Welcome back to the Paw Print! The term has flown by and the castle is resplendent in its usual winter’s cape of snow. Secret elves are busy making gifts, the houses are alive with their December activities and the end of term is creeping nearer (have you done your homework yet?).
In Gryffindor, we’ve had a busy term. No sooner had we got our new and returning students settled in during September than it was time for Gryfftoberfest. Our annual celebration of everything scarlet and gold saw us pay a visit to a magical renaissance fair this year. Everyone tried their hand at jousting, attempted to please the flighty royals in their court and spent a good deal of gold at the various stalls. While it’s probably safe to say that Iverian and I aren’t destined for a career at Gringotts after our desperate scramble to keep on top of everyone’s treasures, the activity seemed to be a Gryff-tastic success. Congratulations to all the winners of the Gryfftoberfest award and Maxim for gaining one of every item available.
For December, we’ve taken everyone on a tour of Willy Wonka’s famous Chocolate Factory. Great fun has been had designing our own menus for Three-Course Gum and searching for Golden Tickets. Thankfully everyone seems to have made it out without being turned into fruit, assaulted by angry squirrels, sucked up pipes to who knows where or getting caught in TV related mishaps, so Iverian probably won’t have to spend the rest of her holidays doing paperwork. Probably. Thank you and well done to everyone who ventured in on the hunt for sweet success.
Elsewhere in the Common Room the Gryffindor Quidditch team is always looking for new recruits. Interested lions should check out the Schedule in the ‘Cubs with Clubs’ forum or speak to our captain, Prof. Jenny Lupin. Thanks to the coding wizardry of our HoH, we also have two brand new Quidditch bots for you to practice with. Instructions on how to get acquainted with Oliver and Angelina will be coming soon.
Gryffs and guests alike, there is still one more month to earn yourself rubies before the end of term. Remember that we hand out trophies to our highest earning lion and highest earning guest. Be sure to stop by the Gone Questing Forum in January and keep your eyes peeled for any other chances to gather yourself some of our sparkly stones.
There is also time to earn yourself some more house points for this term. First things first: have you done your homework? Remember that most classes will have a final deadline in the middle of January; these can differ from class to class so make sure you check. If you signed up for the Secret Elf Gift Exchange over on the main forum, remember to get your gifts sent in by the 31st of December. There are also projects in the Art and Library Departments that run until the end of December, with new ones due to come out for January as well.
Elsewhere on HOL, the other houses and clubs have been having December fun of their own. There’s still time to help Ravenclaw foil the plots of some dastardly snowmen and to join in on Hufflepuff’s festive frivolities. As always, Hollers has monthly challenges and chances to get creative. The Book Club’s Winter Reading Challenge is in full swing and new readers are welcome: go earn yourself an award!
Phew, I think that’s everything. Whether you are celebrating a holiday or not, I hope you have a wonderful end to the year and a happy, hopeful start to the next. Here’s to a 2020 full of magic.