Open Hogwarts Monthly: Y35 Issue 2

[Joshua Toubia]

THE HOGWARTS MONTHLY: Y35 ISSUE 2

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A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS​ By: Joshua Toubia​ "If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello." –Paulo Coelho ​ Hello everyone, it’s that time again. Yes, a brand new issue of the Hogwarts Monthly are ‘hot off the press’ as muggles would say. This is a little difficult for me to write as it’s my last year at Hogwarts, meaning my last issue ever to write with you all. Following my predecessor route I just like to take the time to thank you all for supporting the club in any way, shape, or form. Whether you write for the monthly or read us, thank you for letting us be able to do what we do. Personally for me, Hogwarts Monthly allowed me to find my voice in another way that I couldn’t find on my own. It’s changed my life for the better, and I just want to thank you all for being with the club every step of the way. And this is the time that I mention Nell Wright will be taking over the club next year. She will be an excellent editor, I’m sure of it. Nell has been part of the club for several years now, I am confident she will do great as the new editor for the monthly.​ Enough of this sobering sadness, a lot took place during this semester. As always, Valentine’s rose giving was a hit. The operation was run by Alice Holland and Apollo Bixby with additional help from those in the Wild Patch Club. Electives fair took place in the courtyard for second years that wanted to know about subjects outside of their core classes. Professors there set up their respective table with anything to do with their subject to answer questions for those curious to take on their class. Answering questions doesn’t stop at the fair, so if you have any more questions, ask the professor when you see them around. I’m sure they won’t mind answering them for you. I could keep on highlighting what other events happened around the school but that won’t be fun and fair for the other writers. Instead I encourage you to keep reading, and again thank you one last time for letting me write for you all. It’s been a great journey.

VALENTINES & ROSE GIVING​ By: Joshua Toubia & Leda Layton​ L: Now since Joshua and I have taken over the Howarts Monthly as a team this year, it would seem only fitting that we have the chance to write something together, so why not the most drama-filled event of the semester? Valentines Day! Between the rose giving and the dance there was certainly a lot of emotions to go around, and we’re here to discuss it, for your reading pleasure. ​ So, as always, the day began with the rose deliveries and unless you’re a first year who wasn’t paying attention on the day I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows how this works by now. There’s three colors of rose, which depending on whether or not your recipient(s) feels the same way, can prove pretty awkward. Did you see any awkward encounters on the 14th there Josh? J: Do you really want to know my perspective, Leda? I mostly went into hiding, trying to stay away from being bombarded with deliveries. The most I noticed was this kid named Connor, young second year freaked out about getting a rose. I can understand the feeling at his age. And Vader Hume, the Gryffindor who likes to take pictures every time he makes a delivery was rejected by a first year. Tell me again, why isn’t he a part of the Hogwarts Monthly, Leda? He can make better use of his time taking pictures for the paper than getting rejected by first years. At least there were some nice things going around, students like Lily Lockwood burst into tears about getting a rose. And ah, there were plenty anonymous roses going around, good and bad. I can’t decide if it’s that great or not. And the roses given to professors? We’ll those are always nice and I wonder about the content of their notes? I heard some professors send them with friendly banters written in them. L: Oh well look at you! Bombarded aye Mr Popular? Oh for sure, I’m more surprised when I see some of the youngest kids getting red roses, like they know what they even mean! It can be cute though. Can’t say I saw that prefect getting rejected, although did you see the first year Hufflepuff Tiziano Edogawa, he ended up throwing a rose straight back in the face of Hermione Walden. No idea why a seventh year is trying to hit on a first year but there you go. It’s a scary time folks. I’m pretty sure that the rose giving is becoming more and more popular every year. Did you give out many roses? J: Let’s not go there, please...and move onto the dance portion of it, shall we? I guess heartbreak wasn’t stopping a friend of mine, Noelle to get back out there and attend the Valetine’s Dance. Good for him, any girl would be lucky to have him. Who’s the lucky girl, Noe? Is it a match made on V-Day? L: I’ll get it out of you eventually Toubia. But yes, the Valentines dance was also a good hit once again this year. I heard Willow broke it off with Noelle but I didn’t realise he’d moved on so fast. I went to the dance but only to see what tragedies we had in the wardrobe department. For some reason, students tend to wear more frightening outfits at this event than Halloween I swear. For instance, did you spot Fleur? The Gryffindor was basically wearing something most people would probably go to sleep in, it was like this large t-shirt. The dance is certainly no Yule Ball, but I feel like an effort could be made. Same with that girl Chloe, second year, wore her jeans and trainers as though she was off to the movies or something! At least little Molly Lamb dressed up for the occasion in a lovely red dress, although a bit cliche… J: Well, what about you? Anyone special gave you something to think about? Anyone at all...As I said before I tried to stay out of the way this year Valentine's madness, every year it seems students come up with new ways to express their fondness for one another...I’m so glad that I’m leaving school this year, I can’t imagine what rose giving and the Valentine's Dance would be like in the years to come. L: I had a couple, although these were from my friends. Rose giving isn’t just about your crushes of course, it’s a way to show your mates you care too. We won’t be around to see how this goes next year, but I for one, hope this is a tradition that stays with us for a long time to come.

