HOL News

Lean Typoese! Join GQT Today!

pr_lup — 2011-01-06T15:39:02Z

Gryffindors (new and old!), join GQT today!! :D

Please note that you need an account on the Gryffindor Common Room to see what lays beyond the above link. ;)

If you have any problems, or questions about Quidditch, please message Kadina Tigano or Pavel Lagrange, or post them in the appropriate thread in the Common Room. We look forward to seeing you on the pitch soon!

Image by the amazing Ilona Littrell. And the skillfully written text by Kadina Tigano.

R-izzle Q-Izzle Tizzle

pr_lob — 2011-01-05T01:46:10Z

Image by the fabulously new Jaena Langston

January Ravenclaw Activity

pr_lob — 2010-12-27T23:32:56Z

Eagles, join in the Apples to Apples fun!

Gimme da world, YO!

pr_esc — 2010-12-24T16:39:36Z

Le clicky

How Do You Make Magic?

ro646 — 2010-12-11T02:40:06Z

Click the image to be taken to the project!

The Harry Potter world is full of magical people creating all sorts of magic. When reading the books we learn that there are plenty of muggles who can make magic of their own as well.

Since this is the season for thankfulness, forgiving, joy, and happiness. We want to see how you create magic in your area. By this we mean, we want to see how you make your neck of the woods a better place. Do you volunteer somewhere? Work for Habit for Humanity? Visit a nursing home? Do you help people less fortunate than yourself? If so, we want to see what you do. Take a picture and use a caption to explain how you make magic!

Your project needs to be a minimum of 400 x 400 and a maximum 700 x 700 (pixels) and no larger than 300 kb in file size. I advise you put in a caption, so voters can tell what you’ve been up to.

Ravenclaw December Newsletter

pr_lob — 2010-12-06T12:48:22Z

Click the image for the newsletter!

Graphic provided by the more-than-fabulous Jenna Hathaway

A SerpenTimes Slythmas

pr_sul — 2010-12-04T09:41:35Z
Yes, you read correctly, the SerpenTimes Slythmas Edition is now available (on time) for your reading pleasure.

We have some great articles this month including our new S.A.S.S. advice column, Tini's chocolate chip cookie recipe (which I am SO trying), a Christmas Ghost Story by Imogen Tiny, a contest to earn HOL points, movie reviews, poems and much, much more.

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted a piece this month, and also to the Editor-in-Chief, Isaac Chase for all his work. Points will be added in due course.

Enjoy the issue! Click here to read it.

A Farewell, but not really

pr_obi — 2010-12-03T09:24:05Z
Dear Slytherins, creatures and beasts,

it is with pain in my heart that I have to say 'Goodbye' to all of you. You might have noticed that I was not always there when you might have needed me, but the other staff was there for you. Some time ago, I was asked to work with the M.o.M. to create an International Taskforce to help young wizards in the underdeveloped countries. I have thought long and hard over this. Could I leave you all and spend years in those countries. It was a though decision, but in the end I could say 'Yeah, I can'. Because I know that Prof. Ashlee will have the best in store for you. Even more so then I have.

So, I leave her in charge of all the whips, the keys of the dungeons, and my office in the dungeons. I only request one thing, nay..two.. That my picture will never be removed from the chocolate frogs and that I can keep my price collection of whips. Other then that, I wish that prof. Ashlee and the staff uses the remaining torture material wisely :)

People, it is really hard to see al your sad faces, but you can be sure that you haven't seen the last of me yet. I will still remain a member of the Head Office, and will peak in here now and then.

Now, I will leave you alone to have your little party, knowing that you all will be secretly glad that I'm gone.

Loves to all,

Prof. Paddy
Head Of Slytherin 2005 - 2010

Nothing Better than a Lion's Roar

pr_byn — 2010-12-03T01:51:08Z

Well maybe seeing a Lion two-step or do a little jig! *does a little jig and drops it like it's hot* Drop what?!!! Yeah, I just dropped it! Anyway, Gryffindor House would like to invite everyone to enjoy our new Radio Station, "The Lion's Den".

The radio station will have blogs, podcast,video, as well as playlist from your lovely Lion's. We don't have any podcast or videos up yet, but stay tuned.

Listen to the different styles of music while doing your HOL HW or RL HW or just when you wanna practice your pop and lock or the Running Man, or Roger Rabbit dance moves. So Click on the image and be transported to the Lion's Den!

****Disclaimer****
(if you pop your hip or pull a back muscles or receive any injuries due to popping and locking or dropping while it's hot or any other dance move, Gryffindor House is not responsible. Remember please practice safe dancing.)

HOLWriMo

pr_lob — 2010-11-25T14:45:42Z

Have an itching to write your heart out in December? SIGN UP FOR HOLWRIMO! :D

Click on the image and visit the forum for more info!

Gryff's Graphics Club is OPEN!

pr_lup — 2010-11-23T10:16:19Z

It's here! It's here! *nances around*

It's taken time and effort, but now the Graphics Club is finally here!

In the Graphics Club you can share and comment on art in the The Gallery, have your signature or other graphics made in the Request a Masterpiece Area, or learn about how to make graphics in the Graphics School Area.

There will also be contests run by the club where you can earn more shiny rubies! The first contests are already up! Click the image above to be taken to the Graphics Club forum! You must have a Common Room account! (Sorry HOLers, at this time the club is for Gryffindors only! But there may be HOL wide contests, so watch out for those!)

We've been working for a long time to get this club up and running, and we hope you'll all enjoy it and have fun!

Now let's celebrate with some butterbeers!

Ravenclaw November Newsletter

pr_lob — 2010-11-13T21:53:51Z

Click for the newsletter link!

Image provided by Jenna Hathaway

The SerpenTimes Slythmas Edition!

pr_sul — 2010-11-12T11:56:07Z

Earn points and spread good cheer!

It's that time of year, and we have an exciting issue coming this December. We are now accepting articles, columns, artwork and stories from all of the houses!

We are also accepting Christmas Shout Outs! Leave a short message for your HOL friends in our paper this Christmas! Make sure your message is no more than 20 WORDS and includes your HOL name and house.

And now, a special message from SASS:

HOL getting you down? Love life hitting the rocks? Send in your problems and our resident Agony Aunt will help you with her one of a kind pearls of wisdom. Questions can be silly or serious, and will be answered in kind. ALL submissions will be treated anonymously, your privacy is guaranteed. This is open to all houses.

~Slytherin Advice ServiceS, SASS

And there you have it. Click the banner above to be taken to our submission page, or send your work to holserpentimes@gmail.com

The deadline for submissions is December 1st, 2010!

If you have any questions please contact Isaac Chase.

Alte November Issue Up!

pr_lob — 2010-11-10T17:17:27Z

As usual, clickety clicky on the image. Points will be awarded once I've stopped staring at pie and actually have lunch >_>

The WT is accepting submissions!

ro646 — 2010-11-10T02:40:59Z

Want to earn some extra points for your house?

The Times is looking for new submissions for our holiday issue. Click the image above to be taken to the contact page, which is where you can submit your ideas. This is the only way you can submit your ideas!

All work must be original and not copied from another source. You have until December 10th, 2010 to send something in.

All houses can participate!

I Am Thankful For....

ro646 — 2010-11-09T02:57:20Z

With the holidays fast approaching we would like to see what you are thankful for. Is it family, friends, school, a job, home, money, HOL? I’m sure we all can name one thing or many things we are thankful for.

For this project you can show us one thing you are thankful for or many things you are thankful for. Your submission can be hand drawn, photography, or a collage of sorts. We ask that you do not take images from the internet for this project.

Your project needs to be a minimum of 400 x 400 and a maximum 600 x 600 (pixels) and no larger than 300 kb in file size. I advise you put in a caption, so voters can tell what you’re thankful for.

Click the image to be taken to the project!

Wordy words of wordiness

pr_esc — 2010-11-07T02:42:10Z
Clicky

"The Top Ten Reasons for Staying in HOL through the Years" Contest's Winners!

pr_dra — 2010-11-04T06:45:13Z
The results of HOL's Tenth Anniversary Contest, The Top Ten Reasons for Staying in HOL through the Years, are posted in The Great Hall--thanks to all who participated! Enjoy!

It's Time to PlaAAAay

pr_sca — 2010-11-03T00:14:11Z

Click!

Hey Ravenclaws! It’s November, which means there is a new activity in the Roost. This month’s activity is… Eagle Feud! Click on the link for more information.

(November also means Cassie is busy tackling NaNoWriMo, forcing me to dust off my limited graphic-making ability and try out my blog-posting powers! XD)

Just as the Banner says....

pr_byn — 2010-10-30T19:27:30Z

Ok well not here here. HOL has decided to do a HUGE project that will literally take everyone to help bring it to reality. HOL is celebrating its 10th year and what better way to do that than to make a celebratory yearbook.

Each house will be responsible for the content and when the yearbook is completed at the end of the school year we will supply each house with each other's link so we can look at each others past, present, and what we hope to achieve in the future.

Yes you can earn points. Because that would be pure SLAVERY if we didn't give you something for your hard work. To understand the point breakdown, please contact your HOH, dHOH or whomever they put in charge of this FUN but work intensive project. A post about the project and its rules and points will be posted shortly in each of House common rooms.

So Good Luck, Have Fun, and Earn those points!!!

Wizarding Times October Edition

pr_cos — 2010-10-29T23:01:07Z

Click here to get the latest issue of the Wizarding Times!

Greetings, goblins and ghouls and all over manners of ghosties. Or, you know, all you lovely Badgers and HOLers.

Halloween is literally just around the corner, and the Wizarding Times staff has been hard at work to bring you another delightful issue, packed with games, reviews, stories, and more. This month, find delicious recipes to keep your warm in the cooler evenings and nail-biting yarns to make your blood run cold.

Pick up your copy today!

Slytherin Masquerade Ball!

pr_sul — 2010-10-26T09:21:43Z

You are cordially invited to attend a Masquerade Ball in celebration of Slythoween!

The ball will take place between 29 October and 3 November in the role playing section of the Dungeons, plus in the #grandballroom on IRC.

All houses are invited, feel free to come in costume! Slytherin students are encouraged to the Dungeons for a mask competition that we are running! You can earn some shiny scales!

We hope to see you there!

Boo!!!

pr_esc — 2010-10-25T02:57:13Z

Halloween Edition of the SerpenTimes

pr_sul — 2010-10-24T00:41:28Z
The Halloween Edition of the SerpenTimes is now available for reading! A huge thank you to all the editors who worked hard on this issue and we hope you all enjoying reading this edition in our new themed layout!

Submissions for our Christmas issue will open in November.

ENJOY!

Click here to read the issue.

P.S If you're a Slytherin student be sure to visit the Dungeons as we'll be having some fun Halloween contests such as pumpkin carving, best costume, and write your own gravestone! Scales up for grabs so be sure to participate.

Country Pride

ro646 — 2010-10-23T16:40:48Z

The great thing about HOL is that it combines people from all walks of life and from all over the world. We all have different traditions, cultures, and food unique to where we live.

For this Art Project we would like you to share your Country Pride; something that shows off the location where you live. Yes, this also means your Country, State, Providence, or something that is unique to your town. Show us your Country/State flag (created by you, no snagging from the internet), a special meal that is unique to you or a tree, flower or plant that only grows were you live. As you can see the possibilities are endless.

Your project needs to be a minimum of 400 x 400 and a maximum 700 x 700 (that’s pixels people) and no larger than 300 kb in file size. You need to put a caption as to what you are showing, and the Country/State as to where it is located. No cities or towns can be mentioned per HOL rules If you have questions please ask them in the correct thread in the Art Department.

Hufflepuff Students! Apply to be a Mini!

pr_chu — 2010-10-20T20:37:29Z
Long time ago, and not so very far away, Hufflepuff had a program for students who wanted to do a bit more around The Sett--but weren't actually Prefects. We've decided to recreate this program. It's called the Mini Prefect Program ("The Minis").

You have to be a Hufflepuff Student who has been active at HOL for at least 6 months. This is our first step in the application process...Apply to be a Hufflepuff Mini!

Thanks! Anya

Happy Huffleween!

ro646 — 2010-10-19T19:03:29Z

That's right it's Huffleween time again! All badgers should check out the newly updated forum colors for the event and while you're there search and locate the Pumpkin Patch, as there will be a lot of activities happening there in the next 13 days.

Happy Huffleween!

HOL's 10th Anniversary Meetup 2011

st_pix — 2010-10-19T17:40:14Z
Next summer, HOL will celebrate its ten-year anniversary. Ten years of classes, quidditch, online newspapers, school-wide challenges, crazy forum games. Ten years of deconstructing Harry Potter books and movies, picking up oddball bits of knowledge from Latin class, and moonlighting singing skills on HOL Idol. Ten years of friendship, the strongest magic.

But whether you joined last summer or have been lurking since 2001, you're invited to HOL's official 10th Anniversary meetup in New York City on July 30-31, 2011 -- just in time for Harry's and J.K. Rowling's birthday, too! Come celebrate with us as we reconnect with old friends and make new ones, meandering around Central Park or towards the Statue of Liberty.

For more information, please visit http://www.hol.org.uk/meetup/ and comment to let us know if you're interested in coming! It's difficult to plan without an official headcount, so the more information we have and the sooner we get it, the better. An official itinerary will be released closer to the meetup date.

See you there!

Another Girl (by The Beatles)

pr_esc — 2010-10-17T23:06:00Z
Sadly for Slytherin, Prof. Miette Bynny has decided that retiring to Sweden and searching for crumplehorned snorkacks was her true calling. None of this co-Head of House business stuff. But in order for her to properly do her snorkack-hunting fest, we at the HO had to find a replacement for the wonderful HoH.

So we did.

Prof. Ashlee Sully will be stepping in as Slytherin's new co-Head of House effective immediately.

In her place, Daphne M. Marin will be promoted to professor and Deputy Head of House effective in January. For now, she will remain your Slytherin Head Prefect.

Thank you so much for what you've done, Miette. Best of luck to your hunt!

Congratulations, Ashlee and Daphne! Best of luck on your new positions!

Are you ready, Lions?

pr_lup — 2010-10-17T14:03:25Z

What's that? Monopoly was your favorite game when you were a young lion? Well that's fantastic news because this month, us Gryffindors are playing Gryffopoly, which is even better!

Park Place, Broadway, the Reading Railroad. Three of my favorite properties in the muggle game called monopoly. This month in Gryffindor, you'll be able to buy such properties like The War Room, The Cozy Corner and Queen Maeve's Quarters!

The only way to participate is by signing up. And we've got more great news!! Sign-ups are open for Gryffindor students through October 27th. But why wait? Sign up today by clicking the above image!

To sign up and play you must first be a Gryffindor and have registered for the common room. If not, do that first so you can join in on the fun! :D

If you have any questions, feel free to ask Eno Thomas or Serenity Thomas.

(Image by Ilona Littrell, text by Kadina Tigano. You are both awesome, thank you!)

HOL TENTH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST!!! TOP TEN REASONS for STAYING in HOL!!!

pr_dra — 2010-10-12T15:28:37Z
Some members of HOL have been present since its inception; some members have just joined; most members are somewhere inbetween in regards to their length of membership. But, no matter the length--we all have our reasons for staying in HOL. Of course, we know that "Learning about the Harry Potter books" and "Making new friends from around the world" are two of the top reasons. But, what are some of the others?

Any member of HOL may submit five (5) reasons for staying in HOL as the years go by. Reasons may be serious or humorous, but must abide by HOL rules for contest submissions. In order to have a reason/reasons selected for final judging by some staff members, contestants will need to be creative with ideas and accurate with wording, spelling, etc.

Points are awarded as follows:
Submitting five reasons--10 pts
Inclusions in final vote--20 pts
Making the TOP TEN--30 pts.

Please put "Top Ten" as the subject of your E-message and be sure to put your student name and HOL ID# in the message. Send submissions by 22 October 2010 to
ProfDragonfly@hol.org.uk

The winners will be announced after the judges have made their final decisions. This is an easy and enjoyable way to earn some points and to participate in HOL's year-long Tenth Anniversary celebration!

Cheerie-O Monthly Activities

ro646 — 2010-10-12T02:37:30Z

It's back!! We have two new activities for Badgers and Non-Badgers to participate in this month.

Click the picture above to be taken to the October activity that everyone can participate in.

For the Hufflepuff only activity Click Here!

Make sure you are logged into the Sett when visiting. Yes, you can earn more citrines!

Fall Into Fall

ro646 — 2010-10-11T14:33:59Z

It's Fall!! *throws some leaves up in the air*

I love the fall season. The trees look so beautiful as their leaves are changing colors, the weather cools down, fall decorations can be seen all around, and of course, Halloween!

We in the Art Department want to see what your favorite part of fall is. For this project we want to see pictures you have taken (yes with a camera) of Fall. Do you have a really pretty tree changing colors in your yard? Have you carved pumpkins already? Do you have spooky decorations out for Halloween? Do you have a costume? Did you make homemade apple cider? SHOW US!!

Pictures need to be a minimum of 400 x 400 and a maximum of 700 x 700 with a file size no larger than 200kb. Do not take a picture from the internet and claim it as your own. You WILL lose points. Feel free to put a caption on the picture if you'd like. We know there are some of you that are excellent artists, but for this project we are only accepting photography pictures.

Also comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted.

Eagle eat eagle

pr_esc — 2010-10-09T23:03:02Z

Clicky

Down the Rabbit Hole

pr_lob — 2010-10-08T02:08:21Z

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

Check the new library project out!

Image by the ever-unwordy Prof. Ulol Kimil

OMG NOOO!! Where is the BUTTERBEER?!

pr_lup — 2010-10-04T14:56:15Z

You heard right, Gryffindors! Gryfftoberfest is HERE!!! (Finally!) There's only one little itty bitty problem... :-/ The butterbeer is missing! *gasps in absolute horror*

Fortunately, we've wrangled up a few suspects, but we need your help figuring out who took it so we can continue our party in true Gryfftoberfest style! As you can see by our motto, Insanity is our logic... so it shouldn't take too long to find our thief. ;)

If you missed this summer's detective camp, and you're no good at sleuthing, there are still a ton of events that everyone in Gryffindor can enjoy! ~~They'd just be more fun with lots of butterbeer.~~ You can even try your hand at Pin the Head on Sir Nick!! Even more ~~gruesome~~ exciting events will be added as the month progresses.

So as long as you've already done all your homework this month (or face my wrath... ;) ), click the above image to get partying!

(image by the fantabulmazing Ilona Littrell)

New Issue of the Wizarding Times...

ro646 — 2010-10-04T00:14:46Z

Here it is! Click on the image to read the new issue! Points will be submitted soon, so please don't message asking when.

We are now accepting work for our next issue. The WT staff have a new easier way for students to request what they would like to contribute for the issue.

Please visit our Contact page! and fill out the information with your ideas and hit submit! You will also find the points breakdown on the page as well.

This is now the only way we will be accepting messages about contributing or questions about the Times.

Submission deadline is October 22nd. The theme is Fall/Halloween! Get to it!

Ravenclaw October Newsletter

pr_lob — 2010-10-03T15:20:24Z

Ravenclaws, remember to check the newsletter for the latest Eagle and HOL updates. :)

Thanks to Jenna Hathaway for the graphic.

oooOOOOooooo SPOOKY

pr_lob — 2010-10-01T15:25:20Z

(Get crackin', Ravenclaw! Oh, and everyone is invited to the IRC Party, which you will get more information on at a later date.)

Book Covers are Back!

ro646 — 2010-09-21T01:51:35Z
Back by popular demand, the Art Department decided to redo last years most popular project.

For this project we're asking students to create a book cover for a class-book that could be used by a current HOL class or one from the past.

Your project size should be 600x600 maximum and 400x400 minimum with a maximum file size of 300 kb.

Also comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted.

Click here to be taken to the project page!

Click here to ask questions about the project!

You're invited.......

ro646 — 2010-09-18T23:16:46Z

To the Deathday Party. (click on the image to be taken to the forum)

The ghosts of HOL are celebrating it's 10th anniversary and want to invite you to the party (in the form of ghosts that is).

Don't worry no blood will be split hopefully! Check out the forum for all the details and ask any questions there.

Grab Your Grandeur and Head for the Dungeons!

pr_zen — 2010-09-18T03:36:19Z

The stunningly gorgeous ~~as all things in Slytherin are~~ Slytherin ballroom is finally completed. Which can only mean one thing...

PARTY.

Yes, to celebrate this exquisite edifice of the Slytherin lair, we are hosting a gala event. A ball, and no one throws it down and parties it out quite like us Snakes. Everyone is welcome, just remember...BYOB. Bring your own Butterbeer, of course. *wink*

Stay tuned to the HOL Blog for a chance to, possibly, earn some points and show off your spectacular costumes.

We hope to see you all there dressed in your finest livery.

Chocolate HOL Card

pr_lob — 2010-09-16T13:28:17Z

The new Library project promises to be short and sweet. So click the image!

Another Social Gathering Because We're a Social Bunch

pr_sul — 2010-09-16T08:30:22Z

We hope to see you there!

Bring snacks for Ashlee, please!

Serpentimes Competitions and We're Open for Submissions!

pr_sul — 2010-09-15T08:01:28Z

Click the banner!

Thank you to those who have worked so hard on the Back To School Issue of The Serpentimes! It was such a great issue! As you may know, The Serpentimes is now a monthly publication. And we're very excited to be working on the October Edition.

Apart from your normal submissions and contributions, we are very excited to announce Serpentime's HOL wide contest! All houses will be able to participate and earn extra points. Here are the contests, hope to see a lot of participants! Get creative and SUBMIT!

SerpenTimes HOL-Wide Pumpkin Carving Contest!

Want to earn points and bragging rights as a pumpkin carving master? This Fall, The SerpenTimes is holding a pumpkin carving contest! Everyone is encouraged to submit their best carving from this website here (http://www.theoworlds.com/halloween) to the SerpenTimes, and just for submitting, you'll get 5 points! 5 lucky winners will be chosen, and they will earn 10 points! You are allowed to submit only ONE pumpkin though, so do your best!

SerpenTimes' Zombie Invasion!

Ever wondered what it would be like to walk the earth as the living dead? Then we have the contest for you! The SerpenTimes is holding a Zombify Yourself Contest! This contest is also HOL-Wide, like the pumpkin carving contest, so anyone is allowed to participate! All you need to do is go to this link (http://www.zombify-yourself.net/) and make yourself look as grotesque and brain-hungry as possible. However, you are not limited to just this site. If you know of other places to zombify a picture of you, go ahead and use it! Just make sure it is an actual photograph of yourself. Everyone can submit only ONE zombie picture. Everyone who submits will receive 5 points! Five winners will be chosen and they will receive 10 points! Good luck and enjoy your brains.

Ghoulish Ghost Stories!

October is month of creative contests for Serpentimes. Aside from the awesome picture based contests we have, we've also decided to get a writing one in. After all, this IS a newsletter. And since it is October, what better than a Ghost story writing contest!!! We're searching for originality and scary factor. Write down your worse nightmare in story form!! Whatever you decide to do, make sure it's scary and original.

Submissions should be no less than 800 words and no more than 1000 words. 5 points per submission and only one submission per student. The top 5 stories will be showcased in the October issue of Serpentimes and the students of the top 5 stories will get 10 extra points.

Deadline: October 5th, 2010 Midnight HOL time.

PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO: HOLSERPENTIMES@GMAIL.COM. ANY SUBMISSIONS OR CONTRIBUTION NOT EMAILED TO THE PROPER EMAIL ADDRESS WILL NOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR. ONLY SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED IN HOLSERPENTIMES@GMAIL.COM WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.

For regular submissions and contributions (ads, reviews, poems and other work) information please refer to: To Contribute

For Points Information: Points Guidelines

Hey Snakes...Homework making you pull your hair out?

pr_byn — 2010-09-14T20:49:00Z

Are you having trouble with some of your homework? Is English not your native language? Maybe you just need a bit of help with your essays? Well, if that sounds like you, then we can help you.
Just come to this thread in the dungeons to find out more information! Get your Tutoring On!!!!

(Also, for those that are 2nd year and above, if you want to earn scales NOW YOU CAN! With the Slytherin Tutor for Hire program! Just contact Kent Avery for more info! (or find him on IRC #slytherin)

Cheerie-O Try-Outs

ro646 — 2010-09-12T12:19:24Z

The Cheerie-O are having try-outs! That's right you too could received your very own set of pom-poms.

The Hufflepuff cheerleaders are looking for some new members to the squad. Try-outs will be held on September 18th, 2010 at 9 pm HOL time

For more information Hufflepuff students can read
this thread!
Make sure you are signed up and logged into the Sett to read the thread.

If you have questions, please direct them to Rorey Padfoot or Emma Pacifica.

This is a Hufflepuff only activity! Check your house common room for info if you are interested in becoming a cheerleader for your house.

The Serpentimes is now available!

pr_sul — 2010-09-12T06:50:44Z

That's right kiddies, the Back to School edition of The Serpentimes is now available here for your reading pleasure!! We have heaps of great articles this month like:

- A Guide to Slytherin for First Year Students
- The Proses and Cons of Immortality
- Beautiful art by Kent Avery
- The Dream Oracle with Zoki Phantom
- An explanation of the Slytherin man by Severus McGonagall
- Reviews, recipes, poems and much more!

The best way to browse the website is to read the articles that appear on the front page, and then click through each CATEGORY in the menu to be sure you haven't missed a thing!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Back to School edition, especially Kent Avery and Danielle Mandeville for their hard work editing all the articles (and thanks to me for uploading everything while my toes turned into icicles!). The issue looks fantastic.

