By Sky Alton
Welcome back to the Paw Print! It’s been an eventful term so far in many different ways. Hopefully, things will calm down a bit in the months to come. That doesn’t mean HOL is sitting idle though: we still have tons of fun to look forward to.
First up, October saw the main HOL website and the Den experience some rocky patches of unexpected downtime. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our own Prof. Dario, that should all be behind us now (thank you, Dario!). It does mean this issue is coming to you a bit late though.
We also had drama of another sort in The Den as the Fat Lady went missing right before our annual Gryfftoberfest celebrations. Thanks to the hard work of our lions and our lovely visitors from other houses, we tracked her down safe and sound. We also learned a lot about the colourful life she led before serving as our fabulous door warden. Who knew that she was a famous chef who founded Honeydukes and had a secret romance with a Hogwarts Headmaster?
After all that excitement, we decided to relax in November. Being Gryffindor though, we couldn’t be totally chill: There were still things to do in Here Dwell the Brave (for lions) and our Roleplay section (for everyone!). We’re also gearing up for some December fun – we’re heading down to the Hogsmeade Post Office to lend a hand with the winter rush in ‘Owl Winter Long’. Keep your eyes peeled for that!
There’s plenty currently going on and soon to be going on around the castle as well. Hollers will be continuing Creature Card Corral until December 12th so there’s plenty of time to head over their and track down some magical critters (and earn some house points while you’re at it). Speaking of house points, there are also rumoured to be some other fabulous wintery goings on in the HOL forum launching very soon! As ever, there are Library and Art department projects to do and fresh ones will arrive punctually in December as well.
There’s still just about time to dip into the Hollers challenges and Creative options for November (including a trip to the rings of Saturn… ooh, how fancy), with new ones soon to be released. The date for December’s Gathering and Games has also been announced – make sure you put 6 PM-8 PM HOL-time on Sunday the 13th in your diaries. If dreaming away the cold with a book by the fire is more your speed, drop by the Book Club for the annual Winter Reading Challenge. Our fellow houses are always worth a visit as well so do go and see what the badgers, snakes and eagles are getting up to.
Phew. I think I managed to touch on everything that’s going on around here. Before you dash off to check it all out for yourself though, do take a moment to kick back and get into the rhythm of this fine issue of the Paw Print.