Y35 PRIDE EVENT​ By: Cyzarine Haden​ With the end of the year fast approaching, there is one event that always manages to make those who attend happily forget about exams: PRIDE! Pride for Y35 was organised by Gryffindor’s own Elio Zephyr with the help of people from all years and houses, and it was a big success. It had a lot of different things that people could do, face painting, flower crowns, balloon animals and so much more. It was a wonderful and fun filled event that celebrates the LGBTQIA or LGBT+ community. We know that Hogwarts is a welcoming place to people from all walks of life, but it can be good to remind people of this with a good and fun event.​ In particular, let’s give a big shout out to our face painters, who gave some truly amazing face painting. To the makers of the flower crowns who managed to make crowns using flowers of specific colours to coordinate with identities. To the balloon animal markers, you guys were doing a great job and maybe by next year you’ll have gotten even better! To our doughnut eating challenge section giving people the attempt to eat the doughnut. And of course to our photographers, one of whom operated an exceedingly fun photo booth style where you could commemorate your look for all time and of course the presence of the yearbook to be sure the school will commemorate your look for all time. While the event is organised by one person it was all of these people, their joy, enthusiasm that made the event so enjoyable for all of us who just got the opportunity to attend. As we grow up and discover different things about ourselves, it can be difficult to know what those are, for some with family or friends who’ve a greater LGBT+ knowledge it can be easy, for others where perhaps it’s not as vocal in families or people raised in a specific manner it can be a lot more difficult, but finding a community of acceptance, a community where you can pick your identity and figure everything out is a good thing and that is what this celebration is a reminder of. Yours truly has been thinking a lot about what love and attraction are to her, I know I love openly and loudly, but I’d never thought about how this translated with attraction. All in all, your girl is pretty sure she’s pansexual and is in love with love of all kinds. Something certainly that wouldn’t have been possible without the pride celebration to help me figure it out and know I’d be accepted. Pride always features a myriad of colours and identities, celebrating those who have had to fight for their right to co-exist happily alongside everyone else. We should definitely give a hug thanks to the organiser, to those who worked on different parts of the celebrations, for the professors allowing it to take place. Thanks for an illuminating, colourful and wonderful pride! Here’s to another next year!

DUELLING TOURNAMENT​ By: Sydney Townsend​ This year once again brought about our annual school duelling tournament, hosted by the Student Defense Association. Since the SDA has now made it clearer that first year students are able to join their association, I hope the younger students amongst us are taking advantage of watching and learning as much as they can from these bouts.​ With 29 matches between years two to seven across three rounds, there was a lot to cover this year so let’s get to it. Round One featured the most matches naturally, before the expert spell casters were able to cull the herd. Of note, was the rather heated match between Elio Zephyr and Chrysander Kaster which resulted in both duelists being disqualified after deciding they were more lovers than fighters. Quite the move to make in front of the whole school and the arguably bias and strict eyes of Professor Alicastell. We also saw some impressive spell casting from the likes of Ava Lancaster, likely a relative of previous SDA leader Alistair Lancaster if how effortlessly she outmatched poor Rowan Baros is anything to go by. The last match of round one to win my interest was undoubtedly the match up between our two head people, both showing off their non-verbal skills before Leda Layton put Simon Vanity in his place with a well aimed disarming charm. Round two was not without its drama, though far fewer flirty distractions were implemented, thank Merlin. This round also saw the final matches for our Seventh and Fifth year students, with Ava Lancaster once again ruthlessly taking out her opponents to claim the Fifth year title and Shane Ackley managing to match Leda’s non-verbal skills to take it for the Seventh years. Finally, our round three match up saw the deciding matches of the remaining years, including yours truly who managed to claim the champion title against Simon Thorne, proving that my duelling career last year had definitely been unjustly ended by over-zealous judges. Elsewhere, Lysander Summers and Ajaccio Skey managed an intense match this round, despite their limited arsenal of spells as second years, proving you don’t have to be boring just because you’re still learning. The sixth year final was also a match to behold, with both SDA presidents facing off, but ultimately it seems Analei Louv was able to prove herself the most talented duelist in their year this time. So there you have it, another year, another tournament where the talented and clever can truly shine. Out of 37 competing students, we have our 2050 dueling champions. For Second year, Lysander Summers, for Third year, Sydney Townsend, for Fourth year, Tyler Lee, for Fifth year, Ava Lancaster, for Sixth year, Analei Louv, and for Seventh year, Shane Ackley. Thank you again to our SDA for hosting this tournament and a thank you as well to our professors and proctors.