We hope you enjoy it.

(Keep an eye out this week for details on submitting for the next issue).

Are you a Pinball Wizard?!

pr_byn — 2010-09-10T23:49:35Z

Well we may not have a pinball game in our arcade but we have many more! Plus we will have opportunities to win scales (for snakes only), beans (again snakes only) and POINTS (hol wide). Also for the snakes looking to find out how or when there are scales and beans opportunities stop over at the Arcade Club:

Arcade Group Forum

The Arcade Club will inform all of HOL by HOL Blog Post when there will be a tournament to earn points. So keep you eyes peeled for the announcements. If you have any questions about the Arcade Club feel free to contact Emily Cullen by pm or HOL message.

NOW GO PLAY!!!

Summer Memories

ro646 — 2010-09-09T18:44:55Z
For most of us summer is over and school has begun. The Art Departments wants you to show off the fun and adventures you had this summer.

For this project we would like you to share a picture (photograph) or a picture you drew by hand of something you experienced this summer. Whether it be with friends, family, or by yourself show us what you did.

Please only use photos that were taken by you (or someone *with* you). Do NOT go online and find a photo and use it. We aren't allowing photos from the internet or you may draw something for us.

Your picture size should be 600x600 maximum and 300x300 minimum with a maximum file size of 200 kb, which should give you room to add a caption, giving your general location (city you visited, countries, states, provinces, etc. should be okay) If your project shows you at home, please leave the city where you are out as it is a school rule.

Also comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted.

Click here to be taken to the project page!

Party Like a Snake: ALL Houses Welcome!

pr_zen — 2010-09-08T03:55:16Z

What would HOL life be like without a little Slytherin chaos to start off the school year? It's not like any of us are going to actually behave or do homework anyway. Who needs homework when you're perfect without trying, right? ;-)

For those of you who want to come and have the time of your life, stop on by on September 12th. We will be waiting with our totally approved, completely student proof beverages. We also might have some snakes on a plane, baby, snakes on a plane.

September Fun

ro646 — 2010-09-06T16:50:46Z

Brought to you by the Cheerie-O's

The Cheerie-O's (Hufflepuff Cheerleaders) wanted to kick off the new year by hosting activities that badgers and non-badgers can participate in. You will be able to earn shiny citrines too.

For badgers who like to create dolls, we're asking that you create some Spirit Outfits. You can find the activity information
HERE!
This is a Hufflepuff only activity

For those Non-Badgers out there we have something just for you. A little wordsearch puzzle located HERE!
This is for all houses

You must be logged into the Sett in order to see the threads.
Have fun!!

Alte is Up

pr_tar — 2010-09-06T04:44:59Z
Cassie: oh
Cassie: OH!
Tarma: WHAT what
Cassie: did you want to post something up for me? *g*
Tarma: where
Cassie: in the blog? >_>

Click here to view Alte Sententiam!

My First Day Went A Little Like This...

pr_lob — 2010-09-03T19:19:19Z

This month's Ravenclaw library writing challenge is up! Open to ALL HOL students and staff! Click on the image!

Summer Homework?!

pr_lob — 2010-09-02T02:45:02Z

Oh noes! It's already September and your professor's asking for that essay that your dog ate after you conveniently lost it under your bed before the summer holidays. What to do what to do?

Write it, of course! Don't wait until it's too late, send your dog-chewed homework HERE.

Future Power Moguls ...Apply here!

pr_byn — 2010-09-01T17:43:43Z

So you think you have what it takes to rise in the ranks of Slytherin or over throw those above you? Well, why not click on the banner and find out how you can start on your path to Over Lord of ALL ....in the dungeons of course.

I call BINGO!

pr_lob — 2010-09-01T14:37:26Z

Congratulations to Katarina Nelsen for this month's fantabulous graphics submission!

Click on the link!

Badda-bing, badda-graphics!

pr_lob — 2010-08-21T18:45:44Z

Check the contest out at the Roost! CLICK ON THE IMAGE :D

Homework submissions

pr_esc — 2010-08-18T13:07:08Z
The schoolyear starts on September 1st, but many students are already submitting homework (I've got 3 already).

Please, do NOT submit anything until term starts. Maybe some professors will keep your homeworks, but many will just delete them and will start accepting work on September 1st.

ro646 — 2010-08-15T15:45:51Z

Want to earn some extra points for your house?

The Times is looking for new submissions for our first issue of the year. The theme for this issue is End of the Summer/Back to School. If you are interested, please contact the Submissions Coordinator (me) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol) and send me your ideas for approval. I will help you with ideas and submissions if need be!

All work must be original and not copied from another source. You have until September 10th, 2010 to send something in.

We accept:

* Art
* Articles
* Poems
* Recipes
* Reviews
* Interviews
* Ads

Or if you have another idea send me an e-mail.

All houses can participate!

So get to it! Send us your ideas/submissions today!

New Head Editor for the Gryff Paw Print!

pr_zen — 2010-08-14T08:41:59Z
I'M FREE.

...I mean, alas...My heart is hindered so by this announcement I regret to bring to you.

By some mere miracle, someone has agreed to relieve me of my Editor-in-chief position on the Paw Print. Are you wondering what delusional, crazy person would agree to something like this? Who would want to torture themselves monthly and have smoke billow out of their ears on a daily basis?

I am quite pleased to announce Ms. Ardeliah Longbottom as the Gryfifndor Paw Print's new Head Editor. Everything makes sense now, right?

Yes, I have run my course and it is time to hoist the reigns on to another unsuspecting soul.

Thank you to everyone who made my time with the Paw Print very rewarding. I am very pleased to have been honored with such a wonderful staff and student population.

Ms. Longbottom, I wish you the best of luck with your new endeavor. You shall do great things!

So, yes, all questions, comments, harrassment, articles, applications and other assorted goods are now to be thrown at Ardeliah!

Good luck!

- Zenix

Class Signups Open!

pr_lob — 2010-08-13T23:28:24Z

SIGN UP FOR CLASSES Y'ALL

An End of an Era...but All the more to Embarrass her

pr_byn — 2010-08-09T23:42:41Z

I am sad to say Faye Roderick is stepping down as Prefect of Slytherin because she is a terrific person and all around hard working student. But real life calls for her to be away more and sadly she will not be able to devote her time to HOL as much as she would like. So she must travel back to the capital of Toeloverville, in the country of Hobbitanasia to her job of inspecting toe jam and bunions.

She is not totally gone but she is torn because she is the CEO of Toes R' Us Emporium. So I sadly accept her resignation as prefect of Slytherin and move her down to a measly little student status :(

I WILL MISS YOU FAYEFAYE!!!!!

*MWAH*
<3 from Slytherin House

Snakes on a Broom?!

pr_byn — 2010-08-09T13:03:22Z
No No, its not a cheesy movie sequel to Snakes on a Plane, Pffft!
It's reality! Slytherin is looking for fellow snakes that are ready to bludger the other players off their brooms? Does that sound like fun?! WELL IT DOES TO ME!!! (and probably you too!) So why not take your love of Slytherin, love of winning, and love of aggression to the field..erm IRC Quiddy Channel.

For More info PM Megaera Selwyn, Xavier Dalen, or Faye Roderick.

Drum Roll Please..........

pr_byn — 2010-08-08T13:21:57Z
The Winner of HOL's 10th year Anniversary banner is.........

JENNA HATHAWAY From RAVENCLAW!!!! Her Banner showed such elegance and celebration. Very well done!

She will be getting the extra 30 points and will be starting off the school year with a nice little lead (don't pounce her people! there will be many more chances on earning point ;) )

I would also like to announce the 2nd place winner of 20 points:

Lily Padfoot of Gryffindor!

and 3rd place winner of 10 points:

Angela Franco of Gryffindor!!!!

Thank you to all that submitted and voted. The first competition of the new term is complete! Keep your eyes peeled to the forum and blog for future contests. I will be submitting points to everyone that competed and the Winning banner will go up momentarily!

Boogle the Eagle Boggle

pr_lob — 2010-08-07T14:38:40Z

Join in the activity today, eagles! This month's activity is: BOGGLE.

Offsite Forum Avatars

pr_cos — 2010-08-02T04:19:11Z
As we approach the start of a new school year, many of us are updating the look of our HOL Forum profiles, using new avatars and signatures. However, it's come to our attention that one source of images, iconator.com, is being pinged as a source of malware — malicious programs and code that can harm your computer.

We recommend you find another source for your avatar or signature. If you're currently using them, please stop using them for all HOL and HOL-related sites, including house and class forums.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the many friendly and knowledgeable prefects for help.

Alte Open For Submissions

pr_lob — 2010-08-01T01:51:04Z
Hear ye hear ye! Ravenclaw's newspaper is opening its doors for submissions for the upcoming issue! If you'd like to submit to the Alte (and it doesn't matter what House you belong to), please drop Prof. Cassandra Lobiesk a line by sending her a HOL Message or an email to alte.sententiam@gmail.com.

All ideas must be approved first before submission.

The deadline for this upcoming issue is August 31!

Sparkleissa Ink Is Open

pr_lob — 2010-07-28T13:13:15Z

We are now officially located under "Main Areas" on the front page, so come visit!

image provided by the lovely Jenna Hathaway

Make a New Lion Friend Today!

pr_lup — 2010-07-28T04:51:51Z

If you are a new Gryffindor looking for some help finding your way around HOL, or are looking to make a new friend, look no further! The Lion Cub Pawtner Project, which is just for Gryffindors, is the place for you!

As you can see it from the name it’s a project that involves Pawtners (aka "Old Gryffindors") and Cubs (aka "New Gryffindors"). The goal of this project is for older, experienced Gryffindors to help new lions find their way through the Common Room and all the things related to Gryffindor, such as Quidditch, the Spice Squad, the Paw Print, and IRC.

You can read more about the project and sign-up as a Lion Cub HERE. After you sign-up, we'll match you up with a Pawtner who will help guide you, answer your questions, and hopefully become a great friend!

To participate in this project, you need to be registered in the Common Room HERE. Be sure to read the registration rules HERE, or your account may not be approved. Once you have signed up, wait a day or two for your account to be validated by an administrator. After that, feel free to explore! There are plenty of fun things to do in the Common Room, so be sure to check it out!

As a final note, Lion Cub sign-ups and Pawtner applications will never close. So be sure to tell your friends about this amazing opportunity!

Show Your Support, Again!

ro646 — 2010-07-28T00:16:25Z
Now that Summer Quidditch is in full swing, it is time for the students of HOL to show their support. This summer's project is to show support for your favorite Summer Quidditch team or Seeker!

Your task is to make a signature featuring your favorite Summer Quidditch team.

These are the names of the teams; Holyhead Harpies, Pig Brain Tacos, Tutshill Tornados, Quiberon Quafflepunchers, Sumbawanga Sunrays, and the Nettlebed Nargles. You can create one for the entire team or pick a team member to support.

Also, remember we have the Seeker Tournament going on as well, so you can choose to show some love for a particular Seeker. The Seekers are; Arnora Eleniel, Zoki Phantom, Megaera Selwyn, Rorey Padfoot, Jenny Lupin, Erik Greb, Molly Grabau, Scarlet Leslie, Missa Matz, Karen Circa, Kadina Tigano, Pavel Lagrange, Tom Foster, and Eno Kule.

Normal signature requirements are in affect being a maximum of 100 pixels in height and 250 in width. The signature can be animated or a still image. Please note, that when entering your signature in this project you are giving the right for others to use it to support their team until the project closes. PLEASE make sure the signature is your own work and not someone else's.

These projects are supposed to be anonymous, so do not use a signature in the HOL or House forums and state “made by me” if I see this you will have one warning to remove the statement before your project is deemed invalid.

You can only submit one entry for this project, so make it good!

In addition, comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted.

Get Your Badger Buddies Here!

ro646 — 2010-07-27T02:33:32Z
Are you a new Hufflepuff and aren't sure where to go or who to ask for directions? Might I suggest a Badger Buddy.

What is a Badger Buddy you ask?

A Badger Buddy is an older more experience student we pair up with a younger student to help them get more acclimated into Hufflepuff. A Badger Buddy will show you around HOL, explain the ins and outs of Hufflepuff, and they might even protect you from, whatever Parker is choosing to throw at ickles nowadays.

How do you get your very own Badger Buddy you ask?

It's simple, make sure you have created an account for the Sett (Hufflepuff Common Room) located HERE (be sure to follow the instructions carefully so the approval process goes smoothly) and than PM the magnification Emma Pacifica HERE asking for a Badger Buddy. It's that simple! She will than pair you up with another badger and voila! Badger Buddies!

Professor Anya needs our help Hufflepuffs!

ro646 — 2010-07-25T19:24:50Z

It seems, that our lovely house poltergeist, Parker, has managed to kidnap (yes kidnap) our Head of House! If you haven't noticed already he's also causing havoc in the Sett, by changing the colors, suspiciously to blue. glares at Ulol

For those new or returning badgers that haven't registered for the Sett yet please do so HERE! We will need all the help we can get to find Professor Anya before the start of term.

I must encourage all students to travel in pairs, and direct all questions to the Hufflepuff Prefects. If you come in contact with Parker, please be safe and do not, I repeat, do not antagonize him. Who knows what he's capable of right now!

Rorey wanders off to find where Professor Hartwick is ~~shopping~~ reading, to inform her of the situation!

Join RQT

pr_esc — 2010-07-25T14:37:31Z

Return of the Slytherin Arcade

pr_sul — 2010-07-25T09:33:35Z

Yes, you read correctly, the Slytherin Arcade has returned! All houses are welcome to register an account on the dungeons and join in on the fun! We currently have 39 games for you to play with many more to come!

If you played on the old arcade, and have a favourite game that's no longer available, please send me a HOL message and I'll try to get it for you.

- Prof. Ashlee Sully

HOL 2010/11

pr_esc — 2010-07-23T23:04:51Z
Welcome to our family time
Welcome to our brotherly time
We're happy for given an taken to the friends we're makin'
There is nothing we won't do

welcome to our family time
welcome to our happy to be time
this is the best of all
ya know the best of all
we're here to share it all

Sorry to disappoint you, but no Beatles' song this time. Instead, I think Phil Collins had it right.

I want to thank all Heads of House, Professors, Head Students and Prefects for all the hard work, passion and dedication in the past year.

Everybody who got at least 2 quills, now passed year. Points are set to zero, so we will start a new race for the House Cup this coming September.

Next year is special, because we will be celebrating HOL's 10th Anniversary. We have planned lots of activities to make this year the bestest (yes, it is a real word).

HOL sign up for the new year (2010/11) is now open. Please note that all existing students do not have to create a new account: you are only allowed to have ONE account in HOL. Please remember to not use your real name.

The list of available classes will be available shortly. If you have applied to teach a class, you will shortly hear from the Head Office whether your class has been approved.

So welcome to the new members of HOL, have lots of fun, make lots of new friends, and overall remember that... "pervalida ars magica amicitia", which in plain english means: friendship is the strongest magic.

You're In Trouble, Tarma and Cosmo

pr_lob — 2010-07-23T17:25:21Z
Cosmo Brown and Tarma Black, listen carefully 'cause you'll want to read this. You're being "fired, let go, expelled, etc." from your Head Student positions. Yes, that's right, you read it correctly. But now that the inevitable demotion is out of the way, we can move on to far better things.

The minute I eagerly volunteered to write this, I opened up an untitled notepad and stared at it for a good two minutes. Then I started to wonder: "What can I possibly say that can actually match the amount of work and dedication these two ladies have contributed to such a fascinating establishment?" And then it hit me: nothing I could say would match seven years' worth of toil. So I won't do it. But I do know how to get wordy, and I'll be darned if I don't try to get close.

When you're an outsider looking at the activities of a different house, it's easy to dismiss the work prefects, professors, and students have done to better that house. "It's only Hufflepuff. There's not that much work to do, since they're such a small house." Someone might say that. Okay, maybe in a different time and mentality, I might have said that (I probably have, who knows?). But anyone who has thought it--regardless of the House in question--couldn't be any more wrong.

Frankly, having to keep up activity anywhere is always a work of art. Having to engage a group of people's interest is a daunting task, and I know a number of prefects, junior prefects, reserves, and whathaveyou do this month by month. Tarma and Cosmo are no different in that manner, but it does help that they've had 7 years' worth of experience. That in itself is a feat only matched by those who've stayed around for longer and are still trudging away through HOL's highs and lows (such as the likes of Missa and Rhi and Fels and Ashlee). So one can't help but applaud that.

It doesn't end there, of course, because Tarma and Cosmo have gone beyond just work they've been assigned as fellow prefects and Head Students. They've earned numerous points for Hufflepuff (darn you!), played fierce Quidditch games (whether on and off) for their determined team, worked and participated in House and inter-House activities, discussed and/or argued points they heavily believed in (whether or not they won a particular argument is irrelevant since they took their wins and losses with style), took in prefect and then Head Girl responsibilities with aplomb, and retained their sanities long enough on IRC to get licked and cajoled (though this is debatable).

Yeah, it's clear they deserve more than a pat on the back and a "Hey, congrats, you're a professor now!" That's probably why Ulol came up with this idea instead. He wanted to say: "Thank you, Tarma. Thank you, Cosmo. You guys have truly been magnificent." Of course, since Ulol is the master of unwordyness (which I will ONE DAY remedy), I decided to take matters into my own hands to personally thank you (anyone else can agree or agree to disagree).

And while you're all wondering how or why a Ravenclaw sillyface has agreed--nay, asked--to write this, I suppose it's due to the degree of respect I have for Tarma and Cosmo. I know there are a ton of badgers who are tooting the same horn and would probably have been better people to sing praises to them. I know over the years we may not have seen eye-to-eye with each other on certain viewpoints, and we probably still don't, now that I think about it (I don't mind, really!). But I still wanted to say thanks for what you've put into HOL. You're probably two of the hardest working badgers I know; and that's saying a lot, considering how hard badgers normally work!

Cosmo, I'll make sure to remember that good graphics and Comic Sans should not be placed in the same sentence. In fact, I should never wave Comic Sans at you, for fear of being uhh...badgered?

Tarma, you're still a sillybeanabear. I have your BENT halo. If you want it, you'd have to steal it back. But watch out, I've already licked it.

Looking forward to seeing you both on the other side of the spectrum!

Hello Goodbye

pr_esc — 2010-07-23T02:14:08Z
You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

And with the Beatles as background, I am very sad to announce that we have to say goodbye to three of our Head Students (Cosmo Brown, Lalaith Lomion and Tarma Black), because the mean ones just graduated from HOL. So we need fresh vict... I mean, Head Students, and after thinking and pondering and discussing and drinking soda, the Head Office wants to say hello to our brand new Head Students: Ariel Kingston, Rorey Padfoot and Zoki Phantom!!!

If you have no idea what a Head Student does, this is what the Handbook says:
"If one is needed, the Headoffice carefully selects a new Headboy or Headgirl to serve all the students of HOL for the full school year. Like in the Harry Potter books, the head students are instrumental in keeping order in the halls of HOL, helping students as needed, identifying and correcting bad behaviour, and rewarding good behaviour and initiative. They are always available to help students who may experience problems with other authorities.
The HOL Head students run the HOL Student Committee, a governing body comprised of House Prefects which affected many student-suggested initiatives over the past years. HOL Head students are also generally responsible for keeping track of the trick stairs, enforcing the dress code, teaching proper badge care and mowing the lawn at HOL.
All head students are impartial in terms of Houses, as they serve the entire body of HOL. There is no application process to become Headboy or Headgirl. It does not matter at all which house a potential head student is part of during the selection process."

Slytherin: Who's your Daddy or mommy?

pr_byn — 2010-07-23T01:22:36Z
To all Slytherin survivors,

WOO! We made it through another year, where the cup narrowly avoided our grasp. (Well... not exactly, but you get the idea.)

Activity will be a crucial part of next year's success if we want to take the Cups!

One of the many ways we're going to go about sprucing up activity is to re-institute an old program for the newbies (or for those that feel left out and want to be a newbie again), so they're more active and more guided – it's called “Adopt a Hatchling”.

Through this program, we will pair off an “oldbie” with a “newbie” so that the more experienced student can show the younger ones the ropes of HOL. You even get 50 very pretty scales (Scales will be like Slytherin money :D)for doing so!

If you're interested in warping the min- ER, helping a new student around HOL, please send a PM to Kent Avery (in the dungeons) saying you'd like to sign up, just so we have an idea on how many oldbies we'll have! :D

Student Teachers and Class assistants

pr_esc — 2010-07-19T15:13:11Z
The Head Office revised the way we worked in the last years with Student Teachers and Class assistants, and we saw that things were not working properly. So from now on, we have settled new guides:
- number of classes a Student Teacher can teach - 3 max per term
- number of classes a student can assist in - 3 max per term
- amount of points awarded to student teachers and assistants per term - Student Teachers: 100 max (awarded by the HO at the end of term), assistants: 50 max (by Prof/ST)

We must emphasize that the Professor/ST must be the one who does the work, and the assistant will just "assist" when needed, hence the assistant of a class can be awarded no more than 50 points during the term. It is up to the Professor/ST to award the points according to the job done by the assistant, but never more than 50 points in the whole term.

If the Professor/ST disappears, and the Class assistant takes over, the HO will determine at the end of the year what you will be given points-wise.

Salazar Awards Ceremony!

pr_sul — 2010-07-18T03:07:50Z
With another school year completed it's time to present the end of year Slytherin awards! Our awards ceremony recognises the academic efforts of our students throughout the school year.

The awards ceremony has been posted here. Slytherin students will also find an announcement in the Dungeons. Congratulations to all the recipients for their fantastic work!

I say bring on the new school year, it's time to take down the other houses!

- Prof. Ashlee Sully

Gryffindor Staff Changes!

pr_mis — 2010-07-17T05:04:36Z
We have some staff changes to announce for our house!

Unfortunately, with a hard decision to make, Castora Grimsby, Joel Aireserkiel, Cyriel Aurorous, are no longer Gryffindor Prefects.

Joanne Grey has stepped out of Prefectship and has decided to intern as a Junior Prefect based on RL workload. Katie Potter has stepped down as JP and is a regular student again (and we wish her the best of luck with her Junior Year!).

Amanda P.X Sim, Serenity Thomas, Rowan Dream and Jinxy Jo have been promoted to prefect due to their outstanding work and dedication this last year as they ran their dens.

Jenny Lupin is no longer a den leader. She has *finally* agreed to become a Professor, and has accepted the daunting task of being Gryffindor's Deputy Head of House. Which means, if you need something done, ask her - NOT me! *g*

Kadina Tigano has been promoted from regular prefect to Prefect in Charge (which we haven't had in years). We congratulate her on the insane amount of work she will be coming into this year by accepting this position.

For those who are wondering, sometime before August arrives, the Gryffindor staff will be posting Junior Prefect applications for those in the house. You will have to wait until that time to find out what the specific qualification are in order to be considered. Don't ask about it now, because you won't be answered. Thank you.

- Missa

SQL Events List

pr_lob — 2010-07-14T23:10:31Z

Summer Quidditch League is on its way this month!

IRC and HOL Reminders

pr_zen — 2010-07-14T22:14:20Z
As summer is already here, and the beginning of the term is fast approaching, the HOL professors and IRC moderators would like to send out a few quick reminders.

If you're going to be joining us on IRC for some fun chatting, or the Summer Quidditch League, please remember to read and follow the guidelines and rules that are established.

They can be found here: HOL IRC Guidelines

Also, if you are new to HOL and/or IRC, make sure you read those guidelines. It will be helpful to you.

Below are a few of the more pertinent rules:

1. Use your HOL name as your only nickname when you first begin chatting. Offer it freely when asked by the channel operators.

2. English is the official language of the HOL chats.

3. Netspeak is not tolerated.

4. Spam is not tolerated.

5. Do not share any personal information--your name, phone number, address, school or town. Countries and states are fine.

6. The HOL chatrooms also include members in the 9-12 age group--keep your content tasteful and appropriate.

7. Links must be approved by a channel operator before they are shared.
Do not advertise private channels in public chats.

If you have no idea what IRC is, or even that HOL has chatrooms, you can make a visit to this link and learn about the magical world that is IRC: IRC Clients and Operating Instructions

If you are wanting to use IRC, but are having difficulties working the program, feel free to drop me an owl and I will be more than happy to help out.

Thank you very much for your consideration and time.

Have a great summer and happy chatting!

End of schoolyear

pr_esc — 2010-07-13T00:28:47Z
Another year is gone, and now it is time to make a closure of this schoolyear with some announcements:
CONGRATULATIONS HUFFLEPUFF FOR WINNING THE HOUSE CUP!!! with 126076 points.
Second place was Ravenclaw with 120113 points.
Third place is for Slytherin with 110403 points.
Fourth place is Gryffindor with 96240 points.

In the Quidditch department, you all already know that Ravenclaw won the cup for a 6th year in a row!

And last, but no less important, I am proud to announce that I am awarding a banana to a person who during the present schoolyear, helped me keep my sanity as new Headmaster. So The Headmaster Award is presented to Prof. Cassandra Sparkleissa Lobiesk!

Well done everybody, and see you next schoolyear. Remember that we will be celebrating HOL's 10th Anniversary :)

Slytherin Yearbook Staff Hiring

pr_byn — 2010-07-12T01:28:05Z
Attention Slytherin Students. I am proud to announce that our house will be starting a little project....well not so little, its a big project. I'm looking for writers, graphic designers, photographers, etc.... PM me (Prof. Miette Bynny) in the Slytherin Dungeons or send me an HOL message here for more Details!

