Loony about my kit!

Yesterday's, Athena the Owl brought a fascinating box:

Do you think there's anything for dogs inside?


Could there be something for me? It's my package from Perenelle!


She based my package on Luna Lovegood, so she sent this beautiful Ravenclaw bag. I often think I'm more Ravenclaw than Hufflepuff, and I'm a little surprised the Sorting Hat has never moved me. So now I can acknowledge my Ravenclaw side, and maybe using this bag will make me smarter.


The rest of the package was great - I'm sure Luna would love it, and the VeryBadDogs loved part of it. she sent a teleidoscope, to help see the world through Luna's eyes. There's a pattern for Luna socks, some Sunshine yarn (infested with Nargles, I fear, but still lovely), and some short needles, which I'm eager to try. She sent two other bags - a strawberry shaped one for collecting gurdyroots, and a cute yellow one to go with Luna's dress robes. She also sent a dishtowel from her Muggle home, and some treats for my Fantastic Beasts. There's tea, and a pretty tin, and a special issue of the Quibbler - such a great package!


Thank you, Perenelle! And the dogs say thank you, too!

Almost Over

Wow, it's hard to believe the term is almost over.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, so I haven't had much time to get things done. But Tuesday was my birthday, and that was great! We had cake at my knitting night, and my husband got me a fabulous present - a Spinning Wheel! It needs a little help to get it up and running, but pretty soon I'll be spinning like magic.

Tempus Fugit

It's not a spell, just a statement. This term seems to have flown by!

I seem to be way behind in my work, but I'm sure I'll catch up. This week I taught several friends to knit, so now I have some encouragement.

The good part is that it looks like summer is finally here - lots of time to sit outside and knit. Lots of distractions, too - I have rhubarb-apple crumble in the oven right now. Summer is a tasty season!

Quidditch recap

Quidditch last week was a disappointment. A lot of fun, but a disappointment. We lost to the Slytherins, 50-180. I scored two goals, and was seconds away from a third when one of the Slytherins found the Snitch.

I still have the goal-scoring balls, and the spare. I'm not sure what to do with them, but they've been fun to play with. They're stuffed with scraps from the big Transfiguration project I've been working on, which I need to write about sometime.


It was a nice evening for a game. As luck would have it, I had a last-minute work assignment (I secretly investigate Muggle businesses to make sure they're doing everything right), so I had a quick dinner and then settled down outside to knit. It was a beautiful night, and the sunlight held out through the entire match - although I might have started to worry if it hadn't ended when it did. The VeryBadDogs were by my side, acting as mascots.Our captain was great, and really kept everyone together in the game. We were short a Beater so my friend from the fall Quidditch league, Gryphon the Great, came over to help us out. It was great to get to play with him, and he was an amazing Beater!

I don't know if I'll get to play in the next match or not, but I hope we win this time!

Quidditch

Hufflepuff's second Quidditch match is coming up this weekend, and I'm playing Chaser for the very first time! I'm so nervous. I've been trying to rest and get ready for the match, and tomorrow I'll check all my equipment to make sure it's in order. I really hope I manage to score some goals for the team.

Something Funny

Apparently this is the week for jokes in our common room - even our Head Girl is encouraging us to come up with something funny. I've been sick all week, so I'm not nearly as good at funny as I might normally be. But here's the best I have:
How big is my Wingspan? As big as an Owl, apparently, but not as big as a goose. I'm glad I have a broom, and don't have to depend on my arms to fly!

Or how about this? Which witch is best to have around when you're hungry? A SAND-wich!

O.W.L.s Practice

So I decided to practice my O.W.L.s - so far, so good!

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A Quiet Week

It's been a quiet week in Hufflepuff House for me.

I was excited to hear the we won the Quidditich game on Saturday! I stopped by the Pitch when I had a break in the day, thinking I could at least cheer for Hufflepuff, but it was already over. I hope I can do as well when I play the next match....my needles are all warmed up and ready to go.

I wasn't at the match because I was helping out at an SCA event, sort of a fancy-dress party for Muggles. One of my knitting friends devised most of the recipes, and it was a great meal. We had ham pie, and bread pudding, and all sorts of other treats. Unfortunately, we also had a whole bunch of rain, so it wasn't as long or as fun a day as we would have liked. The good part of that is that we've spent several days this week enjoying leftovers from the lunch.


I had another bit of good news - I have a job for the fall. I'll be teaching History of Sport at a local college. No Quidditch, though - this is strictly a Muggle program. I have a lot to learn by then!

The rest of the week has been a little less fun. An accident while playing with the dogs left me sort of beat up, and I had to see a Muggle doctor instead of Madam Pomfrey. So I had to get "shots," and have pills to take - if you don't know the details of Muggle medicine, trust me, you don't want to! But I'm healing nicely, I hope.