CLUB FAIR AND EVENTS​ ​ By: Nell Wright​ Another busy year at Hogwarts is coming to a close, but there's one event on the distant horizon we all need to be thinking a bit more about. Club fair 2051! If you didn't join any clubs this year, or you're not happy with the ones you did, next year's club fair will be a perfect time to pad that social calendar out with fun new activities! And what better way to choose which clubs are right for you than taking a look at the events we've all enjoyed this semester? The school's two publishing clubs, Hogwarts Monthly and Accio, may have seemed quiet that semester, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While we haven't been out there partying, we've been hard at work bringing you all the crucial scoops on Hogwarts life and the year that's been. One club that has been busy is the SDA, but you can read all about the thrills of the duelling tournament elsewhere in this paper! On to the three remaining clubs, then. The Wild Patch was wild indeed this semester, with the club members working together to de-gnome the gardens. A chaotic undertaking for sure, but hopefully come next spring the gardens will be flourishing for it! And our two final clubs, Heta Omega and the Brotherhood of MAGIC. My complete bafflement as to what these clubs are... actually for has been well documented, but this semester's event makes less sense to me than ever. Which is not to say it wasn't fun! The two clubs came together to throw a fun back to school party by the lake. I won't pretend that clarified the point of either club whatsoever, but who doesn't love an excuse to splash around with friends and enjoy the sunshine? And that closes the books on club events for this school year! It's been a fun and thrilling year all around, and I hope I've given you enough of a taste of what to expect from these clubs that you'll be able to make an informed decision when you sign up at next year's club fair. I'm Nell Wright, and I joined every club so you don't have to!

STUDENT POLL "Which magical creature would you most like to have as a pet and why?"​

___________________________​	___________________________​	___________________________​	___________________________​
Stanislaw Kurek Gryffindor First Year "I would have a dragon because it could protect me!"​	Roxy Coltsfoot Slytherin Second Year "A niffler for obvious reasons, if not, I go with ah, fire crab. What?! They're good for instant camp fire for toasting marshmallows and if you're late with assignments, say that your crab burn it. What's not to like?!"​	Aisa Hunter Gryffindor Third Year "Most magical creatures would just be a hassle. They're all poisonous or dangerous in some way. I guess a kneazle, but I'd settle for just a normal cat just as easily."​	Mordred Cavanaugh Slytherin Fourth Year "Hmmm....definitely a niffler. While they can be troublesome, who doesn't like a bit of a challenge?"​
Isabelle Walden Ravenclaw Fifth Year "For me it is an owl. It's handy to send letters, but also it's an wise intelligent creature. I like to watch them. They are beautiful."​	Maggie Ryan Rosendale Hufflepuff Sixth Year "I have always wanted a winged horse because they are so beautiful, and I could travel fast without a broomstick!"​	Theodore Westwick Ravenclaw Seventh Year "An Acromantula, they are the most beautiful and majestic creatures."​	Professor Robert Kain Charms Years 1-4 "Oh, interesting! I think an Occamy would be exciting, it could watch you work from the front of class. Imagine it trying to get through the blanket forts.."​