Dungeons Re-Opened

pr_sul — 2010-07-11T08:28:08Z

Some of you may have noticed that the Dungeons closed down for a few hours today while I upgraded and re-decorated the forum! I am now finished (for the most part) so please feel free to come back and join in all the fun! And thank you Kent for helping me out!

The arcade IS missing but will hopefully be back next weekend!

- Prof. Ashlee Sully

Gryffindor Summer Camp Tomfoolery!

pr_zen — 2010-07-09T23:24:42Z
That's right. We said tomfoolery and that can only mean one thing...

Gryffindor Summer Camp is going to blow HOL off the MAP this summer! Obviously, cause we like blowing things up.

If you know nothing about Gryffindor Summer Camp, allow me to highlight some of my fondest memories.

.

So, yeah, we have whales....and BUTTERBEER. So, anyone who doesn't join us with Gryffindor Summer Camp this year is going to miss out on crazy fun. It's also a really good way to meet new Gryffindors and see how awesome we are.

---

Make sure you've registered for the CR here: Gryffindor Common Room

Look under the the announcements area to the topic that says "READ ME FIRST", that gives a detailed explanation on how to properly sign up for the Common Room. Validation are done daily.

Once you are registered and approved, you can find the Summer Camp sign-ups here: SIGN-UPS!

AWESOME. I will see you all this summer!

*Blasts everyone with a Butterbeer gun*

Ravenclaw Laundry Workers---Erm, Reserves

pr_lob — 2010-07-06T23:55:15Z
Quick congratulations to Ravenclaw's newest set of reserve prefects:

Arielle Lemoyne
and
Catriona Watson
and
Ryan Granger!

Claps and quick hugs to the PiTs who slaved away this summer :D *pitpats*

By the way, Rhi, Ulol, and I have a lot of laundry that needs doing. I hope you're ready to divvy them up amongst yourselves!

Attention My Little Snakesssss

pr_byn — 2010-07-06T22:10:38Z
All our little snakes and older snakes. Come to the dungeons to enjoy a wicked awesome summer workshop. From Treasure Hunt Photography to Edible Potions to Banner Making to the Great Matrix Debate (yes it really is about the Matrix Trilogy).

Learn a little, Have fun A LOT!

(oh and get scales and shiny awards! Oh hey there awards!)

Visit the Dungeons!

pr_sul — 2010-07-04T06:44:05Z

Click on the picture to visit the Slytherin Dungeons!

Visitors from other houses are more than welcome but I suggest you bring a snack for Basil, the resident Basilisk, otherwise he might see what YOU taste like.

(He tells me that Gryffindors taste like chicken!)

Hufflepuff's Newest Prefects!

pr_chu — 2010-07-02T19:14:41Z
Please give a warm welcome to Hufflepuff's two new Prefects:

Prefect Katelin Ross

AND

Prefect Zoki Phantom

We are proud to have them as a part of our team!

--Anya

Slytherin Summer School? SAY WHAT?! No its not School...

pr_byn — 2010-07-02T16:25:31Z
Not really...lol Snakes look in the dungeons for more information. PM Kent Avery with any of your questions. Lets make our Summer Siiiizzzzzllleee!!
(ok that was bad..lol)

Insert New Banner Here.....

pr_byn — 2010-07-02T13:17:58Z
The School year has ended and the new year is fast approaching. But this new year isn't just ANY year. This coming year is the 10 Year Anniversary of HOL. (OMG WHO KNEW!!) Well I knew of course along with many other oldies but that is not the point. The point is we want to celebrate this milestone with many activities throughout the coming year geared towards our 10 years online.

And the first activity is to give our lovely website a new banner to show our 10 year awesomeness! So here is the breakdown:

Theme: 10 year anniversary HOL/HP Then and Now

Requirements:
- Size: 954x128
- 10th Anniversary & HOL - Virtual Hogwarts Must be in the banner somehow. The banner must show that we are celebrating 10 years of this site.

No Animation, must be in jpg.

Point Breakdown:

10 points per banner submission - 2 max per person
Top 10 - Extra 10 points (Top 10 will be voted amongst the sekrit judges. am I one? I dunno but i do love pickles *winks*)
Once we have the top 10, The banners will be open to all of HOL for voting.

1st - 30 points
2nd - 20
3rd - 10

Email : HOL10th@hol.org.uk
Include HOL name & ID

This contest will run from July 2nd to July 23rd. Voting will open soon thereafter

Thank you, Good Luck, and Many many thanks to all that have made this online community what it is today after all these years (*shudders* the beginnings with rapidforum)

Summertime is fast approaching...

pr_byn — 2010-06-28T16:56:45Z
And the change is coming in Slytherin. This year was a great year for us even if we finished in 3rd place again. But I saw our house have so much potential. So with this potential there were a few staff changes. Without further ramblings from yours truly.....

On a side note. With all the promotions we had to had have someone step down. Faye Roderick is no longer head prefect of Slytherin. She realized her true passion is to bring the Quidditch Cup back to our house and she needed to devote more time into training our players and recruiting potential champions. She was my right hand woman for the past 2 years and I am so grateful for EVERYTHING she has done. She is awesome and she will be missed as head prefect, but I am totally happy for her decision to focus more on Quiddy.

THANK YOU FAYEFAYE!!!!

*****oh ya...TRY OUT FOR QUIDDY!!!!!

Do you like playing board games?

pr_mis — 2010-06-27T01:04:23Z
How about real life games? Someone is Gryffindor house has been murdered! It is up to our three detective agencies and their summer interns to figure out the details of what happened!

For more information, including sign ups, check the Gryffindor Common Room!

Here is the sign up thread for those interested: Intern Sign Ups
Image created by: Molly Grabau

Cheers from the Cheerie-Os

ro646 — 2010-06-24T13:50:56Z
*tumbles in doing cartwheels*

The Cheerie-O's (Hufflepuff Cheerleaders) would like to present their latest activity to help promote cheering!

written by Hermionie Miranda and Rorey Padfoot

With Ravenclaw winning the Quiddy Cup (Congrats on that by the way) this year the Hufflepuff cheerleaders would like to start early for next years season. If those who don't play Quiddy feel kind of left out, don't worry! This activity is especially for you guys! You guys are allowed to create cheers for regular season Quiddy!! This activity is brought to you by the Cheerie-Os, and will be led by me, Hermionie Miranda, and Cheerie-O co-cap Rorey Padfoot. Of course, there is always the chance to win some citrines, so participate and get those yellow jewels! We hope for a great turn out!

If you are interested in participating, read on to see how you should make your cheer and for more information on the contest.

Rules and Guidelines for Cheers
1. Each cheer submitted should be 4 lines long.
2. Your cheer can be about a House team (sorry, but no SQL teams allowed), an individual player, or Quidditch in general.
3. Absolutely NO team bashing, or rudeness! We're all a big happy HOL family after all! Everything needs to be rated G!
4. The maximum amount of cheers you can send in is 3 cheers.
5. Make sure your cheer doesn't violate the HOL rules.

Citrine Breakdown
*Each cheer submitted gets 10 citrines, with a maximum of 30 citrines.
*1st place will get 30 citrines, 2nd will get 20 citrines, and 3rd will get 10 citrines.

The deadline for entries is July 7th, and we will vote on entries until July 16th. This is open up to all of HOL and we would love to see other houses cheer for their team!

Send your entries by PM at the Sett, to Hermionie Miranda. Clicky Here to pm Herms!

Once again I hope many people participate and have fun! Happy cheer writing!

Clicky Here to see the project!

If you are not already signed up for the Sett please make sure you follow the instructions precisely, or it could slow down your approval time

Wizarding Times June 2010 Edition!

pr_chu — 2010-06-21T15:45:24Z

Attention! Attention!

Take a few moments and check out...

Click here to be taken to the June 2010 issue!

Head of Hufflepuff Awards

pr_chu — 2010-06-21T15:33:11Z
Each term, I'm honored to give out the HoH of Hufflepuff Awards. This year's Award Winners are:

Badger-of-all-Trades Award
Tarma Black
Head of Hufflepuff Award of Appreciation
Katelin Ross & Maquelly John
Head of Hufflepuff Award of Friendship
Kath Snape
Head of Hufflepuff Award of Merit
Zoki Phantom
The Alektaia Khalikiope Memorial Award
Rorey Padfoot
Please congratulate them when you see them in the Hallways!

Pack Your Bags!

pr_esc — 2010-06-16T19:07:12Z

Click

Roost is Back! And So's the Alte!

pr_lob — 2010-06-09T03:34:48Z

Let's try this again XD

Ford Anglia Sighted!

pr_lob — 2010-06-09T00:20:50Z

Clicky clicky!

Roost is DOWN

pr_lob — 2010-06-07T03:58:31Z
Mmk, I'm editing this post (which used to be an Alte post) to say that the Roost has gone down for the time being. Since there's no point sending you to the Alte page (considering it's also down), I'll re-post things once everything is back up and running.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and hopefully the problem will be fixed in due course!

- Cassie

Summer Solstice SerpenTimes Summer Edition

pr_byn — 2010-06-04T16:32:37Z
Say that fast 5 times. Anyway, Kent Avery, our resident advice columnist, is open for your questions. PM him here in HOL forums or Slytherin Dungeons with your questions :)

SerpenTimes Needs You!

pr_byn — 2010-06-03T15:51:02Z

The Slytherin House paper is taking submissions for their summer edition.

If you are a great writer, or want to pretend to be, send your ideas to Megaera Selwyn. If you are a great artist, or just like to finger paint, Send your ideas to Megaera Selwyn. If you just want points and beans, bug and pester Megaera Selwyn with your ideas. With any idea just annoy Megaera Selwyn (or Danielle Mandeville or Kent Avery). Just send Meg, Danielle or Kent PMs for any ideas/submissions.

All submissions due JUNE 21ST MIDNIGHT HOL. SO YOU CAN GET POINT FOR THIS TERM!!

This is open to all houses. For more information on points per article/submission please bug/pester/annoy Meg, Danielle, or Kent

Summer Quidditch League

pr_lob — 2010-06-01T19:20:02Z

Click the image to get taken to the forum!

What are you afraid of?

ro646 — 2010-05-17T18:22:47Z
We all know Ron is scared of spiders and Professor Lupin does not like full moons, but if you came across a boggart what would it turn into for you

For this project we want to see what you are scared of the most. You can show us an image of your fear in its true form or how you could make your fear into something humorous to help defeat the boggart. You can create it anyway you want, just remember the more effort put into it, the more likely your ratings will be higher.

*Do not take something from the internet and claim it as your own. You may manipulate a picture, but if it looks too close to the original it will be rejected.*

Projects need to be no larger than 600 by 600 pixels and no smaller than 400 by 400 pixels. The file size can be up to 300kb. You will also need to add some text to explain what you are fearful of. It’s up to you if you want to go into more detail.

idea submitted by Zoki Phantom

Click here to get to the project!

Oh noes!

pr_esc — 2010-05-04T02:02:28Z

Clicky

Paw Print Issue 43 is Up!

pr_mis — 2010-05-02T05:13:40Z
Helloooo! And thank you for the exceptionally long wait! Real life happens to the best of us, it just all seemed to happen at the exact same time for most of us. One person disappears one week, another the next, things get confusing, but never fear! We finally got our rears in gear. (Yes, bad rhyme, I know.)

Anyways, the 43rd issue of The Paw Print is on shelves now for your viewing pleasure. We look forward to your responses, and above all else, HAPPY READING!
http://gryff.net/pawprint

Calling All Ravenclaws!

pr_lob — 2010-04-15T00:11:33Z
Head of House Rhiannon Llewellyn has announced that PiT (Prefect-in-Training) applications are now being accepted once again.

If you have been a member of HOL since at least September of 2009 and are interested in applying to hopefully become a reserve prefect (or even a prefect) in Ravenclaw, please check the Roost for information in how you would go about in sending the application.

Click here for PiT information and application process!

Good luck and we hope to hear from you! :)

New Submissions Being Accepted for the Next Issue

ro646 — 2010-04-13T11:37:13Z
Want to earn some extra points for your house?

The Times is looking for new submissions for last issue of the year. The theme for this issue is End of the Year/Summer. If you are interested, please contact the Submissions Coordinator (me) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol) and send me your ideas for approval. I will help you with ideas and submissions if need be!

All work must be original and not copied from another source. You have until June 6th, 2010 to send something in.

We accept:

* Art
* Articles
* Poems
* Recipes
* Reviews
* Interviews
* Ads

Or if you have another idea send me an e-mail.

So get to it! Send us your ideas/submissions today!

Alte April Issue Up!

pr_lob — 2010-04-10T20:41:12Z

Yes, I do mean UP! So head on over and click on the image!

(thank you for providing such a lovely picture, Prof. Kimil :P)

Wizarding Times, Spring 2010 Edition

pr_chu — 2010-04-08T18:24:11Z
Please check out our newest edition of the Wizarding Times! We've got interviews, recipes, games, and reviews galore!!!

Click the image to be taken to the WT!

What Wizard Angst?

pr_lob — 2010-04-06T01:50:32Z

Click clickety click!

High in the Sky

ro646 — 2010-04-05T13:50:20Z
Have you ever gone out at night and looked up at the sky, trying to find a familiar constellation, star, or even planet? Well, we want to see what you see. With so many people who attend HOL living in different parts of the world it would be neat to see what everyone else sees at night.

For this project we would like you to go outside and look at the sky in your area and see if you can get a picture of a constellation, planet, galaxy, anything else in the sky you find interesting. This is a taking a picture only project. You may add a border and you must add what the subject of your picture is, but do not create the photo in photoshop or turn in a drawing.

Your submission should be no smaller than 400 by 400 pixels and no larger than 700 by 700 pixels. The maximum file size should be no larger than 300kb. You must also state somewhere on your picture (this can be added in photoshop) what you are trying to show us; for example if it a star, tell us the star’s name, if it is a constellation, which one is it. Remember the more exotic the subject the more likely it is to get higher ratings. Taking a picture and saying “here’s some stars” but not naming them, most likely will get you a lower voting rating.

Happy Stargazing!

Project idea given by Layla Wolf

Click here to get to the project!

By Jove, They’ve Found It!

ro646 — 2010-04-04T22:27:11Z
While on a school field trip to a very remote island some students swear they saw a new magical creature. The problem is, all the descriptions the students were giving us are conflicting. The Art Department would like any student that “thinks” they may know what this new creature looks like, to create and submit their own picture of said creature AND what they would name it.

For this project we want you to draw, photoshop, create with sticks a brand new magical creature that has never before been discovered by the Ministry of Magic. This must be your own creation, so grabbing some muggle creature off the internet and claiming it as your own is prohibited. You may manipulate a photo, but the closer it looks to the original the more likely it will not be accepted.

The image should be no smaller than 400 by 400 pixels and no larger than 600 by 600 pixels with a maximum file size of 300kb. Remember to also include the name of your creature in your final submission.

Have fun exploring!

Click here to get to the project!

Sing my song

pr_esc — 2010-03-17T16:53:50Z

Clicky

Quidditch Board

pr_esc — 2010-03-16T03:56:13Z
There are 3 new members of the Quidditch Board:
Alexia Riaper
Cosmo Brown
Lilly Stargazer.

Wish them luck :)

And one less, Prof. Mandrake left the QB.

Starry Night

pr_lob — 2010-02-27T18:38:28Z

Image by Jenna Hathaway

Welcome back

pr_esc — 2010-02-26T00:57:28Z
I asked Prof. Anya Chutney to return to the Head Office, and with great regret I must announce that she said yes.
So now she will be watching all of you and if you don't behave properly, she will make your life miserable.

WELCOME BACK ANYA!!!

Again, as I had no inspiration for a graphic, here are some lyrics:
Anya was a HoH who thought she was free
But she knew it wouldn't last.
Anya left her job at the Head Office
For some Hufflepuff sweets.

Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged

Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged.

Family Crest

ro646 — 2010-02-25T18:51:32Z
Are you a Pure Blood wizard, a Half-Blood, or a Muggle Born with royalty ties? No? Well, then have you always wanted to be? For this project we want you to create what your family crest would look like. How would it be shaped or decorated? This is a project that needs work and thought put into it. Yes, you might even have to do some research in order to complete it.

Your finished result should be no smaller than 350 by 350 pixels and no larger than 600 by 600 pixels. This does not mean you need to keep the shape as a square, in fact I encourage you not to in order to make it more realistic. The maximum file size can be no larger than 300kb.

You can either draw your crest by hand or create it in photoshop. Feel free to add some comments, but keep the submissions anonymous. Also do not take something from the internet and claim it as your own. Your submission will be disqualified and possibly lose your house some points.

Click here to get to the project!

ATTN: Gryffindor CR Registration

pr_mis — 2010-02-25T05:05:52Z
Greetings everyone! It has come to my attention (finally) that no one who isn't already member of our Common Room already can view the threads needed in order to know how to properly register.

Shortly we will be getting an easy to access site up in order to help your registration run smoothly. Until then, use the following information in order to make sure your registration will not be deleted.

Account Information:
User name
Display name

It is important to note that both your user name and display name must perfectly match your HOL name with proper capitalization and spacing. If it's not, it gets deleted.

-----------
Email address
re-enter email address

Your email address must match the email address listed in your HOL profile. If it doesn't, your registration will be deleted.

-----------
Choose password
re-enter password

Self explanatory.
-----------
(Board Options)
blah, blah

Self explanatory.

-----------
Den name
HOL ID

For den name, if you are a guest put your house and guest, so Hufflepuff Guest for Hufflepuffs. If you are a Gryffindor and don't already know your den (from before the boards blew up) please put Gryffindor, Not Sure, No Den, etc (it really doesn't matter) in the den field. You will be sorted into a den later.

-----------
verify you are human
(aka, insert code, yo)

Do you have the license to spy?

pr_lob — 2010-02-21T00:35:19Z

image provided by Jenna Hathaway

Lucky Charms

ro646 — 2010-02-18T03:52:51Z

No, not the cereal.

Do you have a lucky charm; something that you feel brings you luck at the big game or during a super hard exam? Well we want to see it. Submit a photo, drawing, or collage created in Photoshop of what helps bring you some luck when you really need it. Remember to give your submission a title so we all know what it is. This should be something you already own; no need to go out an buy a rabbit’s foot or anything. There should also be no reason to use pictures from the internet for this project, so they are not allowed.

Make your submission no smaller than 400 by 400 pixels and no larger than 600 by 600 pixels with a maximum file size of 200kb. Submissions do not have to be square shaped, but just within those restrictions.

And, remember, AS ALWAYS....comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted. Writing the same statement on every project is not acceptable either.

Click here to get to the project!

New Submissions Being Accepted for the Next Issue

ro646 — 2010-02-17T19:16:03Z
Want to earn some extra points for your house?

The Times is looking for new submissions for our next issue. If you are interested, please contact the Submissions Coordinator (me) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol). I will help you with ideas and submissions if need be!

All work must be original and not copied from another source. You have until March 26st, 2010 to send something in. This will be our Spring issue, so think Spring.

We accept:

* Art
* Articles
* Poems
* Recipes
* Reviews
* Interviews
* Ads

Or if you have another idea send me an e-mail.

So get to it! Send us your ideas/submissions today!

February Wizarding Times

pr_chu — 2010-02-17T16:10:40Z
The Latest Wizarding Times is available for your reading pleasure!

Click Click Click!

Got power?

pr_esc — 2010-02-17T02:42:17Z

Clicky

Guess what this project is about >_>

pr_esc — 2010-02-14T20:54:08Z
We owe you a purdy graphic... but here are some lyrics from The Beatles!!!

I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Oh yes... clicky here

Alte February Issue Up!

pr_lob — 2010-02-11T05:04:18Z

Clicky clicky clicky! :D

Slytherin Students... I need your Detective skills!

pr_byn — 2010-02-08T18:16:06Z

My little snakes, I walked into my office and found this odd note! If this is a joke I do not find it funny. If this is real....then we may have a problem. I and my prefects are looking into this but for all the other snakes...keep your wands out and ready to stun anyone trying to attack you. I SAID ATTACK, not if they are just some random badger or lion or eagle (oh my!).

Keep your eyes wide and ready for anything. See what you can make of this....

New Issue of the Hogsmeade Herald!

pr_esc — 2010-02-05T23:16:19Z

The Gryffindor Paw Print: New Issue #41

pr_zen — 2010-02-05T00:02:05Z

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

The Gryffindor Paw Print's newest issue has just hit shelves everywhere! Make sure you have your copy before they're all gone!

Click here to apparate to the issue!

Thank you to my staff for doing an amazing job yet again.

Also, thank you to everyone who submitted Prose and Cons and cameo articles. It is quite a large section this time! Make sure you keep an eye out for the next Prose and Cons post.

Don't forget, if you're in another house and would like to write a cameo piece for the Paw Print, just drop Zenix James an owl!

- The Paw Print Staff

New HOL Headmaster

pr_dyb — 2010-02-01T12:54:07Z

I'd like to announce that, effective immediately, Professor Ulol Kimil has been appointed Headmaster of HOL Virtual Hogwarts.

I have asked Prof. Kimil if he wants to take over this position and I am very grateful that he has accepted. Ulol is very actively involved in everything that is happening in the school and he has been a wonderful Deputy to me for a long time, always having the best of all of HOL in mind.

I am stepping down because I just don't have the time to be as involved as I would like to, and it is not fair to all our active students and professors if the Headmaster is away from every-day school business for such long periods of time. But I am not going anywhere, will stay in the Headoffice and I hope I find the time to complete the beans, adventure, dueling club and other pending projects soon.

Please give your new Headmaster a warm welcome!

Rames.

Winter Edition of the SerpenTimes is HERE... (finally)

pr_byn — 2010-01-31T00:43:05Z

The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived at last!

The new home of the SerpenTimes is up for your reading (and listening!) pleasure. We have several new columns that will definitely capture your attention, including Ask Avery and the Misadventures of HOL. Tune into the Dream Oracle for brand new analyses! Also, I highly recommend Liah's article about the mysterious obsession with Dr Who.

In addition, we have a number of puzzles, poems, recipes and interviews to keep you busy after that.

Thanks so much to all contributors and staff for your hard work! Points will follow within the week.

Enjoy this issue, and be sure to get your submissions in next time! ---- From your Editor (Crazy Caliente) Meg

Click here to see the new Issue of the SerpenTimes.

Valentine's Day? EWWWWW

pr_esc — 2010-01-25T02:35:46Z

Clicky on the image :)

Slytherin Arcade is Again Open for Business

pr_byn — 2010-01-25T00:42:24Z

The 2nd Green Versus Silver arcade tournament is now over.

Congrats to Silver for winning Again. Total score of 392 to Green teams 238.

Now that the tournament is over, we have opened the house arcade to the rest of HOL. Remember when the school year is over, anyone in the top 3 will receive HOL points and a nifty award for coming in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.

30-first
20-second
10-third

SO COME ON SNAKES COME IN THE TOP THREE!!!

Secret Admirer

ro646 — 2010-01-19T21:12:21Z

With January half way through, term ending, new classes beginning, and Valentine’s Day about a month away it is time to show some love around HOL.

For this project we would like you to make something special for that someone(s) special. You can make a Valentine’s card, a I appreciate you card, take a picture of some flowers to virtually send them to a friend, make some cookies and give them from one house to another and so on. The catch is to not let the person you are giving something to know you are their Secret Admirer. This is the time were you can tell that class assistant thanks for all that they do, or show a Professor you really enjoyed their class.

In an image no smaller than 500 x 500 and no larger than 800 x 800 with a maximum file size of 300kb, let’s spread the love around HOL. Please do not take a picture from the internet and claim it as your own; you WILL lose points for this. If you have any questions ask them in the discussion area; Here!

And, remember, AS ALWAYS....comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted. Writing the same statement on every project is not acceptable either.

Click here to be taken to the project!

Do you hear what I hear?

pr_esc — 2010-01-10T16:00:22Z

Final dates. Sorry if there was a bit of missinformation :)

January 10th: Class appliactions for Spring term 2010 are closed.
January 10th: List of new classes for Spring term 2010 will be available.
January 23rd: Due date for closing classes of Winter term 2009.
February 1st: Class sign ups open and start of Spring term 2010.

Any complains, I'll be not happy to hear them but oh well :P

Sign Up for the Bronze and Blue Olympics!

pr_lob — 2010-01-10T01:22:26Z

Image courtesy of Jenna Hathaway

Slytherin Arcade Down! Oh Noes!!

pr_byn — 2010-01-09T03:41:54Z

The Slytherin Arcade is shut down to the other 3 houses due to the Green vs Silver Midterm Arcade tournament.

The Arcade will re-open to the other houses in 2 weeks (Saturday, January 23rd). Until then feel free to visit the forum and chat in our visitors section :)

I like to congratulate Scarlet Leslie of Ravenclaw and Rensha Black of Slytherin for coming in first. They will receive 30 points each for their placement in the arcade. Emily Cullen will get 15 points for 2nd and Cassandra Doyle will get 10 for 3rd. Both are from Slytherin.

When the arcade re-opens all houses that sign up will have another chance to play and earn points when the year ends. for 1st, 2nd, &3rd

Thank you!

Prof. Miette Bynny

The Great HOL Cook Off!

ro646 — 2010-01-05T02:11:49Z

Just like we have a bunch of crafters here, I know we must have a bunch of good cooks and bakers. For this project we want to see your specialty dish. Can you decorate cakes? Grill like no other? or even make a mean salad? Well, we want to see it.

