January Den Challenge- Now Posted!

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

Happy New Years, Lions!

Yep, Hailey here, bringing you some biiiiiig den news! And that news is.... a den challenge! The first in a little while. ;)

As of now, you will all find a January Den Challenge beginning in each of your dens!

Information for week one has been posted in each den. You can find a full description there!

For den FAQs, information, and a description of how to figure out which den you're in, visit Any further questions can be asked here... just post a thread about dens and one of our amazing lion staff members will quickly answer your questions!!

Have fun! I hope you guys will have loads in the next several weeks. :D

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

Oi.

Due to my cousin (who is like my sister) having her baby last night I forgot to post the new challenge.

I swear I will post it tonight when I get home from school, and there will be an extra day's extension for this week's challenge...

Sorry guys!

Hope the few of you who are participating are enjoying it! :)

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

There are just 24 quick hours left to turn in ALL five weeks of entries in for the January den challenge! I'm super serious. A lot of the dens put forth some of the work but did not turn anything in! That's wasted effort for nothing!

PLEASE GET YOUR ENTRIES IN, LIONS!!! Please, I'm begging you. Anything you've done over the last five weeks, turn it all in!! Please.

You have 24 hours. (For those of you who need an actual deadline time, it's due by February 6 at 11:59 PM HOL time. :) ) So get to burning that midnight oil and get to sending it in! <3

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

Okay, it's that time. Results time.

I apologize for the wait, but it's finally here, and time to see answers and participating entries! Also, the winner...

WEEK ONE:

To remind you what the tasks were...

1.) New Year’s Resolutions-

What is your New Year’s Resolution? Each member of the den will be asked to write a New Year’s Resolution for HOL. What would you like to accomplish in 2013 on HOL? Let us know! You can write a sentence, a short paragraph, a dream sequence of it coming true, or even make a graphic that represents your resolution. The more creative the better!

2.) Silly glasses- You know what I’m talking about. Those weird decorative glasses with “2013†that people wear when the ball drops like this one.

Design one pair of 2013 glasses together that you think represents your den. Please submit the graphic, and a short description of how it represents your den.

NUTTY NARGLES

Unfortunately, although they did part 1, they never quite turned anything in. :( So here are some of the things they worked on but never made it outside of their den:

Kailey Jones- My New Years Resolution is to basically be more active. I also plan on joining more clubs. These include GQT, Junior Prefects, be a Pawtner for Gryffindor, teach a class, be more active as a cheerleader, and a Paw Print artist. So I guess I'll take less classes. Some might say this is a lot for a 11 year old first year (10 in RL.) but I still pan on accomplishing this.

Seraphina Severus- My New Years Resolution would for me to be more active in the common room, try to do a column for the Paw Print that I originally planned on doing at the beginning of the school year and to get my homework done sooner instead of leaving it for the last week.

Allison Sullivan- my New Years Resolutions are: bot more! So I could improve my trivia knowledge on quiddy, try to get full points for every classes that I take, and uh, buy a pet some times later on HOL (and don't let it ran away just like my last cat, Zola <_<)

Elisa Everlong- One of my new years resolution is definitely to get things done earlier! I've been leaving my assignments to the very last day they're due. I also need to be way more active here and get involved rather than being a lurker.

Anneliese Lee- My new year's resolution is to be more active on HOL , earn enough quills, and get my homework done. Also to keep my lovely nutty nargles active. :)

Pandora Gotham- My resolution is to not fail all of my classes and juggle my thingamajiggers better!! And be a lot more active.

SILLY SNORKACKS

Silly Snorkacks DID meet the deadline and send their stuff in. Here is their entry!

1) New Year's Resolutions

Ada Pepperstone- "To be a better teammate and captain on my gymnastics team, since I've been gone a lot and don't try to interact with the newbies...."

Fumei Shirokuro- "My New Year's Resolutions is to finally get my stupid diploma and be finished with school! After that earning looooots of Money so I can go and work a year in Australia... Although going to Australia would probably be a resolution for next year XP"

2) Silly Glasses

WACKY WRACKSPURTS

And finally, we have WW, whom seemed to be quite missing from their den this week, and left Nina to conjure up a small task by herself. She did send it in, and here is what she came up with, representing WW!!