HOROSCOPES​ ​ By Poppy Perkins​ ​ Aries (March 21 - April 19): If you feel like you are spending too much time slacking off, take a moment to think about why that is. Are you doing what you want to be doing? Why aren’t you? You can do anything. What’s stopping you? Taurus (April 20 - May 20): A new leaf has been turned! But it only works if you consider the feelings of others. You have the power to do the right thing and there’s no reason to think otherwise. Gemini (May 21 - June 20): Unsure of where your life is headed? Don’t worry, just do it! Some things won’t go your way but remember you are the only one you have to answer to. Cancer (June 21 - July 22): If you are looking for advice you may want to go to someone you trust, but they won’t really be able to help you. Remember tomorrow is a new day, and so was yesterday. You can always count on that. Leo (July 23 - August 22): Your friend may be thinking of making a major decision. But it is time for you to be mindful. Don’t take any big risks. You may come to regret it later on. Virgo (August 23 - September 22): Don’t second guess yourself. What are you waiting for? Even if you fall on your face, you can always get up again. You never know it might be a turning point? Libra (September 23 - October 22): Your sign’s moon is waxing, which means things are going to change. Keep an eye out for any Capricorns in your life. They will be as likely to look out for you as you would be for them. Keep that in mind. Scorpio (October 23 - November 21): Look towards your mentors if you need guidance with a difficult decision. Whether they can help you or not, is up to you. Whatever you think is the right thing to do, is right. Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21): Now is a good time to give back to the community and others by doing some volunteer work. Maybe this will help you realize your potential. If it doesn’t it will be a nice change of pace for you. Capricorn (December 22 - January 19): You should know that Saturn is waning. This usually means you should avoid Libras for now. They might be useful to you in the future whether you believe it or not. Aquarius (January 20 - February 18): For a better future, you must let go of the past and that’s ok. You have to take the first step and there’s no better time than right now. Look at the bigger picture and realize there are better ways to live. Pisces (February 19 - March 20): You are about to learn something about your history. Soon it will make sense and start to mean something to you. With this knowledge it is up to you to take action.

LUMPIANG SHANGHAI RECIPE​ ​ ​ By: Tina Seville-Lopez​ Lumpiang Shangha​ Yields: 24 pieces Note: All measurements in Imperial System ½ LB Ground Beef ½ LB Ground Pork 2 TSP Soy Sauce or Light Soy Sauce ½ TSP Salt ½ TSP pepper 2 Eggs 2 Carrots (Minced) 1 Medium White Onion (Minced) 2 Sticks of Celery (With leaves if preferred) Minced Cooking Oil Lumpia Wrapper Instructions: Minced cut the Carrots, Onion and Celery. If you’re not up to cutting it old school, ask your muggleborn friends to teach you how to use a food processor or better yet, just use magic with the cutting. In a large mixing bowl combine the ground beef, ground pork, soy sauce, salt, pepper, eggs, minced carrots, minced onion and minced celery. You can use an electric mixer or your knowledge in Charms to mix them all up. (Make sure that everything are all mix) Put at least 1 and ½ Tablespoon of the mixture on the lumpia wrapper. In a frying skillet, put cooking oil about half of the skillet for the lumpia to be cooked evenly. Once hot, put only 5 pieces at a time. When it becomes golden brown, they’re ready. You can serve it with spicy vinegar or sweet chili sauce.

SCHOOL CHATTER​ ​ By: Anonymous​ (OOC: Tina Seville-Lopez)​ ​ ​ Hello fellow students and welcome to another busy buzz semester term. I’ve been everywhere. Where the chatter parties, I’m there but who am I? You’ll never know XOXO The Moon is Lit Again​ As everyone knows, a dear alumni here in Hogwarts New Zealand had passed away recently. Rest in peace. Late Ms. Olive Layton, sister to our Head Girl, Ms. Leda Layton was targeted by a Werewolf who hasn’t been named or found. Werewolves have bad reputations throughout the century both in the Wizarding World and the Muggle World. So, everyone … Be Careful out there, be vigilant on your surroundings and like I wrote at last year’s Hogwarts Monthly. They can be your classmates or housemates. EVEN your Professors. Wormed Out My dear, why must you be always the victim? Ladies and Gentlemen, Eric Holland must have a birthmark somewhere that he’s always the talk about at Hogwarts New Zealand. A recent 411 was revealed that he’s the star of a wiggly and sluggy prank by none other than Solomon Tofilau, our resident prankster who seems to target our diva, Eric. Hey, it’s all fun and games. Maxwell Out A certain Maxwell has been asking girls out after a bad break up during YuleBall. This seems a bit out of character for this Maxwell, always the nice guy but that changed when his heart got broken. I would say, though, that it’s too early for a rebound but who am I to judge, right? Bullied or Fancied? We have another Miss Merry Sunshine in our part of the world. She somehow can bake. Hey, if you see her, who would guess? But what is this? She’s being bullied by a fellow first year boy from Slytherin? I doubt that, the girl can bake. Maybe instead of being bullied, he’s fancied her already? We better stay tuned for that.