In a photo no smaller than 400 x 400 and no larger than 700 x 700 with a maximum file size of 200kb show us what you can make. We'd prefer you not use photoshop, but if you want to add in your recipe please by all means do so. You must include the name of your dish so we all know what it is. Please do not take a picture from the internet and claim it as your own; you WILL lose points for this. If you have any questions ask them in the discussion area: Here!

Click here to be taken to the project!

Bon Appetit

I will not fail this year, I will not!

pr_esc — 2010-01-04T15:16:25Z

Click the image for the library project!

Changes in Slytherin

pr_obi — 2010-01-03T20:17:43Z

With a sigh the old professor climbed upon the podium.

"SILENCE!!!" he barked, waiting for the whole Great Hall to fall silence.

"I have an announcement to make. And it's not a pretty one, so better listen very carefully, as I will only say it once".

"Effectively immediately Professor Miette (what'shername) will be joining the ranks of higher posts within the school. She will be assisting me with the going ons of Slytherin. This means that from now on her official title will be "CO-Head Of House for Slytherin".

*mutters something and walks away only to return later*

"I would like to warn all Slytherin's that she will be very strict and has many, many ways of punish you. Also she is in charge of the disciplinary actions towards all of the Slytherin house members"

*steps of the podium and walks towards his office, far away from the student crowd*

New Year's Eve Party

pr_lob — 2009-12-23T22:37:30Z

BAH, HUMBUG!

pr_esc — 2009-12-17T04:59:58Z

Image by Lady Sparkly

New Edition Of the Wizarding Times

ro646 — 2009-12-16T03:57:16Z

Hufflepuff is proud to present the latest edition of the Wizarding Times! There's an interview with a Quiddy Captain, a review of the new Glee album, a badger's view of the new Harry Potter Exhibit, games and lots more!

Also the Times is looking for new submissions for our next issue. If you are interested, please contact the Submissions Coordinator (me) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol). I will help you with ideas and submissions if need be! You have until January 31st, 2010 to send something in.

So get to it! Send us your ideas/submissions today!

Seasons Greetings

ro646 — 2009-12-14T19:38:55Z

Tis' the season to send out those holiday cards. For this project we want you to make a greeting card that says how you feel this holiday season. You can send it to one person here at HOL or to an entire house. Remember projects are supposed to be anonymous so please do not actually “sign” the card, we only want to see who you are sending it to. You can wish your recipient Happy Holidays or if you have a little bit of Scrooge in you, wish them a Bah Humbug (please keep content appropriate).

Projects should be a minimum of 500 x 500 and a max of 800 x 800, with a max file size of 300kb. You can either create the card in Photoshop (or another some similar program) or create a real life card and take a picture of it or scan it in to show us your creativity. Either way, DO NOT download something from the internet and claim it as your own. Cards are to be HOL related, meaning you are sending it to another student here or an entire house.

Happy Holidays!

Click here to be taken to the project!

Gryffindor House Meeting

pr_mis — 2009-12-12T21:24:07Z

Hey, it's time for another Gryffindor House Meeting. This will be the last time we post about the meeting in this area of HOL. In the future it will be announced in the Common Room only, since it is working again. That means if you want to actually sign up for the forum again, do so, seeing as we've only had about 1/5 of our students sign back up. Kinda hard to run Gryfftoberfest if there are no students participating, so get over there and register already!

Anyways, house meeting info here I go...

When: Sunday, December 13th 4 pm EST (which is totally 9 pm HOL time)
Where: In the irc channel #gryffhousemeeting
Who: Gryffindor's only please!

Zenix James says she going to be running a hangman game 45-30 minutes before the meeting there, so hopefully she totally shows up.

WE WANT YOU!!!

pr_byn — 2009-12-11T15:10:41Z

Do you have creativity? Do you have an artistic bone? Do you want to earn points for your house? Do you have extra time on your hand that you just feel the need to contribute your greatness too? Well if you answered yes to any or all of these questions then we have a job for you!

The SerpenTimes needs you! We need writers and artists for the Slytherin paper. We are in the process of writing the Winter edition of the SerpenTimes and if you want to contribute you still can and earn points in the process.

We are also making a new section in our paper. The Classifieds Section! We needs writers and artists for this section!

for more info email/pm or P2P in mIRC, Megaera Selwyn.

holserpentimes@gmail.com

(contact Prof. Miette Bynny for info on the classifieds section @ dklynds@gmail.com or pm/holmessage/p2p in mIRC)

New Alte Is Up!

pr_lob — 2009-12-10T04:10:07Z

:D Check it out!

Secret Badger Santa

ro646 — 2009-12-06T23:30:14Z

Calling all the badgers!! Come on down to the Sett to join the seasonal festivities. We've started sign ups for Secret Badger Santa.

Read the information post HERE to learn more about it.

Sign ups are only until December 11th, so sign up early to join in the fun!!

I hear that Jingling Jangling of Bells!!

pr_byn — 2009-12-06T19:23:15Z

That must mean its SLYTHMAS TIME!!!!!
Yup it's that time of the year. Gryffindors have their Gryfftoberfest and us Slytherins have our Slythmas. Slythmas is a month long celebration for us Snakes. Activities will run all month to show our pride in our house and in our favorite holiday season.

But fear not rest of HOL, We all at Slytherin wanted to give you all a present too. We wish everyone Joy, luck, happiness, and endless flow of butterbeer and fire whiskey (for us professors of course) throughout the year.

Live, Laugh, and Love lots!

MERRY SLYTHMAS!!!!!
(Click the card to see what's inside!)

Hogsmeade Herald December Issue

pr_esc — 2009-12-06T16:32:42Z

Crafty People Unite

ro646 — 2009-11-23T18:14:03Z

We know you are out there, so show us what you have! For this project we want to see what you have created in the real world. Do you knit? paint? scrapbook? crochet? draw? sew? Well, we want to see it. Take a picture of something you have created. Since we see people's ability in photoshop throughout the other projects we will not be accepting them this time. We only want to see what you are able to create off the computer.

Your submission should be a minimum of 400 x 400 with a maximum of 600 x 600 and a file size no larger than 200kb. Please do not snag a picture of something from the internet and claim it as your own. Not even editing a picture from the internet will be accepted for this project. We only want something you, yourself created. Feel free to add a line or two about what your creation is.

Feel free to ask questions about this submission in the Arts Discussion area.

Click here to be taken to the project!

Project Muggle

ro646 — 2009-11-12T14:38:52Z

As we see in the Harry Potter books, there are some magical people who think muggles are absolutely fascinating; from Mr. Weasley enchanting a car to Ron yelling at Uncle Vernon when trying to use the telephone. Witches and Wizards don't always fit into the Muggle World.

For this project we want to see you, the witches and wizards of HOL try to fit in the muggle world. Sometimes you may be able to blend in perfectly, but at other times it could be a bit too obvious you don't belong.

With a minimum 400 by 400 and a maximum of 700 by 700 show us your attempt of fitting into the muggle world. File size of a maximum 300kb. You may add text to explain your picture as well.

This could show objects you have enchanted to stand in (or out) or you doing your best muggle interpretation. Just make sure these are YOUR creations. Do not take a picture from the internet and claim it as yours. Of course you may tweak things a bit, just turning in a picture with no alterations and claiming it as your own will lose you and your house points.

Click here to be taken to the project!

Gryffindor Common Room, Reopened

pr_mis — 2009-11-10T14:55:42Z

We've finally managed to open the Gryffindor Common Room once again, to all of HOL including our own students. Please be aware that it will take at LEAST 3-7 days for your registration to either be accepted or denied.

Our staff is working hard to post up a brand new set of rules for all areas of the board, and the board may go down from time to time as features need to be changed/added. We ask for your patience while this occurs.

Finally, please follow the rules of registration located here. If you fail to follow the rules of registration, it will be deleted and you'll have to wait another 3-7 days when you try to register again.

Slytherin Promotion

pr_byn — 2009-11-09T23:54:20Z

Due to recent events that have occurred in the Slytherin house this past weekend (Prof. Ashlee leaving) I decided I needed more help. So I like to announce the promotion of our lonesome promising student Megaera Selwyn. She will do all the grunt work of being the new prefect. Everyone treat her like you would normally treat a fresh meat, new to the block prefect.

This leaves our PS positions open, The decision for new PS will be announced very soon (Decemberish), so all those that applied I AM WATCHING YOU O_O

Also for those who haven't stopped by the dungeons lately come check us out! We have :

-New arcade Games
-Snake Radio
-SerpenTimes
-HUGE RPG
-And just genral chat

So if you haven't stopped by in a while....COME we have more that cookies!

WT Nov./Dec.Edition--Submissions Needed!

ro646 — 2009-11-09T19:42:01Z

The Wizarding Times is looking for some new submissions for their upcoming double issue. Yes, I said double issue, so that means it can hold a lot of games, art, articles, poems, reviews, and more.

If you are interested, please contact Submissions Coordinator (me) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol). I will help you with ideas and submissions!

Here's the tricky part, submissions need to be in by November 15th. We know that's not a lot of time, but we have confidence, that you, the HOL students, can do it.

So, what are you waiting for? Show us what you can create!!!!

New WT available Today!

pr_chu — 2009-10-26T14:04:59Z

Just in time for Huffle AND Hallo WEEN! Click the image to head there now!

The last words of a villain

pr_esc — 2009-10-25T19:24:42Z

Credit for the graphic: Angela Franco (Sparkleissa Ink)

Huffleween Has Begun!!!

ro646 — 2009-10-21T02:47:00Z

Banner brought to you by our Huffleween banner winner Zoki Phantom

It's that time of year again!

It's HUFFLEWEEN!! What is Huffleween you ask? It's when the badgers celebrate the 13 days before Halloween with lots of activities.

It looks like the first mishap has happened already. Head on down to the Pumpkin Patch or you can fly there by clicking here! See if you are able to participate in all that Huffleween has to offer!

Whether this is your first or fourth Huffleween, remember to have fun!!!

This is a Hufflepuff only event

Spooky Hollows

ro646 — 2009-10-20T00:37:11Z

Tis the time of year where witches and wizards can walk around muggles in full garb without being thought of as different, where ghosts and ghouls go haunting, and where pumpkins can shine their faces for all to see.

It is Halloween time!

For this project we want to see, how you celebrate Halloween or any other fall activity for that matter. Do you go on hay rides? Visit a corn maze? Did you and your family carve a pumpkin or make a fresh apple pie? We want to see it. Submit a picture (from your very own collection, not something off the internet) of how you celebrate Halloween or Fall. Pictures need to be no smaller than 400 x 400 and no larger than 600 x 600. The file size can not go above 100kb.

Happy Fall Time!

Click here to be taken to the project!

Gryffindor House Meeting

pr_mis — 2009-10-10T21:17:59Z

First of all, my apologies for having to communicate this way. Once again the Gryffindor boards are down and it will take many days for them to be working again.

I must stress this message is for Gryffindor's and applies to Gryffindor's only. So please do not decide you want to see what our house meeting is like and you are not a Gryffindor. I will be very displeased. Thank you, Zenix James for writing the following post:

For Gryffindor Students Only

Nargles and Heliopaths have infested the Gryffindor Common Room, forcing us all to evacuate and seek residence elsewhere! We have a team of highly trained workers from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures working to clean out the common room and get it opened up.

In the meantime...Since we can't get into the Common Room to post on the board, we shall use this one! -claps-

We have our October Gryffindor House Meeting tomorrow. We shall be talking about Gryfftoberfest, new dens, and other things you Gryffs should know.

When: Sunday (Tomorrow, 10/11), 4pm EST (9pm HOL)
Where: #Gryffhousemeeting - on IRC .

After the meeting we will conduct gryfftoberfest hangman, since our weekend games could not be played today. We hope to see as many of you are possible there.

The moment you've all been waiting for...

pr_esc — 2009-10-09T22:50:27Z

Paw Print, 40th Issue

pr_mis — 2009-10-06T07:14:11Z

The 40th edition of the Gryffindor Paw Print is up! Come on in and witness our world of riddles, ramblings, and riots.

If you are interested in writing an article, or articles, for the Paw Print, please send articles, or articles ideas to Zenix by the 28th of October. Happy Gryfftoberfest!

Honeydukes Helpers

ro646 — 2009-10-06T00:41:10Z

We all know Honeydukes is the place to get all that is tasty and sweet, but the holidays are coming and they want to introduce a new sweet for the occasion. This is where they need your help.

Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to create a new sweet or treat for Honeydukes and make an advertisement for it. You will need to name your treat/sweet so we all know what it is. If you would like to give a brief description you may, but it's not necessary.

Remember this needs to be your own work, do not take a picture from the internet that has been created by someone else without asking and claim it as your own.

Submissions need to be minimum 400 x 400 and maximum 700 x 700 and all photos need to be under 300kb.

And, remember, AS ALWAYS....comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted. Writing the same statement on every project is not acceptable either.

Click here to be taken to the project!

Alte Sententiam

pr_lob — 2009-10-05T18:03:52Z

The Alte Sententiam's October edition is now up! Make your way and check out all our current articles.

To submit to the Alte, please send ideas to Cassie. Due dates for the next issue is November 30.

SerpenTimes Autumn Edition

pr_sul — 2009-10-05T08:58:05Z

The SerpenTimes Autumn Edition is now available!

This month we have loads of articles for your reading pleasure! I highly recommend "What IS it?" by Gabrielle Cadeaux and our new "Dream Oracle" advice column by Zoki Phantom.

We have the usual "Ask Ashlee" column, 4 recipes, 2 interviews, 2 short stories and plenty of puzzles, poems and comics to keep you entertained.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed this month, and in particular my Editor Meg for her hard work in checking over all the submissions. Those who were published will receive their points shortly.

Enjoy the issue and be sure to contribute when we next put out a call for submissions!

Slytherin Arcade

pr_byn — 2009-10-04T00:04:07Z

Now that the Green vs. Silver Arcade tournament is over, are again cordially invite the rest of HOL to come back and enjoy the arcade. New games will be uploaded near the end of next week so we can have even more fun there.

Remember, for those that do not know and those that do already, (the ones with the shiny awards in their trophy case) at the end of this first term, I will be handing out awards for top 3 places. No matter what house you are in, if you are in the top 3...you will get an awards and maybe something a little extra :D.

So come on back and have some fun!

If you like to see the standings of our Green vs Silver tourny: click on this link!

Green Vs. Silver Standing Sheet

It's Gryfftoberfest 2009!

pr_mis — 2009-10-02T05:45:22Z

When sane people think about October, they think of leaves changing colors, pumpkins, Halloween, you know, the changing of the seasons and all that good stuff. However, for those of us who are insane, we think about... BUTTERBEER!!! That's right cubs, there's a much more important holiday than Halloween in Gryffindor House. The whole month of October is dedicated to something uniquely Gryffindor: Gryfftoberfest!

So, those who are new to Gryffindor might be wondering what this whole Gryfftoberfest thing is. Basically for Gryffindor's it's about celebrating who we are, what we are, why we are, where we've come from and where we're going. We do this by celebrating with lots of good food, insanely enormous amounts of butterbeer, and month long festivities such as games, challenges, and general silliness within the house! It's our month to show off how unique we can be to our friends, our fellow house mates and of course, the rest of HOL.

So, what's the big deal, right? Well, what's the point of having a huge party if it's not HUGE?! So we would love to have each and every Gryff get involved and show off your spirit! After all, it's not just the cheerleaders who are allowed to have spirit, this month we want you to shine as much as you can and participate and most importantly, HAVE FUN.

You can participate in any of the numerous contests and activities we've got around the house. Check this forum for all your Gryfftoberfest needs! Make sure you keep checking back there throughout the month, as it is ENTIRELY possible that additional contests may be added (after all, SPD are the most insane people in the house. Please make sure to try your best and embody the motto voted on this year, "Gryffindor, so insane we broke the padded walls." as well as the avatars and signatures that were voted on! Remember to use them proudly on the house forum and on the HOL forum! Go get them, Lions! Have fun and HAPPY GRYFFTOBERFEST!

Poor squibby squib

pr_esc — 2009-10-01T23:33:45Z

What if you belong to a family that has many of the most powerfuil wizards in history, and you discover that you are a squib and can't join your friends at Hogwarts?

Tell us about it...

Cheating in HOL

pr_esc — 2009-10-01T00:45:13Z

Some professors and student teachers are complaining that certain students are cheating on their homeworks or extra credits (asking for answers in mIRC or plagiarizing from other sources).

It's a reality that some HOL students cheat in classes, departments and other areas. And it is a concern because we are trying to "teach" also some values like honesty, hard work and responsibility.

Even if we are an online community, we encourage you all to abide by the same principles that we follow in real life.

It's expected for students to do their own work. If a professor or student teacher discovers that a student cheated, they can not only deduct points, but even expell the student from the class.

Miss and Mister HOL

pr_esc — 2009-09-26T15:58:51Z

"Image created by Sparkleissa Ink"

Sparkleissa Ink

pr_lob — 2009-09-18T20:02:48Z

Want graphics to spice up your HOL profile? Need a new signature or avatar for the month/year? Don't worry, Sparkleissa Ink is now open for business!

Whether you want to make graphics or you want people to make graphics for you, come on down, all are welcome! Click the image above to be taken to the forum, and remember to read the instructions before posting your requests.

Hope to see you guys there!

Slytherin Arcade

pr_byn — 2009-09-17T15:16:31Z

Starting in 9.19.09 The Slytherin Arcade will be closed to other houses for approximately Two (2) weeks for our Green vs. Silver arcade tournament.

After this tournament is over, I will announce here in the blog so you may all come back to play.

The current leaders :1st, 2nd, and 3rd place - will receive their shiny awards because the scores will be purged. After the tournament the tournament scores will be purged and we can all start new.

Thank you :)

Slytherin Prefect Changes

pr_sul — 2009-09-17T07:44:16Z

Opal Curare has recently made the decision to step down from her position as Slytherin Prefect, so that she can focus her attention on the 'evils' of the Muggle world that often pull us away.

The Slytherin Prefects remain at:
- Faye Roderick (Head Prefect)
- Aidan Argent
- Daphne M. Marin
- India Jolly

At this point we will not be replacing Opal but we are taking applications for Promising Students. Slytherin students interested in this position should see the announcement in the Common Room.

I'd like to thank Opal for the time she spent as a Slytherin Prefect and hope to still see her around the halls of HOL!

Prof. Ashlee Sully
Co-Deputy Head of House (Slytherin)

WT 2nd Edition--Submissions Needed!

pr_chu — 2009-09-14T17:17:02Z

Ready for some Fall Fun, Wizarding Times style?

What is the "The Wizarding Times?" It is the Hufflepuff Magazine (or newspaper, if you'd rather :) ). We take submissions from ALL Houses. As with many things, there is a limit to how many points you can gain--but, we look for creative writing, interviews, artwork, articles, etc.

If you are interested, please contact Submissions Coordinator (and Prefect) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol). Rorey can help point you in the right direction!

Our submission deadline for the second issue of this school year is October 12.

Points from the last issue have been submitted as of today. When the HO approves them, they'll go through. ;)

Prof. Anya Chutney
Head of House, Hufflepuff

Your HOL Pet

ro646 — 2009-09-14T14:54:35Z

We learn from Harry's equipment list when he goes on his first trip to Diagon Alley that Hogwarts allows pets.

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Though at HOL you can buy an owl, cat, or toad, but what if you could show off your pet you left at home? For this project we want to see your pets. Don't have a pet? No problem, you can draw the muggle or magical pet of your dreams. Submissions need to be minimum 400 x 400 and maximum 600 x 600 and all photos need to be under 200kb. f you wish to add some text on the picture stating your pet's name please do, though it is not required.

These pictures should be from your private collection, no grabbing from the internet. We're not going to believe you have a killer whale or tiger for a pet. We love to see people's drawings if you do not have a pet.

And, remember, AS ALWAYS....comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted. Writing the same statement on every project is not acceptable either.

Your HOL Pet Project

First issue of the WT is ready for YOU!

pr_chu — 2009-09-09T15:13:49Z

The school year may only be just a few days old, but the Wizarding Times staff has been hard at work to bring you another fabulous issue.

Wanna know the results of the annual Citrine Cove contest?
What about what classes are really exciting Badgers this year?
Looking for something to watch on your totally-not-magically-hacked Muggle television set and DVD player?
Want to find out what makes a successful school year?
How about earning some beans?

The answers can be found within this month's Wizarding Times!

All this, plus a new column from first-year teacher Prof. Felicia Hartwick *giggles*, a entry on what "knot" to do while knitting, Quidditch interviews, poetry, stories, art, and much more!

Get YOUR copy today!

HOL Idol 2009

pr_esc — 2009-09-01T23:36:29Z

Yes, you read it right! It IS back. After one year of waiting, music will finally fill the corridors and halls of HOL once again. It's time for HOL Idol.

What is it?
HOL Idol is a singing competition that first took place in 2003. Its goal is to find the best singer in HOL at the moment. But do you need to be a good singer to enter and try your luck? No. Do you need to know anything about music? Absolutely not! All you need is some way of recording yourself, such as a microphone on your laptop and, most of all, you need to love singing! So don't worry if you think you're not good enough: everyone's good enough to enter this contest. You won't regret it!

Why should you participate?
Because its loads of fun! Also because you might help your house by earning points! HOL Idol will have many rounds and, per each submission that you send to us, you will receive 5 points. The final three contestants will be awarded special rewards, as follows: 3rd Place: 15 points. 2nd Place: 25 points + a quill. 1st place: 40 points + a quill.

What are the rules?
The rules couldn’t be more simple. Any HOL member is allowed to enter. To enter the contest, all you need to do is send us your audition by September 13th to holidol@gmail.com. Make sure you include your HOL name and ID, as well as the name of the song. By submitting your audition, you are agreeing with all of the rules in this post. The number one rule is activity. Make sure you will be able to stay active in HOL for a good amount of time. HOL Idol is a competition that takes its time and we don’t like when people quit in the middle. >:/

All HOL Idol submissions have to be in accordance with the HOL rules, so watch your lyrics! No explicit words or cursing! Deadlines are to be respected. No exceptions will be granted (unless you’re really really sick or if a dementor is after you). Submissions that do not follow that round’s theme won’t be accepted. Additionally to their submissions, contestants might be asked to answer some questions (usually just questions about themselves and their motivation), which they must answer in order to move on.

The judges for this contest are Prof. Ruben Orion of Gryffindor, Prof. Anya Chutney of Hufflepuff, Prof. Maya Winters of Ravenclaw and Faye Roderick of Slytherin. Winners will be decided by public voting in a poll in the HOL forum. Whenever there is a tie between two or more contestants, the judges will decide which contestant will move forward.

Auditions
The audition round will have no theme. You can sing any song you want, as long as the lyrics are in accordance to the HOL rules. Any genre, any style, by any composer, even your own song if you want! As I said before, send your auditions to holidol@gmail.com by September 13th. Send all your questions there too!
Try your luck and you might very well be the next HOL Idol, engraving your name forever in the prestigious list of winners.

Let the music begin!

~Prof. Ruben Orion

Alte Is Now Accepting Submissions

pr_lob — 2009-09-01T13:03:32Z

Alte will be publishing early October, so if you would like to send an article or graphic (and earn points!) for the Ravenclaw newspaper, please have your ideas approved by sending me--Prof. Cassandra S. Lobiesk--a PM or HOL message (or email to alte.sententiam@gmail.com).

Due date for this issue's submissions is September 30!

Design Your Own Book Cover

ro646 — 2009-09-01T11:22:27Z

In the world of HOL, we don't use actual physical books. But....what if we DID? What would the book covers look like for your favorite HOL class? Or, possibly a class you've taken in your past years at HOL?

Your challenge is to create a book cover for an existing HOL class or one that has been taught here before. You can incorporate drawings, photography, text, etc. Make sure to use only images that are NOT copyrighted and make sure this is your original work! No nabbing someone else's, okay? Your book cover must be a minimum of 400 x 400 pixels...going no larger than 800 x 600 pixels. The file size must NOT exceed 300 kb.

Click here to be taken to the project!

This project runs 8/31-9/28 and can gain you 20 points!

And, remember, AS ALWAYS....comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted. Polite behavior is also expected in your comments, as always. Get too rowdy and we will take points. ;)

Dear Gryffindors,

pr_mis — 2009-08-28T23:23:39Z

I found an interesting letter tonight pinned to the mantle by the fireplace when I was patrolling the Common Room after curfew...

It had a very shiny knife that was pinning it. Now I do not find this amusing in the least, but it leads me to believe that those in the GCR need to keep close attention to make sure everything remains alright!

Looks like there's interesting times ahead of us...

Changes in Slytherin Staff

pr_obi — 2009-08-28T16:08:41Z

Dear Students and Staff,

At Slytherin house we have had many ups and downs throughout the years. We went through many changes of staff at all levels. I am here to announce that this year will be another change in staff and it is definitely for the better.

I'd like to announce Ashlee Sully will become co-dHOH. I have asked her to come on as a dHOH because I have suspicions that my "other" dHOH is spending a bit too many nights away at a particular jolly watering hole establishment that I cannot mention the name of here. I appreciate everything Prof. Bynny has done and hope she will continue to do, however, I feel Ashlee can only benefit the house with her expertise and dedication and hope she will continue to spy on....er help Prof. Bynny with running the Slytherin House while I am away on official Hogwarts Business.

Ashlee was a dedicated and hardworking student and will only be a great addition to Slytherin's dHOH staff.