1.) New Year’s Resolutions-

Nina Messersmith- What I would like to accomplish in HOL this year is to beat my old record of earning 2060 Points. That would be a major accomplishment for me. I would also like to create a New successful class that many HOL students will enjoy (I think I've got something in mind) and last but not least I want to earn my way to becoming a Prefect (yey!) I think those are three goals that I should be able to accomplish if I work hard this year.

2 .) Silly Glasses

Stay tuned... there's more entries and results coming throughout the day! :)

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

WEEK TWO

Part One: I am mixing things up a little this year. This won’t be your average scavenger hunt. I’m not going to make it as hard, but it might take a little longer than normal. That’s why you must work as a den… don’t let one person do all the work!

I.) First, you will need to consider the following clues. Within the lines, they will tell you the location of each “answer†in the Common Room. You’ll have to search through that forum to find a link, which will be coated in blue.

II.) Click the link and solve the jigsaw puzzle.

III.) Take a screenshot of the solved jigsaw puzzle and upload it to a photo sharing site. Share it with your den.

IV.) Consider the answer. Decide which of the following questions (1-6) it answers!

When finished, you should have some basic knowledge about the Chinese New Year.

(Yes, these questions are probably Google-able, but you MUST submit the jigsaw puzzle screenshots, and it will be a whole lot more fun this way than through Google… )

A. This is the place where red and gold glitters

Where they yell for lions and points until they get blisters

B. Poetry and clubs and prose live here

Wander where reality is checked, the answer is near

C. We come here to say hi and goodbye

Between the cake and the gifs your answer might lie

D. Knit and create, you’ll find the place for you

Oh, and editing pictures is very welcome, too!

E. This is where everyone comes for news to view

Here you might find out things you never knew

F. We fly high and have lots of fun

And that’s the reason why we’re number one!

1. The Chinese New Year is also known as _________.

2. What date is the Chinese New Year for 2013?

3. What must a family traditionally do to sweep away ill-fortune and bad luck?

4. These are popular themes for the Chinese New Year.

5. What year will it be in the Chinese Zodiac?

6. Which of the 10 heavenly stems is 2013 in?

Part Two: Now that we’ve figured that out, look into the Chinese Zodiac and what it means for 2013. Consider what this has to with your den and show us how the Zodiac relates to your den. Feel free to be serious or funny! You can do this by writing a poem, writing a story, writing a paragraph, or creating a couple of graphics. Just make sure you’re creative!

The answer for Part One, thanks to Silly Snorkacks, was....

1) D -

http://i31.photobuck...zps986ed89f.png

2) F - http://i31.photobuck...zps273e3897.png

3) E - http://i31.photobuck...zps3391fd6b.png

4) A - http://i31.photobuck...zps986ed89f.png

5) C - http://i31.photobuck...zpsdeededa9.png

6) B - http://i31.photobuck...zpsedf95186.png

As for Part Two....

NUTTY NARGLES

While the NN completed Part 1, they did not turn it in... as for part two... I couldn't find anything? Bummer, I know!

SILLY SNORKACKS

The SS completed Part 1, sent it in, and submitted this for part two:

It was a silly wet morning, when 13 students of the Silly Snorkacks decided to take on a stroll. For starters they just wanted to go and have a nice sightseeing through the common room of Gryffindor. Just so they could be random and amazing.

During this amazing walk, they stumbled upon Prof. Missa Matz who decided that they should have a race to see who is the best 12 students of the Den. Well with only the word race it had been said enough and almost all the Silly Snorkacks decided to tag along on this weirdly decided race by Prof. Missa, in the hope that this race would also bring some good fortune, happiness and wealth. But well who know what the race would bring, since it was started by prof. Missa Matz.

