Gryffindor Quiz #3

[NB: All answers written by Laeita Khandylle, not her muggle alter ego]

1. Who is your favorite member of the Order of the Phoenix?
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, of course. They're so kind, courageous, and generous.

2. Favorite person at Hogwarts?
My dear Hufflepuff friend, Henrietta Sweeting

3. Favorite spell or charm to use?
"Accio _____" - just because it's so very useful and convenient

4. Best and worst classes at Hogwarts?
My very favorite class is Charms, I've grown to hate my History of Magic class - it's soooo boring!

5. Favorite flower?
I'm not sure if you'd consider it a flower or an herb, but I adore lavender

6. What is your beverage of choice? Coffee, tea, latte, soda/pop?
I've grown to love many teas since arriving here at Hogwarts, and since discovering that soda pop has a very different meaning here than home, I'm not really a fan.

7. Favorite muggle music? I love just about any music that is well-performed and intelligently composed.

8. How many family members do you have?
Mom, Dad, Boston Terrier, (Does Dewey my mouse familiar count?)

9. What do you do on your summer vacation? What is your Favorite vacation ever taken?
We usually take some sort of week-long trip, usually camping. The rest of my summer I just hang out with my friends.

10. What is your favorite subject at Hogwarts? Why?
As I said before, I love my Charms class. I guess I like it the most because that's what I have the strongest talent for, and I'm pulling an A+ average right now.

11. How many pairs of shoes (footwear) do you have? Which are your favorite pair? Let's see ... I have my uniform shoes, bedtime slippers, Quidditch footwear, water and snow repellant boots, formal slippers, muggle sneakers and Crocs. Sad to say, but the sneakers are my favorite because they're the most comfortable and worn in.

12. How many projects do you have OTN (on the needles)?
Belinda and I have been working long and hard on items for SPEW. Since we have a decent pile of hats knit up, I have some different items OTN now. I'm working on a lacy scarf, socks, a stole, and more.

13. What is the oldest project you're working on and when did you cast it on?
The very oldest still OTN is a large afghan that I co a few years ago.

14. Favorite food(s)?
OOoh, since being at Hogwarts I've developed a real taste for Chocolate Frogs, Bloodpops, Morsagna (basically a delicious lasagna that keeps filling up your plate until you're super full), Minticles (mint-flavored icicles you harvest from the roof of the deep freeze), Treacle Tarts, and Blabbering Bisque (the best way to get all the juicy gossip!)

Quidditch Game #2

1. At the beginning of the year feast, who is the only person who rudely interrupts Dumbledore during his speech?
B. UMBRIDGE

2. Off what street is the alley where Harry first met Sirius?
C. MAGNOLIA CRESCENT

3. Tonks’ mother had two sisters, both pure-bloods, and both left on the Black Family Tree. What are their names?
C. NARCISSA & BELLATRIX

4. What spell are the students studying in McGonalgall’s class when Umbrdige is doing her inspection?
D. THE VANISHING SPELL

5. Who comes to warn Harry and the rest of Dumbledore’s Army that Umbridge and her group of followers are coming to break up their meeting?
Answer: DOBBY

6. Who are the members of the Order that met Harry Potter in the Dursely’s house during the summer before his fifth year?
C. MOODY, TONKS, SHAKLEBOLT, DOGE, DIGGLE, LUPIN, VANCE, PODMORE, JONES

7. Moody used the Disillusionment Charm on Harry.
A. YES

8. Which of these Death Eaters is Sirius related to?
D. ALL OF THESE

9. At what age did Sirius leave his home?
Answer: SIXTEEN

10. How many of the original Order members were killed (don’t include those who disappeared)?
B. EIGHT




Kingsley Shacklebolt


Bellatrix Lestrange



Nymphadora Tonks



Remus Lupin

Beyond The Mirror

I'm not doing so well on the Quidditch team. Perhaps I'm not cut out for this type of sport. I keep getting hit in the face and torso with balls even though I do my best to bat them away. Madam Hooch says that it will come with time, especially since this is my first time flying, having been raised as a muggle.

I also lost my duel. The best part is receiving a beautiful pair of socks, but the worst is being unable to move on to the next phase. I was able to complete a lovely hat for SPEW, though. The pattern wasn't very hard, so I've already started a second hat.

I think I've been suffering more than simple homesickness. I feel like Alice behind the looking glass. There's so much magic all around me. It's wonderful and terrifying, and just too too much for me right now.

I miss normal. I want to be able to eat candy without having to worry about it jumping away from me or tasting like grass. I want to sweep with the broom, not ride it. I want to be able to go to the bathroom without having to worry about being interrupted by a ghost.

I miss my friends. I want to go to the mall, ride my bike, watch movies in a theater, drink Slushies, walk the dog, and even go to school like a regular kid.

The thing is, I don't want to go back to my previous life either. I like going to see the stars at midnight. It's so cool to change a rat to a chalice and back again. I love being able to eat as much of my favorite foods as I want without having to make it myself. I adore watching all the magical creatures that Hagrid cares for.

I'm so betwixt and between these worlds. Most of the kids here were raised with at least one magical parent, most by two and their extended magical families. For the most part they're friendly, smart, clever, and just wonderful people. I just feel like we don't have a lot of common ground. Things that I take for granted are wondered and puzzled over by them.

Here's an example: writing with ballpoints on looseleaf? Yeah, they're stumped and amazed by that. Their reactions to simple things like that make me feel so sad and homesick.

Most of all, I wish my parents were the way they were before. It would have been better if all of my family really were muggles instead of magic folk. It's like the very foundations of my life have been ripped away and I'm not sure what I can rely on or where I fit in.

I know that I'm "magic folk" now, I guess I always have been, but I feel like a misplaced muggle. Each time I do magic I'm surprised. The funny thing is that I'm good at it. I'm getting top marks in my Transfiguration and Charms classes, and doing quite well in the others too.

The only thing I can compare what I feel when I perform magic successfully to is if I had suddenly belched quite loudly in a silent class full of people. That sense of startled eruption followed by a sinking feeling of embarrassment. I feel like that when I've cast a spell perfectly! How weird is that? You'd think I'd only feel like that if I'd screwed it up.

Here's more odd for you. The person I've been confiding in the most is the House Elf, Belinda. She's so much wiser than everyone knows. She listens to me for the longest time while she works. We'll sit and knit together for hours. Here I am, talking to a non-human creature about how overwhelmed, overstimulated, and homesick I am. I'm not sure why or how she understands, but I get the distinct feeling that she knows exactlyhow I feel.

I think I'm going to get my knitting together and go talk with Belinda right now.

Gryffindor Quiz #2

Unscramble the words below:
1. onihexp = PHOENIX
2. nro = RON
3. mayr = ARMY
4. seelway = WEASLEY
5. hrigda = HAGRID
6. ifdynrrgof = GRYFFINDOR
7. dawn = WAND
8. oshawrgt = HOGWARTS
9. busnim = NIMBUS
10. bdulodeerm = DUMBLEDORE
11. bydob = DOBBY
12. bugmrdie = UMBRIDGE
13. emionehr = HERMIONE
14. rhayr = HARRY
15. arkreech = KREACHER
16. riissu = SIRIUS
17. dootvlemr = VOLDEMORT
18. ptrote = POTTER
19. hwgedi = HEDWIG
20. ebtahlkclso = SHACKLEBOLT