Thank you and please welcome Prof. Ashlee Sully.

*hands Ashlee the key to the official Slytherin whips-collection*

Use it wisely

Hufflepuff's Newest Prefect!

pr_chu — 2009-08-22T17:28:23Z

Would everyone please give a round of applause to:

Prefect Ashley Denver!

The newest Badger on our Prefect Staff in Hufflepuff.

We are *very* pleased to be able to work with Ashley and hope that we don't drive her wonky in her first term as Prefect. ;)

Anya

Who wants to be Peter Pan?

pr_esc — 2009-08-20T13:11:57Z

Well, many people. But some really want to grow up and do something special.

If you are in the second group, tell us about it.

Clicky here

Calling all First Years

pr_lob — 2009-08-19T01:54:54Z

Hey First Years! Gather around quickly!

Feeling a little lost? Confused? Or just staring around HOL wondering what you got yourself into? Well, I have just the class for you!

This class is primarily for first years, to help you get onto your feet and make the best of HOL. It's put together by some of the best and brightest minds of HOL- those who are insane enough to volunteer to be your prefects (and some professors, or even a quidditch captain!)

This is not a mandatory class, but it is a pretty special one. It is geared to helping YOU get around HOL and getting the most out of it. It was designed JUST for first years! It's not a writing intense class- it's an ACTIVE class. It's about getting to know what can be done around HOL. It's geared to help you make friends, learn how to rate assignments, do everything!

We have all had an amazing time with HOL, and we just want to pass it along to the new ones. So come check it out at HOL 101 and sign on up!

-- Adeliene Cromwell

Class link: Click here

Clarification on What Summer Meant to Me!

pr_chu — 2009-08-14T15:15:58Z

Just a clarification and reminder for those of you entering the What Summer Meant to Me Arts project. PLEASE only use photos that were taken by you (or someone *with* you). Do NOT go online and find a photo and use that. We aren't allowing photos from the internet. Or, as mentioned you may draw something for us.

And, a reminder, as always, to PLEASE pay attention to the size requirements. It takes longer to get things up and running if we have to delete your project b/c it is too big. :)

This is supposed to be about your creativity and summer memories. Thanks!

Prof. Anya

The Wizarding Times Wants YOU!

pr_chu — 2009-08-13T14:09:23Z

The school year is about to start--and that means the WT is gearing up for another wonderful year of fun!

What is the "The Wizarding Times?" It is the Hufflepuff Magazine (or newspaper, if you'd rather :) ). We take submissions from ALL Houses. As with many things, there is a limit to how many points you can gain--but, we look for creative writing, interviews, artwork, articles, etc.

If you are interested, please contact Submissions Coordinator (and Prefect) Rorey Padfoot at wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com (replace the [at] with the @ symbol). Rorey can help point you in the right direction!

Our submission deadline for the first issue of this school year is August 24th.

We look forward to hearing from everyone this year!

Prof. Anya Chutney
Head of House, Hufflepuff

What Summer Meant to Me!

ro646 — 2009-08-11T15:14:52Z

Ahh Summertime! The weather is beautiful, school is out, vacations with family, and memories are being made. I am sure we all have some sort of memory we could share with our friends here at HOL about what we did this summer. Did you go on an annual trip or perhaps you tried something new this year? Did you go camping, go to the beach, hang out with friends, or did you, perhaps, create a garden, even? Whatever *you* did we want to see it!

For this project we would like you to share a picture (photograph) or a picture you drew by hand of something you experienced this summer. Whether it be with friends, family, or by yourself show us what you did.

Your picture should be no larger than 700 pixels wide by 525 pixels tall with a maximum file size of 200 kb, which should give you room to add a caption, giving your general location (city you visited, countries, states, provinces, etc. should be okay) If your project shows you at home, please leave the city where you are out as it is a school rule.

Click here to be taken to the project!

Also comments are now mandatory when voting on projects. If your comment does not have a minimum of 7-8 words when voting your rating will be deleted.

Lion's Cub Pawtner Project

pr_mis — 2009-08-10T04:13:14Z

Like the name of the forum says, it involves Lion Cubs and Pawtners and it's a project! The idea is to help new Gryffindor students to get to know their house and housemates by pairing them up with an oldbie, aka someone who already has been in HOL and Gryffindor for a while and knows their way around (basically this means second years and above - not repeating first years). We know this place can be relatively confusing for someone new and they might need a friend to make it easier to fit in around here, older people (in HOL age) again could use this as an opportunity to get to know some of the new firsties and have fun.

There is already a HOL-wide project like this one (and some of the other houses have something of the kind going on as well), but LCPP is meant specifically for Gryffindors to get settled and find friends in their own house, your "adopter" will be able to help you with questions you might have about Gryffindor and they can introduce you to different areas of our house. You're of course welcome to sign up for both the HOL project and this one!

Before we start accepting first year sign ups for the project, we are in need for our older students who want to participate to sign up and follow the directions here.

After a few days, when we have enough students to help our first years we will be opening another topic for our first years to sign up in. We hope to have a lot of people participate. We ask that if you have any questions to first read our FAQ.

Thanks,
Cyriel Aurorus, Jenny Lupin

Stop spamming the HOL blog

pr_esc — 2009-08-09T15:57:08Z

Eleven (11) people already lost points for their houses because they posted meaningless, empty or just stupid messages.
I already suspended one account for posting one message in 10-15 comments using one word in each in several entries.

Let's see how many people will spam this... and all your points will belong to me.

Challenges - Ravenclaw Library

ca313 — 2009-08-07T13:11:20Z

The Ravenclaw Library has now had a new facelift. In lieu of it's reopening, the library staff is inviting all of HOL to come down and participate in the new Writing and Art Challenges.

If you enjoy writing, drawing, or a combination of both, let your creative juices flow and earn an award while doing so!

For all the current writing and art challenges, please follow the link on the Writing and Art Challenges page.

GCR Down

pr_mis — 2009-08-05T20:23:45Z

The Gryffindor Common Room will be down for maintenance on August 6th, 2009. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and it will be back online the following day. If it isn't, just wait patiently.

New Headoffice members

pr_esc — 2009-08-04T02:19:30Z

After long considerations and thinking (using an only one brain cell sometimes) the Headoffice finally decided on two new members to help watch all of you, so you behave and be good all the time or would face getting glares.

Let me present you:
Prof. Esmerelda Knotwise and Prof. Mark Mandrake!!!

For all the people who has no idea what the Head Office does, check this:
Deputy Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress are next in rank to the Headmaster, and together they form the HOL Headoffice.

The duties of the Headoffice include the following:
Appointment of the four Heads of House for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin
Appointment of Headstudents
Appointment of new Professors and other staff members
Appointment of all general, non-house specific positions, such as Caretaker, Department Head and Groundskeeper
Supervising all the aforementioned positions and making changes when necessary
Supervising the HOL rules and making changes when necessary
Approving new HOL Classes
Approving new HOL Clubs
Verifying House Points

So there, you better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why... new Heaoffice members are coming to HOL.

Camp Scrapbook and Trivial Pursuit

ca313 — 2009-08-03T21:07:16Z

After quite an eventful summer, the time-traveling campers have just arrived back to the present and all their adventures are now chronicled into this year's Ravenclaw Scrapbook. Check it out!

Also, Alexia Riaper and her lovely group of PiTs have devised a new set of Ravenclaw Activities for all you lovely eagles. Our first game is Trivial Pursuit, so if you would like to join a team, now's your chance! Team signups end this Friday, August 7, and the games will begin on Saturday. So Ravenclaws, join in if you haven't yet! See the Roost Common Room for details.

Hello new Ravenclaws!

ca313 — 2009-08-01T14:24:13Z

Welcome all you lovely eaglets! If you haven't signed up for the Common Room yet, please do so (with your full HOL name) at the Roosted Forum. There you will find information about class signups, our adopt-an-eaglet program, Quidditch, and many more (you'll find we're still quite abuzz with activity, too)!

Anyway, once you've registered, just hop on over to our welcoming letter, which you can find at this link.

Happy exploring!

Ravenclaw's new Co-DHoH

pr_esc — 2009-07-27T23:47:29Z

Please welcome (and cheer and toss muffins around for) our new Co-Deputy Head Of House ...

(Soon to be) Prof. Cassandra Sparkleissa Lobiesk!!!!!

Yahooooooooooooo!!!!!

Prof. Rhiannon Llewellyn

Support Your Team!

ro646 — 2009-07-27T13:33:35Z

Now that Summer Quidditch is in full swing it is time for the students of HOL to show their support. This summer's project is to show support for your favorite Summer Quidditch team or Seeker!

Your task is to make a signature featuring your favorite Summer Quidditch team or Seeker from the Tournament.

Click here to be taken to the project!

You can earn up to 20 points for this project.

Hufflepuff Orientation

pr_chu — 2009-07-25T14:56:48Z

Hufflepuff Orientation has begun! We invite ALL new Badgers (and returning Badgers ;)) to take part in Orientation.

You can earn Citrines, meet new folks, and learn a lot about your House AND HOL!

Lesson 1 is now up and other lessons will follow in the upcoming days. This isn't mandatory...but, it IS great fun!

Click here to be taken to Orientation!

Welcome all new Gryffindors!

pr_mis — 2009-07-25T01:51:41Z

Greetings! New student sign ups have opened again for the next term, so we'd very much like to welcome all new Lions to HOL and to Gryffindor.

Since not everyone finds their way to our fantabulous Common Room right away, we thought we'd use the HOL Blog to point you to the right direction. No one can be obligated to join the CR, but believe us when we say that if you for some reason ended up not doing it, you'd miss out on a looot of fun and a huge part of what being a HOL members is all about. Thus, wait no more and head over to the Gryffindor Common Room

Before you register your account, please be sure to read the quick guide to doing it correctly, found over here, otherwise you might not get validated on the first try. We realize that HOL can be pretty confusing for someone who has only recently joined that wonderful community, so remember to turn to any of the Gryffindor Prefects (the full list of them is posted right here for help and guidance.

Also, let us remind you that Gryffindor Summer Camp registration is open for absolutely all Lions and that it's an awesome way to meet your first Gryff friends and start feeling at home in your House. All you have to do is wait for your CR account to be validated and then sign up for the camp. Check here (the link won't work before you've had your account validated) for info about how to do that.

Again, welcome to HOL and to our lovely House!

Your Gryffindor Staff

Changes in Head Studenthood

pr_esc — 2009-07-23T02:02:32Z

It is with sad face ---> D: that we must say goodbye to two amazing people that were Head Students because we didn't convince them to fail year and become Post Graduates.
Cassandra Lobiesk and Mark Mandrake had to step down and now we had to choose new people to fit their huge shoes.

So now with a happy face --> :D and without further ado, I’d like to present the NEW Head Girls of HOL:
Alexia Riaper, Castora Grimsby, and Tarma Black!

There is no doubt that they will do HOL proud. Congrats, gals!

Head Student (Head Boy or Head Girl) is the highest position a student can reach. Head Students are carefully selected by the HOL Head Office, whenever they believe an additional student in that position is needed.

Like in the Harry Potter books, the Headstudents are instrumental in keeping order in the halls of HOL, helping students as needed, identifying and correcting bad behaviour, and rewarding good behaviour and initiative. They are always available to help students who may experience problems with other authorities. The HOL Headstudents run the HOL Student Committee, a governing body comprised of house prefects which affects many student-suggested initiatives. They are also generally responsible for keeping track of the trick stairs, enforcing the dress code, teaching proper badge care and mowing the lawn at HOL.

In all general HOL affairs, Headstudents must be impartial in terms of houses, as they serve the entire body of HOL.

Welcome new Hufflepuffs!!!

pr_chu — 2009-07-21T16:21:52Z

Greetings and Salutations to our new Badgers!

I just wanted to let our newbies know that they can find a Newbie Welcome Letter in a public area of the Hufflepuff Common Room (a.k.a. The Sett).

We'd love to have you sign up for the forum...once you do, remember that we have to verify your account before you can log in and access the rest of the CR.

We will be holding our twice-yearly Orientation starting next weekend!

We are looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you!

Sincerely,

Prof. Anya Chutney
Head of House, Hufflepuff

The Salazars!

pr_byn — 2009-07-20T13:13:56Z

I would like to take the moment and congratulate all the winners for the end of year awards for Slytherin House....aka The Salazars! IF you can all take a moment and go to the Thread you can see all the winners there. Or just clicky here and you will transported instantly.

But I the BIG award...the Head Honcho award of awards the Salazar's Slytherin Spirit Award which is decided by the HoH/dHoH and given to a student who has shown "amazing commitment to HOL and Slytherin throughout the entire year. They are a person who earns points, participates in contests, helps out other students and helps to keep the house active."

I wold normally say me...cause I didn't get an award...no no I'm not BITTER *hides her pride*

It was a hard decision...debating tirelessly and often objects were thrown. Foaming at the mouth on our picks....and after days of "civil" discussion, We'd like to Congratulate:

ASHLEE SULLY!!!

Me and Paddy like to thank Ashlee for her dedication to Slytherin House for she is now a graduate. Heading out into the big bad scary magical world for domination..er enlightening the world with her knowledge. She has done a wonderful job with the SerpenTimes, keeping active in classes, and participating in activities as well as redesigning the Dungeons. (hard work with one magic paintbrush)

Thanks you Ashlee for all your hard work and dedication to Slytherin House for the past 7 Years!

Me and Paddy also like to thank EVERYONE in the house for a great year. It was fun for both of us and we hope you enjoyed it also and are getting ready for the new term. I'd also like to welcome our new Snakes coming into our house. We look forward to you contribution and great times. Look at the Slytherin Forum announcements for upcoming news on our Summer Arcade Tournament and other future activities!

Again, Congrats to all the Winners and Thanks for a great term!

HOL 2009/10

pr_dyb — 2009-07-19T21:11:53Z

Soooo... we should be all set for the new school year now from the admin side of things. As you may have noticed, points tables and classes have been reset and you find all the points and data from the past year in your fact sheets and history pages.

As I have been insanely busy with profane Muggle things the past months (unfortunately they don't accept my precious Leprechaun gold in the Muggle world), the majority of admin work has been done by our wonderful HOL staff. So I want to personally thank all Heads of House, Professors, Head Students and Prefects for all the hard work, passion and dedication in the past ten months.

Graduation has been processed now, at least the automatic part. Those of you who had at least 2 Quills on record have been moved to the next year, you should have a HOL Message for graduation in your inbox and might find a silver or golden quill in your treasures now. If you haven't been graduated but you think you should have, please contact your prefect or comment to this message and I will look into your files.

New students can sign up from midnight on. Please give all our new First Years a warm welcome. The HOL Calendar will be updated with all the upcoming dates and deadlines, but there are still four weeks to go until class sign-up starts. So enjoy the summer, I hope it is not as wet and stormy as it is here.

HOL House Cup Winner 2009

pr_dyb — 2009-07-19T16:30:28Z

RAVENCLAW won the HOL House Cup 2009

Congratulations Eagles!

Final Points for the year:

Ravenclaw: 98,990
Hufflepuff: 97,444
Slytherin: 80,747
Gryffindor: 71,606

Graduation will be processed later today. New Student sign-up begins tomorrow.

New Slytherin Prefect

pr_byn — 2009-07-19T02:43:36Z

The powers that be in the Slytherin House have had a loooooong and painful meeting to discuss certain potentials to gain more power. Alas, we realized we love our power too much to share it with other people that we decide that only ONE person deserves to dance in the land of snake authority.

We'd like to congratulate Daphne Marin, ex-Promising Student (cause she proved herself to us..mwahahaha), on her new power of Prefectdom.

Use it wisely, intelligently, and when no one looks, you can jinx a few people *winks*

CONGRATS!!!!

**oh this leaves poor little Megaera Selwyn all by herself in the smelly, dusty, spider infested cupboard to think how to get the power Daphne now has**

Arts Department Changes

ro646 — 2009-07-15T16:41:05Z

With the end of one school year and the beginning of the next come changes.

It is with a heavy heart I am announcing that Cosmo Brown has decided to step down from being Head of the Arts Department. Thank you Cosmo for the time and energy you have spent with the Arts Department the past two years. We truly appreciate all that you have done.

Since there is a void that needs to be filled, I, Rorey Padfoot, have decided to venture into the Head of the Arts Department role. *waves*

But wait there's more....

I would like everyone to give a warm welcome to the new Deputy Head of the Arts Department, my HoH, Professor Anya Chutney.

Wish us luck for a very active new year.

Also if you have a moment I have posted a new suggestion thread in the Arts Department. Bring on the ideas!!

N.E.W.T's 2009

pr_dyb — 2009-07-15T08:57:29Z

HOL Graduation Class of 2009:

Fiona Bigglestone
Jenny Lupin
Melody Williams
Venefica vom Lehn
Cassandra Lobiesk
Marie Thenes
Ashlee Sully
Tinuvie Levante
Annabelle Pollifax
Harry Parme
Mark Mandrake
Mirabella Nevlome

You should all have a new HOL Message in your inbox with a link to the N.E.W.T. exam. Exams are open throughout summer.

The exam is challenging, be well-prepared!

Good luck :)

Wizarding Times End of Year Edition

pr_chu — 2009-07-13T14:59:56Z

It's been a while since you've heard from your dedicated magazine staff, but that's only because we've been working extra hard on our end-of-the-school-year issue! It's chock full of goodness, including (but not limited to) what to do for your summer HOLidays, summer-inspired recipes, an important notice for all badgers, book and movie reviews, and some really lovely creative pieces.

We have classic movie reviews, book reviews, great art, and you can even see a few things I'm watching on TV this summer! Plus, a lot more!

So stop by and pick up your copy today!

Prof. Anya Chutney
(nabbed from the Sett announcement made by Cosmo!)

2009 Head of House Awards for Hufflepuff

pr_chu — 2009-07-12T19:31:16Z

I want to congratulate the following folks, who have received the 2009 HoH Awards for Hufflepuff:

Head of Hufflepuff Award of Merit - For that Badger who deserves recognition from the Head of House--for a variety of reasons: Rorey Padfoot

The Alektaia Khalikiope Memorial Award – For that Badger (Staff or Student) who has given so unfailingly and whole-heartedly to Hufflepuff that we cannot imagine what the Sett would be without them: Prof. Anne Damhsoir

Head of Hufflepuff Award of Friendship - For that Badger who has shown us what Friendship means: Celeste Marivaux, Rose Alstien, and Twilight Hodges

Head of Hufflepuff Award of Appreciation– For that Badger who has done something very much deserving of the Appreciation of the HoH: Prof. Opal Dragonfly

Badger-of-all-Trades Award – This award is given out to the staff member or student who demonstrates willingness and ability in more than one area of HOL. It's for that person who just can't sit still and must have their paws in more than one type of project: Zoki Phantom

Lockhart is back!!!

pr_esc — 2009-07-07T22:02:34Z

The dream of all girls is back from St. Mungo's Hospital to teach at HOL, and he already has homework for you to do.

Check it here!!!

Alte is UP!!!

pr_esc — 2009-06-29T23:00:32Z

Class applications are now open

pr_esc — 2009-06-25T22:05:41Z

Do you want to teach a class in HOL?
Now is your chance!!!

What kind of classes are we looking for?

--Classes that have some tie in to the HP universe are usually a good thing. For instance, we have Herbology, which
is one of the Canon classes in the HP universe--but, we don't teach it the way Professor Sprout does!

--Lessons that are well thought out and of a good length get high marks from us. Take a look at the lessons that
are being taught now--how long are they? What kind of subject matter do they use? Our current and active classes
are always good to use as a rule of thumb.

--What is already being taught? We don't need 25 Muggle Studies classes! LOL If someone is already teaching it,
you might want to either choose a different subject or find a way to put a more unique.

Read more here

Battle of the Elements (GSC)

pr_mis — 2009-06-24T19:20:11Z

It's that time of year again! As you may have been able to tell, the common room has been aflutter with activity. We're all getting ready for our yearly summer camp! o/

In previous years we've done Olympics, pirates, and many other things.This year our theme is a Battle of the Elements and the first team to make it to Mythical Mount Olympus will win! Of course, there will be many battles along the way...

Sign up today (you Gryffindors in hiding) in the common room for the best adventure you could have this summer!

An Second Historic Event on the Same Day!

pr_lov — 2009-06-22T22:31:20Z

In addition to the grand opening of the new and improved Slytherin Dungeons, the most noble House of Slytherin is also proud to present to the masses today the first ever Summer Issue of The Serpentimes!

Following are only some of the wonderful features which are presented for your education and entertainment:

Ms. Ardeliah Longbottom has presented, complete with illustrations, a guide on surviving one of the most horrible of experiences: an excursion to a muggle beach.

Ms. Tarma Black has miraculously managed to debunk the myth surrounding the best time to harvest dung beetles.

Mr. Zoki Phantom, et al. will tell you a fairy tale in a writing style known as IRC.

Professor Lorelei Lovegood-Snape will explain what is appealing as well as what is appalling about the compilation DVD "Tales of the Black Freigher/Under the Hood."

Ms. Megaera Selwyn will explain proper beach etiquette for those of the canine persuasion.

A photo gallery will be presented. The featured photos, all taken by Ms. Ashlee Sully, have a certain "Australian" flair to them.

Ms. Holly Muse will share her thoughts on the lovely season known as "Summer."

Many more submissions from members of all HOL Houses grace the pages of this groundbreaking masterpiece.

Due to high demand, it is highly recommended that one obtain a copy of The Serpentimes for themselves immediately. Copies may be secured here.

Dungeon Renovation part Deux COMPLETED!

pr_byn — 2009-06-22T15:04:37Z

After much hard work of our little snakes Ashlee Sully & Faye Roderick, our dungeons is finally completed. Walls are freshly painted, floors polished (students toothbrushes shall now be returned), and the interior decor is now all snakey love. Please head on over to the new dungeon and look around.

Arcade games will be added. No need to re-sign up if you already did. If you didn't...then what are you waiting for. The new addy for the dungeons is:

http://dungeons.org.uk/forum/

Yes... maybe you could meet the Doctah >_>

pr_esc — 2009-06-19T01:41:57Z

Slytherin Dungeons Closed for Renovation

pr_lov — 2009-06-19T00:55:40Z

The dungeons will be closed for a few days while renovations take place. We expect the new shiny forum to be available by Monday. Please keep an eye on the HOL blog and forum, which is where you will be notified when the new forum opens.

Please note that you will not be required to sign-up again as all members and posts will be converted. However, members who are inactive in HOL, have zero posts and have not set foot in the dungeons for several months will be deleted in an effort to clean the place up.

If you have any questions/suggestions please send a HOL message to Ashlee Sully.

The Call for PiTs

pr_esc — 2009-06-12T00:26:38Z

And what is a PiT, you may well ask? Well, a PiT is a Prefect in Training in Ravenclaw House (more accurately, a Reserve Prefect in Training, but RPiT sounded too much like armpit and, well, I digress) ...

PiTs are those who, if accepted after a rigourous training regimen, move on to the ranks of Reserve Prefect. It is from those ranks that new, full-fledged Prefects are chosen. So if this sounds like something you would wish to accomplish in your time here at HOL, this is the place to start!

If you have been a member of HOL and Ravenclaw since at least December of 2008 and are interested in applying, please send your application to me (rhiannon_llewellyn2@yahoo.com). In the application, tell me why you think you would make an excellent Reserve Prefect, what activities you are involved in at HOL, classes you have taken in the past, how much time a week you can devote to HOL and Ravenclaw, and anything else you think is pertinent. I will be accepting applications until Saturday, 27 June. Please be aware, however, that simply applying for PiT-hood does not guarantee you will be accepted to Reserve status. Remember -- many will enter, few will win (or something like that)!

After I receive the applications, you will be turned over to the tender mercies of Head Prefect Alexia Riaper (*evil chuckle*) and she will take over your training from there.

Prof. Rhiannon Llewellyn

Toys are magical!!!

pr_esc — 2009-06-07T16:02:05Z

Well, not all games nor toys. Muggles have the more boring games on earth!!!

What if we could help them and picking one of their toys or games we make it magical?

Go on, tell us what would you choose :)

Calling all Gryffindors! (Preferrably active ones)

pr_mis — 2009-05-22T05:49:25Z

It's been decided that it is time to resurrect GLib, our Gryffindor Library and we'll need help from active Gryffindor's in order to do so. Our darling prefect Lily Padfoot is in charge of this project, so if you are interested, please make sure to PM her on the Gryffindor Common Room Board. If you want better details, please check the Announcements Area of the Common Room. And for laziness purposes I shall repost, most of her post.

What is GLib?

GLib stands for Gryffindor Library. If you scroll down the forum index page (of the common room) you might notice a section for it in Queen Maeve's Quarters. You might also notice it's rather empty and dead. Several years ago when GLib first started it was only on the forums. Then after a while all those posts were archived and moved onto a website. That website has since been taken down and we are pretty much starting fresh with GLib. Which is why we need your help.

What changes are being made?

Well, several actually. First, we are back to having GLib only on the forums. Second, we will be adding some new sections of the library that didn't exist previously. Third, we are putting together a staff to take over the responsibility of running GLib and getting some activity once again. Hopefully all this will lead to a place for awesome contests and another way for Gryffs to show their insane creativity.

Positions Available:

We are looking for 3 individuals to make up the GLib staff. These individuals will need to work together and communicate with each other to keep Glib running smoothly. All Gryffindor professors, prefects, JPs, post-graduates, and students may apply.