So the race began, and wildly enough it was a race that nobody wanted to see. Clever as she was, Ada Pepperstone managed to nail the race. As was smart enough to take a shortcut through the Common Room and get first place. The second one to win was Zachary Jameson, who had told Ada about the shortcut, but wasn't able to finish first, because Ada was just a tad faster.

The third to win was Britin Hale, who had a great struggle to get to the finish, because she was utterly lost in the Common Room. And who would be in such a big place, were this race was being held.

I could tell you who all the amazing students of the Silly Snorkacks are that won a place as best student, but since that would make this story very uninteresting I will skip some beats until I get to parts that are interesting again.

And so we had the first 3 winners. Some had won fair, others a bit less. Then we managed to get to the fifth place. And that spot was taken by non-other than Jennifer Kusukabe. Although at first it was a mystery why she took so long, cause she was the fast of them all and knew her way around the Common Room pretty well. As Jennifer was explaining herself, she happened to come across some Ancient old ladies and she decided to help them cross the Common Room. This action made her lose some time, but she was glad to hear she still hit the fifth spot.

The eleventh student who was able to finish this silly race was Matilda Figgleweed. At first we thought that she was lost as well, but in the end it happened to be that Matilda decided to take a short break during this race and was wishing all her friends some Happy New Year. The last to finish this race was Bay Reilly, as she was too busy to help other students and clubs to finish the race in time.

But this isn't the end of this story. Like I said there were 13 students in the race, and only 12 could finish. So what happened to the last student? Well apparently Fumei Shirokuro decided half way through the race it was time to take a short, make that a long one, nap. And there she fell in a comfy chair in a deep hibernation, forgetting all about this silly race.

WACKY WRACKSPURTS

WW found the answers to Part One but didn't quite get it in. I couldn't find anything for Part Two either. :(

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

WEEK THREE

Part One: the Lion Dance

As Gryffindors, it’s been decided that your den will be the troupe that performs this incredible dance! But first you have to learn the moves! Pick a partner and make your way through one of the mazes! Only one maze per pair though; we don’t want you getting confused by learning more than one dance routine!

http://i3.photobucke...zps02b3ff41.jpg

http://i3.photobucke...zps5410e68b.jpg

http://i3.photobucke...zpse008ae0c.jpg

For each participant in your den, each will need a partner. If there are an odd number of active participants, one pair can become a group of 3. In order to turn in this, please include each active participant’s name, their partner(s), and the three completed mazes.

Part Two: Fireworks and Firecrackers

Your den has decided to celebrate the New Year by shooting off some fireworks and firecrackers. It is your job as a den to design your own show! What colors will you use? What shapes will the fireworks make? Will you shoot off one at a time or several? It’s really up to you! You can just describe your fireworks show or describe it in a story, but we would like to see a few images of your fireworks show. So please, include some of your own graphics to accompany your description!

NUTTY NARGLES and WACKY WRACKSPURTS unfortunately got sideswept by the festivities and forgot to dance and watch the fireworks!

SILLY SNORKACKS found their way through the dances and then made their fireworks show:

Part 1

Jennifer Kusakabe - http://i164.photobuc...zps09cee121.png

Fumei Shirokuro - http://i31.photobuck...zps038b520f.png

Aurora Lestrange - http://img13.imagesh...jandenchal1.jpg

Part 2

The fireworkshow that the Silly Snorkacks will present you will be a show existing out lots of different colors with all kinds of fireworks. The whole of it will be a bit of a busy looking show, that will give you a show where you want to look everywhere.

So our show will be colorful with different kinds of firework shapes.

[Prof. Hailey Potter 50]

WEEKS FOUR AND FIVE

Part One: Red envelopes

During the Chinese New Year, married couples give red packets containing cash to the children and teenagers in the family. There’s only one problem, though: there are tons of different colored envelopes and they need to be sorted!

In the link, below, you will find a link to an online rubiks cube. Manipulate the rubiks cube until all the reds are sorted out on the top of the cube! Once you complete the red side of the rubiks cube (and place it on top), please print the screen proving your completion and upload it to a photo sharing site!