Now I'm just trying to get some knitting finished. Tomorrow we go to celebrate a friend's upcoming wedding, and I need to conjure up an appropriate gift by then. We're about to get some bad thunderstorms, so I hope the power doesn't go out, because I need the light for knitting.

The Weekend

We're supposed to blog this week about what we did over the weekend. I'm afraid mine won't be a very cheerful post, as I was at a funeral.

My husband's grandfather passed away last week. He was 90 years old, which suddenly seems much too young.

I never knew my own grandfathers - one died years before I was born, and the other one soon after. My husband has been lucky enough to have three living grandparents, and for the last 10 years, I did too.

The first time I met him at a family gathering, we didn't really get to the introduction part. He saw us walk up and said "Hi, I'm the grandpa, give me a kiss." He really liked being the grandpa. I was rather shocked to see some of the little kids getting into the beer cooler - until I found out they were all fetching and carrying for Grandpa.

He thought of himself as Irish, and was proud of it. So I earned my spot in the family (and maybe my Santa cookies at Christmas) with this joke:

There was an old Irish priest who was just a bit too vocal in his dislike of the English. It got so bad that the Bishop had to talk to him, explain that there's a peace agreement now, and ask him to stop being so anti-English in his services. The priest agreed, promising not to mention England again.

The next Sunday was Easter, and all seemed to be going well. The old priest was moving along without a mention of England, telling the story of the Last Supper:

"...and the Lord said to them, 'take this bread and eat, it is my body...'"
"...and the Lord said, 'take this cup and drink, it is my blood...'"
"...and the Lord said unto them, "one of you will betray me."
"...and the Lord said, "Judas!"

"and Judas said, "blimey, gov'nor, you don't think it's me?"

May Grandpa Tom rest in peace, in a field of shamrocks.

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Another Transfiguration Project

Some of my classmates have been so industrious that I thought I should try to get in a little more Transfiguration practice. So I took on a second project - perhaps the most challenging of all - making a Golden Snitch.

Gamp's Law is a little unclear on the subject, but you really conjure a Snitch as much as you Transfigure it. You have to start with something, but what you start with is the fuzzy, fundamental stuff of the universe.


The actual incantation for creating a Snitch is something that probably shouldn't be discussed in such a public forum. But if you've never seen it happen before, I can tell you that it requires a special, very small, wand.


And here is my finished Snitch, the first one I've ever tried to make. It doesn't seem to be a perfect Transfiguration, so I hope if I try again I can make the next one look neater. If you look at the picture closely, you can still see some fuzzy stuff around the Snitch. I'm not sure if that's because of an incomplete Transfiguration, or if it's from the dogs. Even if there is some fuzzy substance drifting around, I think I've come a long way from the time I accidentally turned part of myself into an ocelot.

Transfiguration

If you remember my previous terms at Hogwarts, you know that Transfiguration isn't my best subject. So I was more than a little nervous when we got a Transfiguration project for our first big homework assignment of the year. I think it's worked out, though.

First, we're supposed to post an originality marker, so everyone knows that we're actually there transfiguring the thing. This is mine.


Next, I need a picture of the thing I'm going to transfigure. So I went rummaging around in the pantry and found these:


Then you cast the spell. This is the one I used.

And here's the Transfigured object!


I Transfigured the kitchen stuff into rock cakes, just like Hagrid makes. I had to go looking for the proper spell because, being American, I'd never heard of rock cakes before Hogwarts. They're a lot like our biscuits (but not Hogwarts biscuits). The spell says that there's a joke that even dogs don't like rock cakes, but I can tell you that's not true. My dogs love rock cakes.

I'm a little worried that I crossed some spells, and got a Disappearing Charm in there somehow. I just transfigured the rock cakes, and more than half of them are already gone.

Back for Round 10

After summer camp and a lively round of Quidditch, we're back at Hogwarts again!

It seems like the faculty come up with something new every year as a way for us to get to know one another. This year, we're supposed to focus on three famous residents of Hogwarts, and explain what we like about them. So here are mine:

1. Luna Lovegood. I like that Luna's smart, and that she doesn't really think about being smart. It seemed only natural to her that you'd be happy to learn something new, even if it means you're locked out of your common room. I think it's fun that she makes her own jewelry, and paints her bedroom walls. I also really like that she's independent, and willing to go her own way.

2. Tonks. Tonks is just plain cool. Wouldn't it be great to change your face any way you wanted to? And, while I'm happily married, I kind of with her having the hots for Professor Lupin, as he's on my "easy on the eyes" list.

3. Nearly Headless Nick. He may be my strangest choice. I like Nick because I do medieval re-enactment, and Nick saw the Middle Ages (albeit not just the good parts) up close and personal. I also think John Cleese is great.

It's so hard to pick favorites at Hogwarts, but that will have to do for a start. I think it's going to be a fun term!