* Head Librarian
* Assistant Librarian
* Book Club Leader

The Head and Assistant Librarians will be working very closely. They will be responsible for establishing forum guidelines, running contests, making suggestions to improve the library, moderating the forums, checking appropriateness of submissions, and just generally encouraging involvement in GLib. In addition, the Head Librarian will be responsible for delegating work and will have final approval on any changes to GLib (guidelines, contests, or really any topic that needs a final decision).

The Book Club Leader will be responsible for running the Gryffindor Book Club within GLib. Responsibilities include moderating the forum and choosing topics to discuss each month. There are a few very old book club threads if you want to see how things used to be setup. You can run things similarly or make changes you see fit. Keep in mind that it is difficult to choose a set book each month as it would need to be appropriate for all ages and easily available to everyone, which is why just a theme was chosen in the past.

Qualifications:

You must have joined HOL prior to the start of the current term.
You need to be a self-starter, creative, organized, and willing to work with others on the GLib staff. It will be entirely up to the GLib staff to come up with activities and encourage participation.
As you are running a library, you should have a strong grasp of the English language. This is why some of the application questions require a bit of writing.
You will need to have enough free time to put towards running GLib.
You will need to be active around Gryffindor and/or HOL in some way. This can include posting on forums, participating in contests, taking or teaching classes, or helping in your dens. This will hopefully be an indication that you intend to stay active with GLib.

GLib Application:

* What position(s) would you like to apply for? (You may apply for multiple positions, but if chosen you will only hold one.)
* What Gryffindor and HOL activities are you currently involved with?
* How much time would you be able to commit to GLib each week?
* What ideas do you have for encouraging participation within GLib or the book club?
* What is your favorite book and why? (150 words minimum)
* Why should you be chosen as a member of the GLib staff? (150 words minimum)

Please send your completed application to Lily Padfoot on the Gryffindor Common Room only - by PM with the subject line "GLib Application" by June 20th at 11:59 pm HOL time.

GLib staff members will be decided soon after by a group of 4 Gryffindor staff members.

Ravenclaw Newsletter

pr_esc — 2009-05-09T03:35:55Z

Clicky on the handsome Dalek :)

Call for Submissions for the Wizarding Times!

pr_chu — 2009-05-04T12:11:01Z

Greetings HOL!

The Wizarding Times is working on our last issue of this term...and, we'd love to see contributions from all houses!

If you have an article, bit of poetry, piece of art, etc...PLEASE e-mail it to : wizardingtimes[at]gmail.com. Replace the [at] with the @ symbol.

Lovely Prefect Rorey Padfoot is our new Submissions Coordinator and will be handling all incoming (non-staff) submissions and fielding any questions you might have.

Any submissions sent to any other e-mail or through HM, or PM will not be accepted. :) It's our way of streamlining things to make it easier for all involved.

Rorey will be happy to talk to you about what we need for this issue, what points can be gained, and advise you on whether or not an article is appropriate for the WT.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing your submissions!

Oh well, what can we do? We are bored.

pr_esc — 2009-05-01T21:12:10Z

So yah, another Alte Sententiam issue.

Go read it, please? Maybe it will be good this time, if not, just blame Cassie as usual.

OWLs

pr_esc — 2009-05-01T00:16:08Z

Hey all! So sorry this took longer than expected, but the OWL lessons and assignments are all up now. There's around 2 months to complete them all, but you only need to do (and pass) 6 OWLs to earn a quill (and be able to take part in the NEWTs). Also, please pay attention to where you're sending the assignments, while most of them are to the same place, others are not.

Anyway, without further ado: Your OWLs are HERE.

Again, I know the time-crunch is crazy for some, so I apologize this didn't get updated any sooner!

Head of House what?

pr_esc — 2009-04-29T00:00:15Z

If you ever wanted to be on your Head of House's good side, this is your opportunity.

We want to know how much of a suck up you are. :)

Ravenclaw Newsletter

pr_esc — 2009-04-06T23:28:38Z

And the Eagle goes to…

pr_esc — 2009-04-03T00:58:21Z

It’s that special time of year when as part of RPM (Ravenclaw Pride Month) members of Ravenclaw House are rewarded for their dedication, their hard work, and their quirky and weird ways. Yes, it is time to bestow the Eagle awards to a group of deserving eagles. The full list of awards can be found
here.

Congratulations to all winners!

You are a snowy owl

pr_esc — 2009-04-02T04:15:43Z

Yes, you are Hedgwig, the most famous owl in the Harry Potter saga, and we want to know how was your life with Harry during that 7 years.

Flutter your wings and share with us any adventure you had.

Please don't leave any mouse on the desk... it's just gross.

The Sett is back!

pr_chu — 2009-03-25T00:54:33Z

The Sett is back up and running...mostly. :)

If you happen upon the Sett being offline, try back in a few hours. There are all sorts of things going on to make the Sett come back to life and somethings those things make it go offline for a bit.

And, three cheers for Cosmo! And, for everyone showing such wonderful support...and, for the Badgers for being so patient.

Cheers!

Anya

Hufflepuff Common Room--an Update

pr_chu — 2009-03-19T11:54:55Z

I wanted to thank everyone for their patience while we are dealing with some issues with the Hufflepuff Common Room. We are still not back up and running--we are having to rely on technical support from our hosting company, which as many of you know can take quite some time. ;)

It's nothing as simple as forgetting to pay the lighting bill. :)

For now, we'd love it if you want to come hang out in #hufflepuff on IRC. If you need to contact someone in Hufflepuff, you can do so by e-mail or by PM in the main HOL Forum.

At this time, we have decided against doing a temporary forum...if our technical issues continue to be...well...issues *G*, we will consider setting something up.

For now, however, Cosmo is working diligently on getting the Sett back up and running.

Thank you again for your continued support and patience. We truly do appreciate it!

*HUGS*

Prof. Anya Chutney
HoH Hufflepuff

Hot off the Press!

pr_lov — 2009-03-18T22:14:50Z

With a brand new layout for a brand new year, the Spring '09 Edition of The SerpenTimes is now available for your reading pleasure.

Read about Basilisk bones discovered in Columbia!

Feel your skin crawl as Ashlee Sully relives her harrowing ordeal as a hostage of DaKeed Nappers!

Find out why you need to read The Watchmen, watch The Watchmen, and listen to "The Watchmen!"

Witness Megaera Selwyn help people teach an old dog new tricks and deal with doggy depression and puppy hunger strikes!

And if that's not enough, there's puzzles, riddles, artwork, poems, and short stories galore!

This edition of The SerpenTimes is a wonderful smattering of delectable submissions!

Your own personal copy is waiting for you right here.

RPM Week 3: Wanted - Personal Ads

pr_esc — 2009-03-16T02:12:22Z

Need a fairy godmother? Want a knight in shining armor to save you from the monstrous dragon? Want a damsel-in-distress to save? If you're looking for various people willing to do tasks for you, then send in a request! The local fairy newspaper is now taking personal advertisements for fairy-tale needs. If you're seeking for a potioneer, then send a request! If you're missing your pet hippogriff, send us a picture of your pet for a "lost" ad!

The newspaper is taking both graphics and text ads. You can view examples of both below.

TEXT:
1) "Wanted. Beautiful, talented princess in need of real prince. Must be willing to laugh in the face of great danger. Preferably star-material. Toads need not apply."

2) "Skilled hunter needed for ridding loserface infestations. Please include words-per-minute record, and send all applications to the Fantastic One."

GRAPHIC:

(Make sure your graphics are no larger than 400x400. And please DO NOT animate them!)

You can send one or the other, or both! We are taking ads until Sunday, March 29, at 11.59 pm HOL. Please send all personal ads to cassie@hol.org.uk with "RPM Task 3" as a heading.

Happy ad-making/concocting!

Hufflepuff Common Room--DOWN!

pr_chu — 2009-03-15T13:28:58Z

Just a heads up to all Hufflepuff students and staff that the Sett (Common Room ) is down. Cosmo is working on it. Please be patient and hang tight and we'll have more information for you as soon as we can.

Thanks!

Anya

Alte

pr_esc — 2009-03-07T23:00:12Z

The new issue of Alte Sententiam is up, go read it... now!

'cause I say so :P

And Cassie says it is amazing >_>

And yes, this is a CONCISE blog post.

The Snow is Melting

pr_dyb — 2009-03-02T16:33:48Z

Now I just need to find my enchanted quills...

Educational Decree Number Thirty

pr_esc — 2009-03-02T02:09:58Z

BY ORDER OF THE LIBRARY HEAD

All students and professors in HOL are invited to write your own Decree following the next guidelines:
-Must apply to any situation related to HOL only.
-Must be like if it was written by our "beloved" Prof. Dolores Umbridge.
-Must amuse me lots and a bit the people who will rate it.
-No minimum of words required.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Thirty.

Signed: Prof. Ulol Kimil, Head of HOL Libary

New WT!

pr_chu — 2009-02-28T19:07:02Z

The Newest Issue of The Wizarding Times has hit newstands! Check it out!

Prof. Chutney

Ravenclaw Pride Month

pr_esc — 2009-02-27T02:59:51Z

Did someone mention Ravenclaw Pride Month?! It's one of the most amazing times of the year in the Roost.

Of course, after a short debating, RPM this year would have a Fairy Tale theme! (And yah, I don't believe in fairies but was outnumbered).

So, while walking through the "enchanted" forests, I've heard rumours about kissing toads, Eagles in fairy tales, and did someone mention Hansel and Gretel? And I thought I saw a bunch of Eagles sitting over there giggling... Will this be the year that the Prince and Princess of Ravenclaw are crowned?

Anyways... our first task:

In accordance to Royal Decree number 175, the King and Queen of the realm of Roost, King (Emperor) Ulol and Queen Rhi, have announced that each of their two sons must find a suitable princess to be their wife. The sons, Mark Mandrake and Finn Cullen, have thus set upon the difficult task of finding suitable princesses. Daughters of the realm, we need your help. Could you be the chosen princess for one of them?

In order to find the princess who is most suited to them, the princes have chosen to mask themselves under pseudonyms. They believe that their chosen one will be able to see past this mask, and see the prince behind it. As such, for the duration of their search, they will be referred to as the Gemstone Prince and the Star Prince (in no particular order).

If you, dear maiden, believe that you could be a chosen one, we invite you to participate in this quest. Each potential princess who wishes to vie for the attention of a prince and become his chosen one, should send an email to the following address, RPM.Bachelor@gmail.com (yes... the Realm of Roost is quite technologically savvy, thanks to one of our princes).

Your first task, dear maiden, is to identify the prince for whose heart you would like to compete, specifying either Gemstone or Star. You should identify WHY you wish to compete for this particular prince, with a short explanation. Secondly, you will have to give yourself a codename, with which you will be identified for the duration of the quest. For example, a lady wishing to win the Gemstone Prince, could identify herself as being the Emerald Princess, or the Diamond Princess, and so forth. We also ask you to explain WHY you chose that name for yourself. Please be advised, that your answers will be made public and will be read by our Bachelors in their efforts to find their perfect princess.

Following this first task, each princess will be invited to participate in a series of tasks (4 tasks, one for each week of RPM), where she will answer various questions. Based on these responses, the princes will eliminate 1-2 princesses each week, until they've found their perfect match!

Having been appointed by their Royal Highnesses to aid in the search for the next Princesses of the Roost, Addie and Rosa would like to invite all eligible princesses (meaning all Ravenclaws!) to put on their fanciest dresses, their most valuable jewels and to get ready to party. The princes await you!

All applications are due by 11.59PM HOL time, March 3rd, 2009
Remember to send those to RPM.Bachelor@gmail.com

Earn Points with The SerpenTimes!

pr_lov — 2009-02-19T01:40:39Z

Do you dream about seeing your name published in The SerpenTimes? If so, here is your opportunity to make that dream a reality (and earn some points in the making)! The Spring Issue of The SerpenTimes is due out in a few weeks and we need more articles!

We are looking for:
Reports (Wizard-Related)
Fictional Stories
Reviews
Poems
Puzzles
"How-To" Guides
And More! - Anything you can think of will be considered!

We are also calling for questions to be submitted for two of our articles:
1. "Ask Ashlee" - Send in a wizard-themed question and she'll give you honest advice!
2. "The Dog Scoop" - Does your dog have a funny habit or something that worries you? Send Meg your question and she'll do her best to help!

Please see the SerpenTimes Welcome Page for the "Points Guideline."

All submissions should be sent to holserpentimes@gmail.com. Please include your HOL name!

Submissions are due March 6 (date has been extended). Get writing!

If you have any questions, please contact Megaera Selwyn, as Ashlee Sully is still missing!

Mommy mommy, there is an inferius in the closet

pr_esc — 2009-02-04T01:16:21Z

WHAT???
But why there is an INFERIUS in your closet?
Dun dun duuuuun...

Yeap, this is your chance to face your fear and have a chat with an inferius so... click here.

Will you dare?

Note: From now on, comments are mandatory for all ratings. At least 8 words must be used in all comments (and yes, they must be different words and make sense).

Calling all Hufflepuffs!

pr_chu — 2009-02-03T14:00:57Z

You've finished your first term classes...you've gotten your Quills...

Want something extra from your Head of House?

Earn Bonus Citrines!!!

Quills can equal Citrines? How? Click that link *points up* and find out how. You've got to be registered for The Hufflepuff Common Room (aka "The Sett") in order to take part...so, if you've not registered--head on over and do that, too!

You've got to do your part--so, read the rules and follow through...do NOT reply to this blog looking for Citrines. *grin* Not quite THAT easy. *shakes head*

Prof. Chutney

Slytherin Pageant Winner

pr_byn — 2009-02-02T23:56:23Z

The month long pageant to find who best represents Slytherin house has come to an end. I would like to thank all that have participated and those that voted. I hope we can do this again next year now that we can fix a few kinks that occured in this years First Slytherin Pageant.

So without further ado I present to you the winners:

In 3rd Place Daphne Marin
In 2nd Place Ariel Kingston

And coming in 1st place, voted by you in HOL is.....

ASHLEE SULLY!!!

She is the first ever Miss Slytherin. She will have many duties to fulfill like go to the openings of supermarkets, promo pictures with little witches and wizards at Hogsmeade stores, and flying in the annual Yorkshire pudding parade.

If for some reason Miss Sully can not complete her reign or if she is suddenly attacked by a band of hippogriffs let loose by the other contestants, then the runner up (Ariel) will take her place.

Again thank you all for participating and take a look at the nice awards:

The crown is for the winner of the pageant
the silver locket for 2nd place
bronze locket for 3rd place
and the pink bowtie goes to the assistant(s) for the pageant and that goes to Zoki Phanton and Lilly Stargazer.

Thank you again and See you next year!

Class Sign Ups are now open!!!

pr_esc — 2009-02-01T00:00:15Z

We thank you for your patience, but now the time has come and you all can go and sign up for the new classes.

Remember that you can only sign up to 5 classes and no more.

Some classes are full-year, so it is up to the professor if he/she allows new sign ups.

All the rest are one term classes and just check the requisites before signing up.

Class sign ups will remain open until the end of February.

Have fun class hunting!!!

Alte Sententiam soars again

pr_esc — 2009-01-31T23:12:18Z

Yeap, the Ravenclaw amazing newspaper released a new issue for your enjoying and pleasure... not.

But at least, if you are bored, take a look at it and make the editors happy because really, who wants to read a house newspaper full with jokes and science and scarves and penguins and book reviews and poetry and brain challenges and puzzles and all that jazz?

Well.. I do. And I hope you too.

So clicky here and be amaaaaaazed!!!

And so it begins...

pr_dar — 2009-01-29T05:21:59Z

It was a dark, dank, and dismal night in the dungeons...and Professor Angelus Darklost was sitting in his office, finalizing the Mid-Term grade reports to send out to the parents off all the Hufflepuffs. In amongst the stack of papers on his desk, he found a page torn from a book. "Odd," he thought, as he perused the page, noticing that there was a message written in black Perma-Magic marker (with extra sparkle even).

Thinking nothing of it, he resumed his work...losing track of time.

Several hours passed, and with the candle in his office burned out, Professor Darklost finally got up, stretched, and wandered out into the corridor. Walking by, with a worried expression on her face, was Ravenclaw, Cassandra Lobiesk.

"Good evening, Cassie. What brings you down here?"

Holding up a book with a broken spine and a page ripped out of the middle, Professor Darklost recognized that this was one of Maya Winter's (another Ravenclaw) favorite book. "Oh my! That's not right! Maya would hurt the person that destroyed her favorite book. Where did you find that? And have you seen Maya?"

Cassie shook her head and stated quite dreadfully, "It was in the Great Hall at the Ravenclaw table. I haven't seen Maya since everyone left after dinner. She stayed behind to just 'get one more chapter in'."

With a bit of concern, Professor Darklost and Cassie returned to the Great Hall. Upon arriving back at the Great Hall, the pair saw a trio of First Year Gryffindors staring in the direction of the marble staircase. Walking over to where they were, Cassie and Professor Darklost saw written in dark ink "And so it begins...."

Spamming in the blogs

pr_obi — 2009-01-26T12:33:39Z

Recently we have seen some people spamming in the blogposts. The same rules apply for commenting in the blogs as they are for everything else in HOL. We thought that would be obviuosly, but apperantly it was not.

Spamming is very much not liked here, and anywhere else. Offenders will have points taken away from them, and in severe cases might risk expuslion from HOL.

A Hazy Shade of Winter

co483 — 2009-01-26T08:17:33Z

It never rains but it pours with the Art Department, right?

We in the Art Department know that it's the dead of winter at Hogwarts, but we're curious folk and want to know what January looks like for you.

Let's see how the whole project is written up, shall we?

"It's the middle of January, and you know what means at Hogwarts. Students roaming about quite quickly (to keep warm), all bundled up in their scarves and hats and mittens. Huddled groups around the fireside in the evenings, enjoying good company while "working" on lessons. *cough*

"But, for those of us not literally at Hogwarts, what does our January look like? Is it cold and snowy? Is it mild and rainy? Is it scorching and overbearing? Let us know!

"The rules are pretty simple: share with us a photograph of what January (well, and February) looks like in your neck of the planet. Your picture should be no larger than 700 pixels wide by 525 pixels tall with a maximum file size of 200 kb, which should give you room to add a caption, giving your general location (no cities, of course, but countries, states, provinces, etc. should be okay)."

If you have any questions, be sure to ask in the Art Department Discussion Board.

Love Is In The Air, People!

co483 — 2009-01-21T06:53:39Z

Greetings, all you cats and kittens! After something of a hiatus, it's time for another installment of Project Art Department!

In this episode, we're asking you to get into that favorite holiday of all, Valentine's Day, by creating a Valentine's card to give to folks. Because nothing says, "I care" so much as a themed graphic, right? ;)

Here are the full project rules, as posted:

"No, really, it is. I'm certainly feeling it. Love and trust and hope and joy. It's all there. And it's time we did something fun with it.

"Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to make a Valentine's Day themed card^[1] you could give out to other folks at Hogwarts. It can be funny, lovey, or silly; sincere, punny, or heartfelt^[2]. It just needs to be about one of the many forms of love.

"The specifics: Maximum file size is 300 KB, with a maximum dimension of 800x600 (minimum is 300x300). This is a creative project, so have fun with it.

"^[1] Card is a loose term, since we're talking about the internet here. You can make something like a traditional folding card, or you can try for something more postcard-sized. Or, you could even consider making something desktop wallpapery, if you're so inclined.
"^[2] References to fresh pickled toads are not necessary, but occasionally appreciated. ;)"

Coming Soon...

pr_esc — 2009-01-13T18:57:11Z

A rose is a rose is a rose...

pr_esc — 2009-01-08T22:59:34Z

Right... well that's a poem, isn't it?

But now you have the amazing chance to write a poem, with ghosts, at Hogwarts... what can be cooler than that?

So click here and amaze us with your poetry... or at least amuse us... or try not to ruin our day?

No vampires allowed in the stories, no no no. This is about ghosts. And only ghosts. Got it? Good.

The Wizarding Times--all students welcome to contribute!

pr_chu — 2009-01-08T15:10:24Z

A new term is starting soon--and, that means the staff of the The Wizarding Times is busy getting ready for a new issue!

We just wanted to remind ALL HOL students that you are welcome to write a story, article, poem....create a graphic...to be published!

Please contact me via PM or HOL Message *only* as my e-mail tends to get flooded. :) If you do creative writing or art, be prepared to show me examples.

We publish stories on a variety of topics. Check out one of our past issues to get an idea of what we are looking for!

When you send a message, let me know what your interests are...and what kind of article you might like to write!

We do give points for participation (HOL Wide). We DO NOT need any other editors at the moment. *nods*

Wizarding Times Participation Points:

Article: 10 points per published submission (maximum 20 pts. at any time)

Art: 5/10 points per published submission (maximum 20 pts.)

Fiction: 5 points per published submission (maximum 10 pts.)

Mr or Miss Slytherin Pageant...Begins yay!

pr_byn — 2009-01-02T10:08:13Z

Hear ye, Hear Ye!! The competition has begun. These 13 brave snakes have thrown their names in the hat and have us..yes all of HOL decide who represents Slytherin through and through best! (They actually all are true Slytherins for we love the chance to prove our loveliness *wink*)

Here are your lucky 13 contestants:

Emily Cullen
Meg Selwyn
Daphne Marin
Nassa Dikaios
Ashlee Sully
Faye Roderick
Lorelei Sands
Ariel Kingston
Opal Curare
India Jolly
Mia Vardales
David Koche
Tambaqui Balthazar

The First Task is up and voting will begin on Januaray 9th!
If you want to watch and vote click here!
If you haven't signed up yet, then sign up here!

(you can also play our growing arcade just remember to click the stay logged in forever buttin *winks*)

Attention Gryffindors!

pr_mis — 2009-01-01T20:22:34Z

Beedle the Bard Challenge

Gather round all Gryffindors!

In celebration of JK Rowling’s new book, there will be a Beedle the Bard challenge for all Gryffindors brave enough to enter.. So get to the Common room, and join if you dare.

There will be 6 Terrible Tasks which the teams have to fulfil, testing your wit, creativity and cunning, all in theme of Rowling’s new book. This test of endurance and skill will start on February the first, but there is already an opportunity to get your team some early points to get a bit of a head start..

So don’t wait any longer.. Join now!

Teams

Two heads are better than one, and the challenging nature of this challenge requires you to battle in a team of two (so two people in one team).
Found a team member? Then you can sign up in this thread.
You want to participate but haven’t found a team member yet? Then refer to this thread.

Scared that’s it undoable? Don’t dare to join?
Don’t be! Find your inner-Gryffindor and subscribe today!
Not scared at all?
Prove it! Find your inner-Gryffindor and subscribe today!

Haven’t read the Tales of Beedle the Bard yet? Don’t worry! There is a tale in the Deathly Hallows which you can use as well! Haven’t read Deathly Hallows? Then you can just come up with a story! So no excuses not to join, it will be a lot of fun.

See you there!

- Ronja Liek
- Barbara Phoenix

For more information regarding the Beedle the Bard Challenge, go to thisthread. Any questions left unanswered? You can ask them here.

Ravenclaw's Holiday IRC Party

pr_esc — 2008-12-22T02:15:01Z

All of HOL is invited to the party, which we'll be celebrating with lots of butterbeer, games, butterbeer, overall fun with friends (old and new), and did I mention butterbeer? Even if you're only on IRC for a moment, just pop in #ravenclaw and say hello or greet us a Happy Holidays and New Year!

Two parties will be held (you're of course welcome to visit both!): one at December 31 from 10:55 pm HOL (5:55 pm EST) and January 1 from 3 am HOL (10 pm EST on December 31).

So add the dates on the calendar, put your fiercest clothes on, and shimmy it up for some PARTYING! We're looking forward to see you there!

From Santa's Ravenclaw lame helpers.

Welcome new Badgers!

pr_chu — 2008-12-19T17:43:19Z

Greetings new Badgers (those would be new Hufflepuffs). The Hufflepuff staff is working hard on getting a message out to each and every new member of Hufflepuff. For now, however, I’d like to greet you here and give you a bit of information that’s important for you to know!

While it is not mandatory that you come to The Sett which is what a Badger calls his home and we like to call the Hufflepuff Common Room), you might find it fun to meet your fellow Badgers and participate in some of the activities that we have there.

If you have any questions, please contact a Hufflepuff Prefect (*points below*)

(Everyone at the Sett has their own personal Prefect for any questions or problems that they might have. Everyone is sorted alphahuff-like and it goes by your FIRST name.)

Prefect Narcissa Heart - A - B
Deputy Head of House Felicia Hartwick - C - D
Post Graduate Anne Damhsoir - E - J
Prefect Tarma Black - K - L
Prefect Rorey Padfoot - M - P
Prefect Askeron Kyle - R - S
Prefect Kath Snape or Prefect Neville Prongs - T - Z
(If you meet a Badger who forgot who their own Prefect is, you can refer him or her to that list so they remember!)

Welcome to HOL and Hufflepuff! We look forward to getting to know each and every one of you!

Sincerely,

Prof. Anya Chutney
Head of House, Hufflepuff

Mr. and Miss Slytherin!!

pr_byn — 2008-12-18T15:02:47Z

SLYTHERINS!!!!!!!!

Time has come to show your love of Slytherin House. The Mr. & Miss Slyth Pageant is the place to show who is the most all around Slytherin...both in fashion and in how you think. BUT this pageant will be decided by not only your fellow Slytherins but we are inviting the other houses to help vote.

Sign ups start now and end Jan. 1st Midnight! The list will be put up January 2nd on who will be participating along with the first round "task" which will then be open for voting on Jan. 9th.