The den who can manage to do it in the least amount of moves will win this round!

http://www.mathplayg...rubikscube.html

Part Two: Den Luncheon

On the eighth day of the Chinese New Year, store owners hold a meal for their employees in order to thank them for their work and effort they have given during the previous year.

Similar to this tradition, the dens have started a new tradition. The den leaders are holding a luncheon in order to celebrate the accomplishments their students have achieved in the past year on HOL.

Write a story together as a den about how your luncheon went. What was on the menu? What crazy shenanigans happened? Were there awards given out? Who received what awards? What were the awards named? Feel free to keep it classy, or make it crazy! (Not too crazy though… remember to keep it HOL appropriate. ;))

Please, only one paragraph at a time per student. This is a collective story! (And when enough people participate, they are super fun…)

Part One: Before our festival, there’s only one thing you need to do. We Gryffindor lions are hoping to be a little more studious for the new year on HOL! Prove your smarts by solving this Sudoku. You’ll find that the numbers are a little odd though! It is solved just like a regular Sudoku but with Chinese numeral characters. The key is shown for help, but you will be expected to complete the puzzle using the correct Chinese characters.

http://i3.photobucke...zps80e34af1.jpg

Part Two: Decorating Committee

Decorate the Common Room with your lanterns! Each den member should create their own lantern for the festival. You can make it in real life and take a picture of it, or you can make it as a graphic, it’s really up to you! Finish by telling us where you’re going to hang your lantern in the common room.

Again, NUTTY NARGLES and WACKY WRACKSPURTS somehow got lost in our celebration and did not compete.

SILLY SNORKACKS managed to get in both challenges. Here are their entries:

Part 1 by the amazing Jennifer Kusakabe!!

http://i164.photobuc...zpsbd5451f9.png

Part 2 by me and Guin!!

As Fumei sweeps away the sweat from her head, she looks with a satisfied look at the table. It's almost so much work to create dinner for so many amazing students, especially when you had to use magic to create all the food. And there it was only just done and all the students of the Silly Snorkacks den started to gather around the large table that Fumei had put in the middle of the Common room. So that was it for prepping things for the feast. Now they first could dig in the food and after that there were lots of festive to come.

Guinevere finally emerged from her room when she caught a whiff of the aromas in the Common Room. She was a bit of a loner, since she rarely came out of safety that her room provided, but you could always tempt her with some food. Guin gave a slight nod to Fumei, one of the den leaders, when she caught sight of the food. It looked just as it smelled, heavenly. "You've done a great job," Guinevere quietly said and sat one of the chairs, and started deciding what to eat first. Perhaps she should start with some soup? But then other students could eat all the magical candy until there was nothing left for Guinevere. The girl looked around the room and started hoarding different sweets, from cockroach clusters to pumpkin pasties, around her plate, so she would have them for later. After acting like a dragon around gold, Guin started with mushroom soup and decided that for the main course, she would eat some Chinese cuisine. It was her favorite after all.

Fumei nodded a little bit as all the Den students finally sat down around the table. Digged their hands into the food, stuffed their mouths with it and well... obviously began to eat in a very properly way only a Silly Snorkacks can do. It was a lovely sight to see, as long as you were a Silly Snorkacks. After the feast was over, Fumei cleared her throat. Not that something like that was working for her den. They weren’t a very active one, but when they were all gathered there was no stopping them with the chatting and chatting.

Fumei decided the time for talking and award giving could happen on another occasion. This was not the right time. And heck, Fumei was also feeling like chatting and eating would be a much better resolution to start with then all that blabbing others would do. So the Luncheon of the Silly Snorkacks ended in only eating, stuffing, eating and chatting away.

-------

Task 1

http://i164.photobuc...zps861fa147.png

Task 2

Guinevere Avalons Lantern: http://i45.tinypic.com/fylwef.png

Fumei Shirokuro's Lantern: http://i31.photobuck...zps21a8ed0f.png

These Lanterns will be hanged at the entrance of the dorm. Just so that everybody can see them. We thought about hanging them in the middle but I found that an obnoxious sight. So it became at the entrance!