useful when wrapping packages that are valuable and/or rare. This could be useful for packages that you don't want intercepted and or inspected.

December's Owl of the Month award goes to: Swiftly Winging It (a.k.a Swift), a 3 year-old male Great Horned Owl. Swift has won the award this month for making the most deliveries (but who knows if all the packages were delivered to their intended recipient). Swift has made 10 long distance deliveries this month, and 22 short distance deliveries. His greatest achievement is delivering a broom all by himself (though it should be noted, that the broom was a child sized training broom). He is known to like grooming and getting all of his loose feathers out, he also likes visit the shops with scrap pieces of paper, to get treats or knuts, for delivering a "letter". He doesn't like it when people don't "pay" him for delivering their packages. He also doesn't like deadlines, because he would rather goof off with other owls and play tricks on people. Fun fact: He like to race with the owls at Hogwarts over the Black Lake, and through the trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Neville Longbottom, if he has some plants on hand. Also, he seems to be better at keeping calm then Ron who seems to be a bit hot-headed. Gregory Goyle or Vincent Crabbe?