(for other houses to vote in the pageant you must sign up in our forum.)

Here is the schedule for the pageant:
Sign ups - Now - end Jan 1st
first task - Jan 2nd - End Jan 9th (open voting)
2nd Task - Jan 9th - End Jan 16th (open voting)
3rd Task (final task) - Jan 16th - End Jan 23rd (open voting)
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED Jan. 30th!

Who best portrays Slytherin in mind, body and soul!? Sign up and let us know!
Slytherins sign up here in this thread!

banner made by Aidan Argent

Class Applications

pr_esc — 2008-12-15T20:21:11Z

If you want to teach a new class for the next term, or if you want to renew your 1 term class, click here.

If you are or want to be a student teacher, remember to write it. We remind you that only a few new student teachers will be hired, so your chances for your class to be accepted will increase if you apply as full Professor.

If you are actually teaching a full year class, ignore this and go nag your students to do their work :)

Note 1: For new classes, we are looking for "canon" classes, so those have a better chance also to be accepted.

Note 2: Read the application instructions carefuly and fill in all required fields in the form, incomplete applications will not be processed.

Slytherin Arcade - Open for Business

pr_byn — 2008-12-10T16:43:33Z

That's right. The wonderful people at Slytherin want to open our dungeon game room doors to the rest of HOL. We are a competitive bunch and would like to see if any of you non snakes can over take our arcade. So if you are bored, competitive, and just want a little fun, head on down to the dark dungeon arcade and play some games.

Just sign up on the forum and wait for validation and Voila! you are all set to play....oh its just 2 knuts for unlimited play. Just insert your money into the Basil Statue's mouth...just make sure it's not the real Basil...or he'll eat chu'.

SerpenTimes Winter '08 Issue

pr_byn — 2008-12-08T23:20:04Z

Get chur' paper!! Get chur' paper!! Hot off the presses!!

The winter '08 edition of the SerpenTimes House paper is now available. Read the Ask Ashlee to the Quidditch spotlight report to your movie and music reviews and so much more!

*coughdungeon ofhorrorssectioncough*

Right here off the presses Winter '08 SerpenTimes

If you want to contribute ( you get lovely house points!!) Click here
Info to Contribute

Jingle bells jingle bells

pr_esc — 2008-12-08T05:07:03Z

Jingle all the waaaaaay!!!

And it is time to have fun!!!

So let's party at Hogsmeade and crash some parties \o/

Gryffindor Board Open to Other Houses (for real this time)

pr_mis — 2008-12-07T23:50:23Z

I'm pleased to announce that after a bit of arguing with the Gryffindor Fat Lady, I managed to convince her to allow people into our Waffling's Ward area of the board, where we keep our RPG area, Birthday Wishes (etc) area, and our Godric's Gate area (where you can pretty much talk about anything as long as there is no bashing).

This means for those students who have already signed up as a guest on our forum, and were upset or surprised to find you could not post - this has now been fixed. So feel free to sign in and post away, just remember to post responsibly and follow the rules of the boards as written.

Also, this is a great opportunity for those who have not signed up to go ahead and do so, but make sure to follow the sign up instructions listed in the announcements area on the forum! And remember, it can now take up to 1-2 weeks for me to approve you, so you really want to make sure get it right the first time!

This should work out correctly this time, without all those other nasty messages being put on the forum by non-HOL members. So, make sure you have fun!

December is Slythmas for Slytherins!!!

pr_byn — 2008-12-03T14:03:39Z

Hey you snakes! If you are a bit tired after the Green vs. Silver battle don't worry, December is Slythmas month! Fun activities throughout the month!

You can claim your day for giving gifts to the house or even a person if you want to! and our lovely coloring of fun!!...remember participation earns your SAP points! so visit this link to see where you can start the fun!

Slythmas

And rack up those SAP points see who will come out as Champion!

(oh and remember to stop by this link to post your fav fall recipes for our Seasonal recipe cookbook and also submit your fall cookbook covers! details follow the links!
Fall Recipe thread
Fall cook book cover Contest )

Slytherin House : Green Vs. Silver Results

pr_byn — 2008-12-03T13:51:43Z

Now that the month of November has past, the first Green vs. Silver battle has ended. Which side was victorious? Do any of our Slyth student have battle scars? Who can raise the Cup in Victory???

It was a very close battle, however the first year's winner of the Color wars is...........................

YAY!! Congrats to both teams for your hard work!

Here is the breakdown of the competition:

First Friend Project

pr_esc — 2008-12-02T04:48:12Z

The First Friend is a project that new students at HOL (or even older ones) can join, in which they will be paired up with a more experienced HOLer. With this program, not only is the new student learning the ins and outs of HOL, the rules, and have someone to turn to with questions, but they are making a new friend.

This project is open for all HOLers.

WT Fall Edition NOW Available!

pr_chu — 2008-11-26T18:56:48Z

The Wizarding Times November Edition is now available!

Head on over and check us out!

-

Your tale has been rejected

pr_esc — 2008-11-10T13:36:19Z

A publisher's office in the middle of nowehere.

"We are sorry to inform you that your tale submitted to be part of the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard has been rejected."

"What? But it is the most amazing tale ever!!!" - you can hear Mr Beedle shouting.

"Well, you still have the chance to publish it, Mr Beedle, but first you have to show it to the board of HOL critics and they will decide if it is worthy of a second chance or not."

BOO!!!

pr_esc — 2008-10-28T06:03:01Z

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

It's Halloween time!!! So witches and ghouls and vampires and mummies and zombies and ruber ducks and teletubbies and purple dinosaurs are wandering everywhere trying to scare us.

But over all, some new ghosts have been seen around HOL.

Who are they? Why are they floating in our own school? Did you see any of them?

Tell us!!!

Slytherin Dungeons --RE-OPENED FOR BUSINESS!

pr_byn — 2008-10-26T16:18:40Z

After almost a week of our dungeons being in disarray and utter clutter, the only solution for us was to just start from scratch. We renovated the entire thing..new walls, fresh coat of paint, new layout.

Only sad part is...we need to make sure you are who you are...ya know security measures, SO please take 30 seconds to register at the door and then you are more than welcome to enjoy the fun!

DUNGEON DOORS!!

Show us your monster mash!

co483 — 2008-10-20T07:11:41Z

Hey, everyone,

Rorey and I thought we should throw a nice Art Department Halloween party, and you're all invited... to show us your pictures of Halloween!

That's right, there's a new photo contest in the Art Department: Halloween Haunts. Starting today, you can submit a photo of your Halloween experience this year. But don't dawdle; this contest ends on November 2nd.

Here are the details:

"Halloween is nearly upon us, and we here at the Art Department want to see how you are preparing for this ghoulish event.

"Take a picture of something Halloweenish in your area. Are you dressing up this year? Have you turned your ordinary house into a haunted house? Did you visit a pumpkin patch this year? We want to see what you are doing to celebrate the season.

"There is no creative photoshopping in this contest, just photos. Submissions should be jpgs no larger than 200kb, with dimensions of either 640x480 or 480x640."

If you have any questions, you can message Cosmo Brown or Rorey Padfoot, or you can ask your question here.

Slytherin Green vs Silver Challenge

pr_byn — 2008-10-15T16:16:08Z

Yes yes it's time! You heard it right, it's coming in NOVEMBER, which is like SOON. Which means the Green versus Silver month! The battle of glory and PRIDE! All month long! \o/ Which side will you be on? How far would you go for victory? Join up for Green vs Silver and find all the answers!

The sign up for Green vs Silver is now officially open, to sign up just simply post your name in this thread - CLICK HERE FOR THE SIGNUPS
before November 1st. All Slytherin house members are invited to participate in this event, so come along!

All the sign ups will then be randomly split into two teams: Green and Silver team. Some of the challenges you'll be facing will include an arcade tournament and QUIDDITCH!

What are you waiting for?? Sign up NOW!

My dragon is better than your puffskein...

pr_esc — 2008-10-06T03:21:28Z

In fact, my Peruvian Vipertooth could eat your little puffskein, so keep it away and safe.

So yah, I love to have a magical pet. And if you have one, I would like to hear about it. So write a little story about your pet and tell us what kind of magical being it is.

I promise you that Raksha won't eat it... yet *g*

Alte Sententiam roars!!!

pr_esc — 2008-10-05T15:38:36Z

Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, the new issue of Ravenclaw's newspaper Alte Sententiam is now available.

The things you can look forward to regarding this issue:

Advertisements: We have the October Birthdays, as well as club ads (Alte, RQT, and Debate Club). We also premiere a new addition: The RQT Trading Cards. Every issue, we will be featuring two RQTers (can you guess which ones got featured first? *g*).

Articles: Not familiar with the HOL clubs or want to know what classes are worth taking? How about the better ways of purchasing movie tickets, the current HOL trends, or the inner workings of an eagle? Try these articles on for size!

Puzzles: New Ravenclaw Brain Challenge is up! See if you can crack the puzzle. Also, Rorey Padfoot and Madras Bubbles have provided us with a Sudoku and a Word Find, respectively.

Columns: We have two new columns this term: Addie’s Movie Mayhem and Keety’s Palace of Poetry. Of course, Faye also graces the world with her presence in Faye-mous Last Words, while Cassandra doodles in her corner all day.

Reviews: Travel to the tomb of the dragon emperor or the futuristic world. Journey on a search for a star, or experience the clash in the Industrial Revolution. Regardless of where you end up, these reviews are interesting reads!

Scientifics: Sit with Rosa as she explains the workings of the Large Hadron Collider, or with Lissa as she gives you an insight in coastal erosion.

Poem and Short Story Showcase: We have a ton of poetry and short stories to give you. So pull up or conjure a bean bag and make yourselves comfortable, because the showcase will take up some of your time!

FallI Issue of the Wizarding Times!

pr_chu — 2008-10-03T14:22:57Z

The Fall issue of Wizarding Times is HERE! (That is the Hufflepuff Newspaper for those of you who may not know)

Thank you to everyone (from all houses) who worked so very hard to get everything up and running for us!

Enjoy!

New Art Project: Your Ad Here!

co483 — 2008-10-02T05:14:31Z

It's a new month, so it's a new art project: Your Ad Here!

"October is a special time of year. The days grow shorter, the air a little crisper. The grounds look dangerously close to bursting into flaming autumn colors. You've even survived your first month of classes at Hogwarts, and that's cause for a celebration in Hogsmeade.

"The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year is just around the corner. What shops will you visit? What alluring signs will be beckoning you to come in and spend your galleons and sickles and knuts? What new shops have opened this year? What absolute bargains can you find?

"Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to create an advertisement sign for a business (canon or invented) in Hogsmeade. It can be about a particular item, a special sale, new management, or anything, really, so long as it's a display sign. Be sure to include the business name somewhere on the sign.

"Minimum dimensions are 400 pixels square; maximum dimensions are 800 pixels square. (Square is not, of course, required.) Submissions should be jpgs no larger than 200kb."

If you have any questions about the project, you can ask in the project's discussion board thread, or you can message either me or Rorey.

In the meantime, you can still rate and review the last contest. Voting will be open for that until October 15, so you've still got time. Remember to read over the project's guidelines before you review, though, because, really, the guidelines are more what you'd call rules than actual guidelines.

Gringotts Bank

pr_dyb — 2008-09-17T12:32:14Z

Gringotts is open for business now.

Every HOL Member does automatically have their own vault. You can deposit some or all of your Beans there and earn a 2% weekly interest on your savings. There are some rules to follow, though:

The minimum deposit is 50 Beans and you can deposit your Beans only in multiples of 50 (50, 100, 150, 200, ... 1000, 1050...). Each Bean transfer from your Bean Pouch will be stored in its own bag in your Gringotts vault. You can only withdraw a complete bag. The Gringotts goblins will not bother going down to your vault, open your bag, take out a few Beans and lock it all up again. So if you intend to frequently withdraw some Beans you are advised to deposit them in small portions of 50 each.

Interest is paid weekly for each of your positions seperately. Gringotts will transfer your earnings directly to your Bean Pouch when you visit the bank and it is pay day. Interest cumulates which means that if you don't visit Gringotts for several weeks you will get paid for more than one week when you go there to grab your Beans.

Gringotts pays you 2% interest a week or 1 Bean for each 50 Beans in your vault. However, Gringotts is a business itself so they will change you a service fee of 4% when you want to withdraw your Beans. Do the maths... if you put Beans in the bank you'll have to leave them there for at least 3 weeks to make profit, if you withdraw a position before 2 weeks have passed you will make a loss.

The idea behind this is that you can earn some Beans from your savings especially in times when you have less opportunity to make Beans from regular HOL work. For example during HOLidays (summer, Christmas), you go on a vacation, you have to be away for a while etc. - you can also decide to save up for a certain goal which will go faster if you let Gringotts help you with that.

Again, do not deposit Beans you intend to spend in the near future - Beans you put in Gringotts are not available for you as they are locked up in a vault and too frequent transfers will eat up your savings as the service fee will add up to large amounts.

There is also a "Business" tab in Gringotts where you can see what the individual stores have made in profit so far and where that profit is coming from.

Don't change anything!!!

pr_esc — 2008-09-16T00:50:02Z

But of course, you did. And so you changed the present just because you wanted to have a pet dinosaur.
AAAAHHHHH!!! It wants to eat me!!! *hides*

Thankfully this never happened, as you don't have a Time Turner. But, what could happen if you do?
Would you use it and change something from the past... from the future?

Click here and tell us!!!

Beans, Shops, Gringotts and Trades

pr_dyb — 2008-09-15T00:00:34Z

All the Hogsmeade businesses (and beyond, like the Greenhouse) are now recording their sales and they also keep the profit they make as their budget. This enables those businesses to also make bean payouts wherever this is justified or to hold certain events or special offers. The Hogsmeade Herald will be able to pay their staff soon, how much solely depends on how much money the paper makes from sales and "sales".

All the shops' revenue reports, pay-outs and the status of their accounts will be public as soon as Gringotts will open (probably Thursday/Friday). I'm a huge fan of "full disclosure", so nothing is going to be secret = best way to avoid fraud if the public has a supervising role over business finance, hehe. You will also be able to open your own vault at Gringotts, but it only makes sense if you want to save up some beans for the future. Gringotts will pay some interest but also charge you a fee (they are a business as well), so short term savings will likely cost you some beans.

Also next week you will be able to privately trade your items. You can then trade your extra wizards cards for beans or another card you need for your collection and don't have to dump it in the Thrift Store anymore. So keep your doubles until the trades are implemented. If you don't know anyone to trade with you can always advertise your extras using the Crabbeslist on the Hogsmeade Herald.

Slytherin Coming Attractions

pr_byn — 2008-09-14T20:29:37Z

Are you ready Fellow Slytherins? Are you ready for the new school year? The staff of Slytherin house has plans to keep you in the hunt. We plan to sharpen your senses, mold your knowledge, test your skills, and challenge your true nature of mind.

We can't say too much here, but be prepared, in the coming term you will see Slyth-o-Ween, Slythmas, Mr & Miss Slyth, The Salazars, and the mysterious Green vs. Silver....and much much more. So just ask yourselves...Are you prepared for the first half?

**poster created by Tambaqui Balthazar**

Fall Edition of the SerpenTimes

pr_byn — 2008-09-14T17:52:10Z

Ashlee Sully (Editor In Chief) along with the staff of writers from all houses, is very proud present the first issue of the SerpenTimes for the 2008/09 school year.

I along with everyone in the Slytherin house want to send a huge thank you to Ashlee and all the other writers and contributors in resurrecting the paper. They are:

Adeliene Cromwell, Alva St Clair, Ariel Kingston, Astrid Shadows, Darik Limewire, Ellie Warhol, Evelina Hawthorne, Faye Roderick, India Jolly, Jenna Hathaway, Mia Vardales, Nikki Walker, Noora Novel, Professors Angelus Darklost and Opal Dragonfly, Sarah Matrix, Tambaqui Balthazar and Zia Stonebury.

Also a special thank you to the editor, Megaera Selwyn, whom we thank for your hard work.

Everyone who contributed this month has received house points! Yay! We are open to accepting submissions for the next issue, check out the website for more information.
Please click the link below to visit the paper :)

Hogsmeade Day

pr_dyb — 2008-09-13T13:57:25Z

Today is HOGSMEADE DAY which means HOL Hogsmeade is officially opening!

Let me introduce you to all the new features step by step. It's going to be a long post but I recommend that you take the time and read it before you do anything in Hogsmeade, helps avoiding misunderstandings and unnecessary questions later, heh.

The Map of Hogsmeade was drawn by Slytherin's Aidan Argent. She also drew all the more detailed images for the individual buildings and the art just couldn't have turned out better. I love it!

Everything on this map will be important later; you can see many buildings which are not yet clickable but they will unfold step by step. The roads will be important as well as the relative locations of the buildings to another. You will see. Not everything will be explained to you, a major point of Hogsmeade will be that you have to explore and discover on your own - this is a good part of the fun.

However, Hogsmeade will start with seven buildings today and I will introduce you to all of them in detail now.

The Hogsmeade Herald is the official newspaper of HOL Hogsmeade. It covers HOL happenings as well as stories from Hogsmeade. There is a huge fictional element to Hogsmeade which will unfold mostly through the Herald. You might even get hints to villagers and secret locations through Herald stories. But there is also extensive HOL coverage with reports, interviews, editorials and news items. Main point here is 'freedom of speech and expression,' which means that the Herald staff will not censor any opinions as long as they are written in a tasteful way and follow HOL rules for language.

The Hogsmeade Herald staff has been working hard for the past six weeks to put together a first issue full of interesting stories. Through 'issue' is not the correct term for the future as the Herald is set up just like any other online newspaper. New items are added whenever they are submitted and there will be no numbered issues. So if you want to follow the paper - checking for new stories or a new chapter for the serial novel - you can go there several times a week and likely find something new to read every time.

The Herald is very interactive, your input is very welcome and even required. You can comment on all stories (same rules here, be respectful and avoid personal attacks and you can freely express your opinion) if you agree or disagree with what's being said there. If you want to write for the newspaper then contact the staff and ask if they have openings. If you just want to write an opinion piece then post a letter to the Editor.

Say Ouais ("ouais" = French for "yeah") is the Letters to the Editor section. Such "letters" are meant to be meaningful opinion pieces and not one-liners or congratulations or just blabla like "hey I love the magazine xoxoxo". Those will be deleted instantly. But if you want to write something about a current event or issue and you are not on the HH Staff, if you want to post an alternative opinion on what's being published, if you want to let HOL know about something you consider important... then post your item to "Say Ouais" and you get the exposure.

Crabbeslist is the Herald section for Classified Ads. The Herald charges a small beans fee for publishing your ad and you can advertise anything you like as long as it is related to the wizarding world of HOL. No commercial Muggle ads and nothing that would violate HOL rules. Ideas for Crabbeslist items would be advertising your profile, asking for a pet sitter when you go on vacations, trading double wizard cards, promoting a Quidditch match or a House event, job offers like artist wanted or referee needed and so on. I am sure you can come up with many useful, interesting or fun ads.

I leave it up to you to discover the rest on your own. Let us make the Hogsmeade Herald a big success!

Dervish & Banges is selling magical equipment, potions and potion ingredients. Do not waste your beans on potions stuff now as the potions lab will not open anytime soon. However... hint hint... I heard rumours that the store has planned to give out some gifts on opening day only. You might want to get some Knotgrass or such to try it out.

Flourish & Blott's is the Hogsmeade book store. Some of the books are useful beyond what the cover might say, others are fun to read, and some are just there for you bookworms to collect. I personally recommend to check out Prof. Dragonfly's "Wizard Wit and Wisdom" series which has been added to F&B's General Books section. Naturally the book store's inventory will grow majorly over the weeks and months to come.

Honeydukes is selling chocolate, candy and generally sweets. You can buy Chocolate Frogs now if you want to work on your Wizard Cards collection. More sweets will be added when Ambrosius is back from London, and by then you will also have more reasons to buy things from Honeydukes.

The Thrift Shop has been there for a while already. It is the one place in Hogsmeade that will always buy your goods if you want to turn them back into beans. As a rule of thumb... it buys from you for half the retail value and sells those items 25% cheaper than the other stores in Hogsmeade. Or to give you a concrete example: If you need a Mandrake it will be cheapest to grow one yourself in the Greenhouse, and most expensive to buy it from Dervish & Banges. But as people who have harvested some Mandrakes will likely sell some to the Thrift Shop you should check there first if you need one as you might save up to 30 beans there compared to Dervish's price.

Happy Hogsmeade Day!

This Saturday is...

pr_dyb — 2008-09-11T21:42:07Z

Art Department News

co483 — 2008-09-09T22:10:29Z

Greetings, HOLers,

This year is a big year for the Art Department: it's our first fully-functioning one! We hope we can bring you exciting and interesting contests and challenges.

To further that goal, I've spoken with Miss Gypsy Ardor, my partner in artsy crime. She informed me that she has a marvelous opportunity to study ancient compassionate magic, so of course I told her to go right ahead and not to worry about the Art Department, that I'd find someone with wit and wisdom and a can-do spirit to help out.

Which brings me to the next bit of news. After careful consideration, I asked Miss Rorey Padfoot to assist me in running the Art Department as the new Deputy Head of the department. Thankfully, she agreed.

If you don't know Rorey, you're in for a treat. She's hard-working, creative, enthusiastic, and generally awesome. She's already had some exciting ideas for future projects, and I think you're all going to love them.

So, please join me in welcoming Rorey Padfoot as the new Deputy Head of the Art Department, as well as offering thanks to Gypsy Ardor for her tenure here.

I'm excited; it's gonna be a great year.

Welcome to the New School Year

pr_dyb — 2008-09-02T11:05:24Z

I want to welcome all new and returning students and professors to the new school year that started yesterday.To celebrate the good days everyone active with an open bean pouch got a gift of 100 Beans from the Head Office. Keep your beans together, you might need them soon for Hogsmeade, also the Greenhouse will be open this week.

If you have friends or family who still want to sign up for HOL this summer, please tell them to hurry up. Sign-up will close on September 15th for this term.

The Alte Wants YOU

pr_esc — 2008-09-01T17:59:10Z

Ravenclaw’s Alte Sententiam invites HOL to send their ideas and submit articles for the term’s opening issue in October! Your ideas can range from articles, scientifics, poems, short stories, ads, graphics, even puzzles!

The due date for this issue’s submissions is Tuesday, September 30, so please try to contact Cassandra Lobiesk beforehand so she can let you know if your idea is approved!

Submission points will be awarded as follows:
10 points per published article
10 points per published graphic/ad

So why wait? Write us a piece and get it published in the Ravenclaw newspaper!

For all ideas/submissions, please send an email to alte.sententiam@gmail.com

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Some Maintenance

pr_dyb — 2008-08-27T15:23:21Z

As I have announced a couple of weeks ago, we will start to delete old log entries and messages from the server when the new school year begins. This is necessary as we do not have infinite space to store stuff like this and even if we had it would make everything loading slower and slower with the time.

So from September on all messages and log entries (HOL logs and pet logs) will be deleted if they are older than 120 days. You can protect HOL messages from deletion by locking them, you should have that option on your messages screen.

Here are the current numbers, just in case anyone is interested:

Total logs in database: 94253
Logs older than 120 days: 59660

Total pet logs in database: 59238
Pet logs older than 120 days: 20837

Total HOL messages in database: 6475
Total protected HOL messages: 24
Unprotected HOL messages older than 120 days: 0

Yup, there aren't any messages older than 4 months now, but there will be soon...

Unrelated, Cosmo asked me to make a few changes to the Trading Cards. So now you can hide your card if you don't want it to show on your profile or in the Art Department anymore. You can still update your card when hidden and also make it visible again at any time. You can hide and "unhide" your card from within the Art Department, click on 'View your HOL Trading Card' at the top of the page.

Oh, and all missing thumbnails for the cards should have miraculously appeared now.

The Olympics are Over...

pr_dyb — 2008-08-26T13:18:11Z

...and we are just 5 days away from the start of term. As usual we begin the new school year with a staff meeting on Sunday, August 31, 6pm HOL Time on IRC in #staffmeeting. All Professors, Head Students and Student Teachers are invited to attend this meeting.

Staff Meetings are for HOL Staff only. Professors and Head Students are invited to all meetings, and Student Teachers are invited to the always first and last meeting of each term only. Then we will most likely discuss classes and to avoid bad communication it is a good idea that everyone who is in charge of a HOL class should be allowed to join this discussion.

I've also made a few changes to the site in the past few days.

HOL Calendar

You find this now in the right hand menu, it has replaced the HOL Timetable. The calendar should give everyone a quick overview on upcoming dates, events, deadlines etc., Prefects and higher can add new calendar events at any time. You will only see events that matter to you, so even if the calendar seems empty it probably is not. For example, the staff meeting dates can not be seen by normal students as this meeting doesn't apply to them. And Hufflepuff students will not be able to see calendar dates for internal Gryffindor events and vice versa. I think this setup makes the most sense.

Discussion Boards

I had to make a few changes to the boards because the performance was not acceptable. So now you can not see the name of the last poster anymore unless you open the thread. This small inconvenience should be okay as all the boards will open much, much faster now - no more annoyance.

New Library Project / Epilogue - Nineteen Years Later

pr_esc — 2008-08-25T17:11:47Z

Many people didn't like the Deathly Hallows' Epilogue. Some think it lacked info about what happened with some of the secondary characters. Others feel like it was written in a rush and not in JK's style.

So, if you are one of them, and you think you can do better, this is your chance!

Click here and show us what would be the perfect ending for our beloved series.

Missing Quidditch Logs

pr_dyb — 2008-08-25T12:50:27Z

The Quidditch Department is missing some match logs. Please check your IRC logs and if you find any of the missing logs send them to the Quidditch Board.

Thank you!

About Online Safety

pr_dyb — 2008-08-22T22:42:21Z

Please read the following very carefully (everyone, and yes, you too).

It is very important that you follow the basic rules for keeping yourself safe on the internet. Do not take this lightly, I know it is so easy to get lazy because nothing ever happens but if something should happen it will be too late to make these changes.

Real Names: Do not use your full real name for signing up anywhere if you can avoid it. On HOL you are strongly encouraged not to use your full real name but to make up a name for your HOL identity. We do not know if you (accidentally or not) used your real name, so if you have done that please send me a HOL Message with a new name and it will get changed for you.

Passwords: This is VERY important. Do not use the same password everywhere on the internet, do never use your email or bank (duh!) or IM password for HOL or anywhere else. If you think there is nothing that anyone could gain from phishing your password you might be right now, but don't even get started with this bad habit. The single most cause for criminal "hacking" etc. is that the bad guys get your password from somewhere else and just try it in "important places." You also never know how secure the servers on third party sites are - they might even distribute the data they collect from you for money.

For HOL everyone should please use a unique password that you use nowhere else. If you are afraid that you will forget it this then write it in your notebook, use Firefox which remembers all passwords for you, there are also many software tools that keep track of your passwords etc., please don't be lazy here. Also, you should change your password regularly. If you haven't done that on HOL for a while, please go now and click on the Change HOL Password link on your profile.

HOL Accounts: We have rules on HOL and we are doing very well with these rules for many years. One of the main things is that you are allowed only one account, and it really bothers me that our admins are so busy with deleting dozens of doubles every day.

Now is this related to "online safety?" Whenever you browse the internet you have an IP address attached to your computer. This address is public and it reveals already quite a lot about you (your country, state, town, service provider etc.). Your browser even does a lot more than that: anyone who maintains a website you are visiting can not only see pretty much everything about your computer but also where you came from, and they could even check which other websites you do usually visit. And now imagine what anyone could do with that information if they also have your real name or password.

But regarding double accounts which get deleted... there is no point in complaining or making up something that you wouldn't have made several accounts on HOL. We can easily prove that two accounts are made by the same person (unless you use special software or thought carefully about avoiding to leave any traces beforehand). It's just really a bit annoying if there are so many...

Thanks for reading this all. Now please do not forget, if you accidentally used your real name here, message me with your new name and it will get changed. If you haven't changed your HOL password in a while or if your current password is not uniquely used on HOL, please change it right now. And believe me, I am certainly the last person who gets paranoid about "online risks" and such, but I want everyone on HOL to be safe and these things are really basic, elemental precautions everyone should take online, especially but not exclusively if you are still underage.

Improved Member List and House Multiplier

pr_dyb — 2008-08-20T21:13:30Z

When you click on the Members link to do a search for HOL Members of all sorts you will now get improved results. In small print under the main entry you will see something like "Last seen on August 20, 2008 in the Library" or "Last seen on August 13, 2008 looking at Profiles". And if someone hasn't been logged in at all since last year you will read "Has not been seen since October 2007."

So this improvement serves two main purposes:

First, as every summer, we get a lot of sign-ups who just do the sorting and never come back. Or people who signed up multiple accounts and we did not catch them. All these people cause a lot of work for their house staff and prefects as they might try to contact them when they are not really here. Now everyone can sort through the members list and see if that person has been on HOL recently or not really at all.

Most importantly, those "ghosts" should not count for the House multiplier, no matter if they just signed up yesterday - who doesn't even log in can not sign up for classes or even be active for their house. The House multiplier is there to make sure that the house whose active students do on average win the most points will win the House Cup. Naturally not all Houses have the same number of students or active students and without this multiplier the smaller houses (Hufflepuff, Slytherin) would not stand a chance against bigger Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

Now we do usually count as active anyone who has won points for their House in the past 90 days but at the beginning of a new school year this system doesn't work - none of the new First Years would count as active and the active students from last year can not win points during summer holidays so they would become passive when they are not.

In the past this problem was handled like this: all new sign-ups were considered active, all active students from last term as well, and also everyone who won some points since the start of term would be set to active again. This was not an ideal solution but it should have evened out between the houses pretty much. However, many students who were not really active would have been carried on until November 1st when the 90-days rule came into play for the new school year.

However, I have changed this now to a better system which I believe is much more fair for all. Everyone was set to passive, no matter if oldie or newbie - then everyone who logged in to HOL in the past 90 days was set to active, as we can safely assume that most of these people are active, and from September 1st on everyone who wins points and who is currently passive will also count for the multiplier from the moment they win these points on.

These changes led to many of the new sign-ups now showing up as passive in the member lists. If they decide to become active (to sign-up for classes) they will have to log in to HOL and become active automatically. All of the old members who have been here at the end of last school year are active as well, as the end of term is not yet 90 days away. But should they be gone now they will be "passive" soon. Funny enough, all these changes did not have much of an effect on the actual multiplier - I believe the biggest change for any of the houses was 0.03 points.

From November on everyone who has not won any points this school year will be passive (not count for their house multiplier) no matter of they log in to HOL ten times a day or not.

Prefects and up can see the current lists of active and passive students in the staff room. Whenever anyone calls the actives page all falsely active members will be set to passive automatically.

Upcoming Arts Project

co483 — 2008-08-20T17:18:17Z

Greetings, HOLers,

Starting August 20 — meaning today, right now! — there is a new Art Department project: My Summer HOLidays.

The project is open until the end of September, so you should have plenty of time to come up with something wonderful.

If you have any questions regarding the project, there's a thread in the Art Department discussion forum for just that purpose; you can find it here.

Here's what the project entails:

School traditions die hard, and one of those traditions is the annual report on one's summer vacation. This time, though, we're having some fun. Instead of writing about vacation, we're depicting it with pictures! Exciting, right?

Make a creative image (minimum dimensions 250 pixels wide by 100 pixels tall, maximum dimensions 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels tall; maximum file size 100 KB) of any sort -- photograph, illustration, some combination of the two, derivative -- showing what you did for your summer vacation.

Get those creative juices flowing and start creating!

Staff Changes

pr_dyb — 2008-08-20T11:36:19Z

Prof. Anya Chutney has left the HOL Head Office for personal reasons:

"I'm stepping away from the Head Office and returning to just being a Professor and Head of House. At this moment in my life, I need to focus on real life, Hufflepuff, and my classes. My stress level has risen over the past year, and even though this is a hard decision for me to make--it's something I need to let go of. :)

I hope everyone will understand -- and, I want all of you to know what a pure joy it has been working with you in the Head Office. I feel blessed to have have had the opportunity to work alongside such amazing and talented folks as yourselves. I'll obviously still be around and active at HOL, and if anyone needs my help for any reason, I'm always here."

Thank you Anya for all your hard work in the HO for the past years, and I am sure everyone will fully understand that as real life always comes first you need to cut back on the work (and it is a lot of work the Head Office has to do).

Prof. Allie de Mauvaisefoi has stepped down as Deputy Head of Slytherin, also for personal reasons ("the next term is going to be quite busy for me in real life"). Allie says "I still love HOL and I still love Slytherin and I will return in January hopefully." Her Witch Trials class has been cancelled for the autumn term.

Orphen Eyeless Cain has been promoted to professor. Welcome to the staff, Orphen.

Unrelated to these staff changes... everyone should now see My Discussions in their right hand menu, clicking this will open a page with all the Discussion Areas that apply to you: General areas, special areas where applicable (HOL Board, staff etc.) and class discussion boards for classes you take, teach or assist.

Some Changes to Classes

pr_dyb — 2008-08-18T21:30:13Z

This is going to be a longer post, please be seated.

I've completely revamped the way classes are presented on HOL because there was really some room for improvements.

The links on the main Classes page do no longer all go to the class room but to a new Class Start Page, where you can see the status of this class, how popular it is, how many members it has, and how active it is. The always 50 latest points submissions are also listed there, which should be helpful to see if/when your homework is being graded.

You can no longer find email links on the Classes page (or in most other places on HOL). Please use HOL Messages instead. Spambots from all around the globe are constantly scanning the internet for harvesting as many email addresses they can get - and well, besides that this is unpleasant, there is no reason anymore to publish anyone's email on HOL - Class Professors who want to get email from their students can publish this on their class websites.

Class Professors can now enable a discussion board for their class in their class offices. I personally believe (although not everyone shares this view) that having the class discussion directly on the class page is much much more convenient than having a Class Forum on the main HOL Forum. The idea behind this is that all students can access the discussion areas for their classes from the main classes page and also from the new start pages, don't have to login somewhere else, don't have to search for news and won't get bothered with xx other Class Forums for classes they do not take.

This is optional and the discussion areas can be opened and closed by the class professor at any time. There are (or will be) other such discussion boards in areas where they make sense, like the HOL Board or the HOL Library. You shouldn't have to go and log in somewhere else to discuss issues from the area you are currently on and all users and visitors of any HOL Department should be able to follow the current discussions right from within this area.

One last thing for all class professors: if you set your class assistants in the class office please add only the HOL ID in the form field, not any extra information like the name or house. Class Assistants are now listed on the new Start Pages with their full info and links.

And I used Professor Gaidin's class as an example for the links in this post as it looks like his class will be great fun (I signed up!)

The Wizarding Times Wants YOU!

pr_chu — 2008-08-18T00:28:43Z

Greetings new and returning students and staff! Term starts very soon, class sign-ups are underway, and we are getting back in the swing of things!

That means we'll have our first issue of the Wizarding Times (The Hufflepuff Magazine) up (hopefully) in September.

I'm putting out a call for participants! Do you write Poetry or Fanfic? Would you be willing to interview new/returning Professors/STs about themselves and their classes? How would you feel about running a poll and doing a bit of research on the answers? Do you do graphic work or draw pictures?

These are the kinds of things (and folks) we are looking for at the moment. If you have any other ideas, well, we welcome those, too!

Please contact me via PM or HOL Message *only* as my e-mail tends to get flooded. :) If you do creative writing or art, be prepared to show me examples.

We do give points for participation (HOL Wide). We DO NOT need any other editors at the moment. *nods*

So, come out, come forward, and come be on staff or just an occasional writer/creator for the WT.

Wizarding Times Participation Points:
Article: 10 points per published submission (maximum 20 pts. at any time)
Art: 5/10 points per published submission (maximum 20 pts.)
Fiction: 5 points per published submission (maximum 10 pts.)
Editors: Up to 30 points (At discretion of leaders)

Class Sign-Up is Open Now

pr_dyb — 2008-08-17T23:05:25Z

You can now sign up for up to five classes for the next term. Sign-up for all classes will stay open at least until September 1st, so there is no need to hurry. Many classes will probably stay open for sign-ups until the end of September unless they get full early.

Happy days :)

Let's Write Some Books!

pr_dyb — 2008-08-13T16:58:08Z

The HOL Library has a new long-time project: Collaborative Book Writing.

We are writing our own versions of all the Harry Potter canon books and beyond. The finished books will be turned into items which can be bought from Flourish & Blott's, and most books can also be borrowed from the HOL Library.

All books are divided into chapters which are being written separately, so each book can have multiple authors. You can claim a chapter for a book you like and by doing so you promise to submit the finished chapter within seven days. As soon as your chapter was reviewed by the library staff you (or someone else) can claim to write the next chapter, and so on... A book for which a new chapter is currently being written is locked for more claims and you can also claim no more than three chapters at a time.

All submissions have to be on topic and if you are not writing the very first chapter for a book your chapter should work as a follow-up to those that have already been approved. You can read all current chapters of a book before you claim to write the next one. The library staff can reject your submission for several reasons and you will get a log entry if that happens.

Your chapter should be 300 - 500 words long. This is a guideline and not a rule but it is very likely that a shorter submission will not get accepted (as this project is house points relevant) and you also shouldn't write too much at a time. You can claim to write the always next chapter of a book as soon as your current submission has been approved.

All submissions have to follow HOL rules for language and content. Also good language is very important, you are writing for a book which will be read by hundreds of people and this requires more care than posting a comment or throwing out some lines in a chatroom. Please mind your spelling and the fundamental rules of the English language (capitalization, sentences, paragraphs, absolutely no netspeak). The library staff has strict instructions to reject (delete) submissions that require too much editing.

Please make paragraphs and do not submit one huge blob of text. You can use basic html for formatting your text (such as <b>, <i> or <u>), but most other html tags will be stripped. Please do not add images unless you think this is absolutely necessary.

Every chapter submission that is approved by the library staff is worth 10 House Points (Points won during HOLidays will be show up on your profiles on September 1st).

I saw many of you have already discovered this project, and Barbara has already written the introduction to "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" - you guys are faster than the speed of light :)

Introducing the HOL Board

pr_dyb — 2008-08-12T22:05:42Z

Something that I wanted to add to HOL for a long time has now come to life

The HOL Board gives everyone a chance to get involved in decisions that affect the whole school, whether they can make live meetings or not. The outcome of the polls is not binding to the Headoffice but they are trying to follow it where ever they can (sometimes legal or canon reasons might speak against the decision of the HOL Board).

Prefects are representing the students in their house, so they are really strongly encouraged to participate in all polls. All votes are public and not anonymous, everyone should be able to see what the others think about a controversial topic.

Who is on the HOL Board?

· all HOL Professors (active, non emeritus)
· all HOL Staff (caretaker, groundskeeper, admins, department heads and deputies)
· all Head Students (active, not passive)
· all Prefects (active, not passive)
· all Post Graduate Students (active, not passive)

There are currently 72 members on the HOL Board, all of them can vote in the topics. Students whose accounts are set to passive will no longer be able to participate in the HOL Board, that is until they win some points again so they return to active status.

What is being voted on?

Basically the HOL Board votes on controversial issues. A new topic can be added by HOL members with user level 30 (Deputy Head of House) or higher. If you want to add something to the Board but have a lower level then please bring it up to your Head of House or Deputy. Topics are ideally of interest for the whole of HOL and not house internal things or relatively unimportant matters that can be decided on elsewhere. If you want to know the opinion of HOL on something bigger then feel free to bring this to the HOL Board.

The first topic that is up for decision is the number of O.W.L.'s that should be required for 7th Years to take their N.E.W.T.'s. We have never really decided on this matter and for now all 7th Years will need only 2 passed O.W.L.'s for taking their N.E.W.T's, but that will change depending on the decision of the HOL Board.

Quidditch Try-Outs

pr_dyb — 2008-08-12T11:51:36Z

The Quidditch season begins mid-November and if you want to play on your house team (which is usually not an easy task) you will have to take some action now. All four teams are usually holding try-outs over the summer, attached you find some information about your team:

Gryffindor: For further and future information regarding tryouts for Gryffindor's Quidditch team, please check the Gryffindor Common Room and/or the Quidditch Forum in the HOL Forum. We look forward to seeing you at tryouts!

Hufflepuff: Are you in Hufflepuff and want to play Quidditch? The team captain is me, Tarma Amelia Black and Lilly Stargazer is my co-captain. Check this link for more information and PM us if you have a question!

Slytherin: All Snakes interested in joining the Slytherin Quidditch Team can view the tryout information here in the Dungeons. Please contact Faye Roderick for more information or to set up tryout session. You can also visit SQT channel at #slythquid on IRC.

Double Sign-Ups

pr_dyb — 2008-08-08T17:11:49Z

Dear new students,

I must bring up this issue again because there are apparently many new members who have chosen to ignore the first paragraph in the HOL Admission Office:

You are allowed only one HOL account per person, or in other words... you are NOT allowed to play more than one character in our school. Double Sign-ups will be banned or deleted.

You can not create two or more accounts. You can not quit the first one you created (because you were unhappy with the house the Sorting Hat put you in) and sign-up more accounts until you hit the house you want to be in. The Sorting Hat can not be tricked like that. Your first account will be the only one that can stay, whether you like it or not. All additional accounts that can clearly be identified as doubles will be deleted and your first account can be reopened if you quit it already.

Sorry folks, but at HOL you do not choose your house, the Sorting Hat does it for you.

New Gryffindor Head of House

pr_dyb — 2008-08-06T09:32:46Z

The Headoffice is happy to announce the new Head of Gryffindor:

Prof. Missa Matz

We believe that Missa will be doing a wonderful job leading the biggest house in HOL. Please give her all your support and a warm welcome.

Prof. Hatshepsut Nahyan left HOL to pursue other opportunities in the wizarding world. Thank you, Hat, for everything you have done in the past years for Gryffindor and HOL. Good luck for everything and we hope you will stop by for some tea and cookies at HOL whenever you are in the area again.

New Library Project / Quidditch Joke

pr_esc — 2008-08-04T12:38:46Z

One day in the Three Broomsticks, Prof. Kimil was trying to hit an annoying snitch that was fluttering around his head with his broom, when suddenly Opal (who just reffed a game) came in and yelled...

Of course this will never happen... or it will?

Check the new Library project and write your own quidditch joke.

New Member of the HOL Head Office!

pr_rhi — 2008-08-02T09:26:09Z

Please join me in congratulating Prof. Ulol Kimil, newly-appointed member of the Hogwarts Online Head Office! I look forward to the wisdom and humour (and also milk and Dark Mark cookies) he will bring to the HO!

*tosses never-ending confetti*

December 4th is the Day

pr_dyb — 2008-07-31T14:47:54Z

"The true jewel of this new edition is the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

Great News! Not really HOL-related but I just HAD TO post this here.

Wand Shop

pr_dyb — 2008-07-30T13:47:45Z

Link: Wand Shop

Sorry, Voldemort can get quite demanding.

Classes for 2008/2009

pr_chu — 2008-07-29T01:51:08Z

The Head Office is still busy at work deciding on a few final classes. However, as the classes are approved (and as Professors and Student Teachers have time), our staff is advertising what is being taught next term!

So, keep an eye out on The Class Advertisement Thread. Profs and STs will be putting up more information as we get closer to term!

Only Student Teachers and Profs can reply here--so, please don't reply.

Class Sign-up HAS NOT Begun. That date is on the HOL Timeline. *nods*

Artists Wanted

pr_dyb — 2008-07-28T23:04:16Z

Good evening :)

I am looking for 1-2 artists who enjoy making icon-size graphics for Hogsmeade and possibly other places. We will need many, many of them... books, potions, rings, lockets and the like.

Specs: all graphics must be 40x40px transparent gif or png and they must fit into the theme of wizardry/Hogwarts (in other words: fauvism, office style or anime do not work so well *g*)

If you are interested in helping with this, if you are willing to make many such graphics, if you think you really enjoy making these icons... please make one book icon and one potion icon and send me a HOL message with the links (or email works as well if you message me here that you sent an email).

Thaaaank you.

Unrelated but maybe also interesting: The Wand Shop is open for business.

New Hufflepuff Staff

pr_chu — 2008-07-27T18:38:12Z

I'd like to give a warm welcome to some new staff members for Hufflepuff House:

Post Graduate Felicia Hartwick is now our Deputy Head of House!

Kath Snape and Neville Prongs have both graciously accepted the job of Prefect.

I'm so very proud of each and every one of my staff-members and I know that these three amazing folks will only add to our wonderful and dedicated staff in Hufflepuff. So, if you see them around, give them a round of applause, will you?

--Anya

Changes to the Staff of Gryffindor

pr_hat — 2008-07-25T22:38:08Z

After many days of beating my head against the side of the Gryffindor tower and running the house alone, I have come to the decision that I cannot run it all by my lonesome. My staff helps enormously but I still needed a second in command. I have searched hi and lo in the Gryff house to find someone who I could trust with the secrets of Gryffindor and some people when approached ran away from me screaming. The one person who has always been there helping without question has been Missa Matz, and I didn't even realize that she already knew the most important secrets of the house anyway, some of which she taught me on my first day as a student.

I've always had my eye on Mrs. Matz but wanted to wait until she had finished her educational career here at HOL, but now I do believe that she has graduated. A task that is very hard to do.

Without further ado, and gnawing your ear off anymore, I'd like to announce that Missa Matz has accepted my offer of being the Deputy Head of House of Gryffindor. When you see her in the halls please treat her as you do all the rest of the deputies, but try not to hurt her too much. She did play 7 years if quidditch after all.

Prof. Hatshepsut Nahyan

Some News about Hogsmeade and Beyond

pr_dyb — 2008-07-24T11:51:51Z

As some of you have already discovered the Thrift Store (and bought its entire inventory), I think I should talk a bit about what's planned for Hogsmeade.

First of all, the entire Hogsmeade part of HOL is optional, you do not have to participate in any of this if you are just interested in school and classes, but if you want to do any of the fun things in Hogsmeade you will have to be active in your classes and the HOL departments as most of the activities will require Beans. One of the reasons behind all these new features (besides me being a bid kid who enjoys fun things like that) is to give you another strong incentive to do your class work and reward the professors for all the work they put into these classes with staying active.

You do already know about the Hogsmeade Herald, the official newspaper of HOL Hogsmeade that will be launched soon. It will have stories about both HOL happenings and Hogsmeade events and gossip. This includes fictional stories, reports, opinions, even classified ads. It is set up to be very interactive, incl. letters to the editor and commenting. First principle is freedom of speech and opinion, there won't be censorship unless the content is inappropriate (language basically).

The Thrift Store is a place where you can sell items you don't need for instant Beans. Those items will be available for buying again at a lower price than in the other Hogsmeade stores. Say someone wanted to turn their Chocolate Frogs into Beans rather than opening them, you could buy those same frogs from the Thrift Store for a lower price than in Honeydukes. The Thrift Store is already open but hasn't been announced yet because there aren't many items that you could buy or sell. All you people who bought the Alihotsy Leaves and Mandrakes I put in there... what do you want to do with this? They won't be any useful until the Potions Lab is implemented.

HOL will have a Greenhouse where you can grow herbs and magical plants. You need to buy seedlings, plant them, take care of them, and after a while you will be able to harvest. Those items will be useful for several things, above all making potions - when the potions lab has been added (not anytime soon...). Until then you can sell your harvested goods for a small Bean profit to the Thrift Store.

I am pretty sure I can sense the question that is forming in your head... what do we need potions for in HOL? Right... let me tell you just that much for now: drinking a strengthening solution comes in handy before engaging in a wizard duel. You could even throw a Confusing Concoction at your opponent.

That's right - HOL will get a Dueling Club. This should be great fun if it works out as planned (and dueling will not even cost beans). But for a wizard duel we do first need the most important tool - a wand. I am currently working on the Wand Shop which should be open next week. There are currently 8064 possible combinations of wood, core and length so it's quite unlikely that two of you will get the same wand. Each combination has different effects, for example Ash is associated with magic and healing while Mahogany will increase your strength. The wand chooses the wizard and the first wand will be free for all active members from the Wand Shop.

The whole dueling system is very complex and it will take a while until it is finished. We need spells, charms and hexes first unless you planned on sticking your wand up your opponent's nose. It will also need thorough beta testing so don't expect the dueling club to open anytime soon after you got your wands. I just want to let you know where this is all heading to.

Hogsmeade will have all the known shops and locations which will unfold one after another... Zonko's, a book store, Gladrags, Honeydukes and so on... and I hope Professor Olivia will still remember that I hired her for running the Hog's Head when the pub will open this fall.

Serpentine Summer Project!

pr_adm — 2008-07-23T15:23:21Z

Dearest Slytherins,

In relation to the Dungeons summer celebration, all Slytherins are invited to sign up for the Serpentine Summer Project !

You will compete in a team with your fellow house members to finish the challenging tasks and getting to know each other too in the process!

Just head over HERE and sign up your name to participate in this activity !

The sign ups will be closed on August 31st, so hurry up and put down your name!

For further details, please stalk your prefects :)

Ice Cream Cones

pr_dyb — 2008-07-23T12:24:55Z

To celebrate the 104th anniversary of the invention of the ice cream cone I have acquired a huge pack of catnip balls and everyone who has HOL pets should now find 2 balls for each pet in their treasures. I would have got you all ice cream but after having visited the Owlery I figured that you could very well use some catnip.

So if your pet is unhappy or depressed feed it one catnip ball and it will love you again and come out of hiding.

During summer holidays your pets need more attention than usual as you can't earn any points or awards when the classes are closed. If you do well in school your pets will be proud of you, they just don't understand the concept of "holidays", I'm afraid. So don't forget to give your pets some attention if you want them to be happy.

Completely unrelated but still important: there was a problem with creating new bean pouches which has now been fixed. All new First Years can now create their bean pouches again and receive 10 Beans for free.

Ravenclaw Orientation Camp

pr_esc — 2008-07-21T22:03:38Z

The Ravenclaw Summer Orientation Camp sign-ups are open, but will be closing in a few more days.

Games, quests and activities have been planned, and everyone is getting excited.

The camp itself will start the beginning of August, so any Eagles that are interested in signing up should do so soon!

Just a note that all Eagles are able to participate - we just have some activities that are geared towards helping the new Eaglets find their way around!

Hufflepuff Orientation

pr_chu — 2008-07-21T20:15:12Z

Hufflepuff Orientation 2008 has begun! All Badgers are invited to join in on the fun! Orientation will run throughout the summer, ending right before term starts.

Wizarding Times

pr_chu — 2008-07-19T19:13:37Z

The Wizarding Times last edition for this school year is now live! What is the WT? It's the Hufflepuff newspaper, of course.

We've got some wonderful gems in this new edition, so The Wizarding Times