QUIDDITCH​ ​ By: Leda Layton​ This will be my very last article I ever write for the Hogwarts Monthly, so it feels appropriate that I talk about something that has been an important part of my own life. Before we get into the break down of the matches from the last few months I just want to reiterate something I've discovered during my time here. Of course every house wants to win, of course there are going to be tensions that raise when players find themselves frustrated or angry. I've lost count of the number of times this has happened to me. That being said, it's not worth breaking friendships over. I've seen kids arguing off the pitch about Quidditch but at the end of the day it's just a game, and something we're meant to enjoy. Just don't forget why you joined in the first place. On to what you're here for; the matches. We kicked off at the beginning of the semester with Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff in a bid to not come last. This year new Captains Joshua and Alexis were leading the team against Arvel and Analei, both pairings seemingly very good friends which I think it's safe to say makes a team even stronger. Many shots were saved at the beginning of this game, but it was Hufflepuff's Abian Hunter that made the first goal of the semester, quickly followed up by Hogwarts Monthly's Josh Toubia who managed to get a few points for Ravenclaw, After this the Keepers seemed to wake up from their nap and saved a couple more attempts on goal. Ultimately it was a quiet game in that there were no Bludger casualties at all for a change (No doubt the Hospital Wing would later be reimbursed for this) and Elliot Briar managed to catch the snitch, leaving Ravenclaw in the dust for another year. Sorry guys! In the race for the Quidditch Cup however was my team against Gryffindor. I had been looking forward to playing off with Willow Cullen for my last match but due to unforeseen circumstances that wasn't the case. The game itself didn't last very long, neither team managed to score a single goal, although that wasn't due to a lack of trying. There was a lot of dirt thrown around the pitch that afternoon, but nothing managed to actually clear the hoops. I'm delighted to be able to say that I caught the snitch before Sierra however which means that Slytherin are the victors for the third year running! Who's surprised? Some people have been asking why I didn't play in the final game against Beauxbatons. The French team that came to our school had previously shown themselves to be stronger than Ilvermorny, and so it was up to Slytherin to prove Hogwarts were the champions. Truth be told, I joined Quidditch because of my sister, who once played Seeker for Gryffindor in Hogwarts Scotland and I wanted her to be proud of me too for following her footsteps. After Slytherin defeated Gryffindor I felt like I had done what I set out to do, and besides there was someone much more fitting to take over my role. Blake has been a strong player for many years now, and despite Beauxbatons winning the match, it wasn't without a huge amount of effort on everyone's parts. All in all, in was a bloodbath and probably the most vicious game to date. After 11 bludger hits on players, resulting in 2 (almost 3) Beauxbatons players being sent the hospital wing, it's safe to say that the Slytherin beaters were on fire. Liam alone managed 8 successful hits so I think all the practise paid off! Additionally there were a total of 8 goals made between both teams so everyone was working flat out. I'm just curious to know whether Beauxbatons held a victory party given a large portion of their team were left in hospital. Go Slytherin! I have to say that being a Captain has been amazing, and that both Liam & I are proud of how far Slytherin have come in the last few years. If anyone think that once we're gone it will be someone else's time to shine, well I can tell you we won't be going down without a fight! We're very confident in our team so all I can say is if you want to end our streak, do your worst because Slytherin are ready for you!

AGONY AUNT​ ​ ​ By: Anonymous (OOC: Wendall Layton)​ ​ ​ Dear Agony Aunt, I like this girl but she's just started seeing this boy. What do I do? Do I tell her? I really like being her friend and don't want to lose her but I can't stop thinking about her. -Lonely and Confused If you really care about this girl, shouldn't you let her be happy with the boy she's seeing? Maybe you should find a good film to watch to help take your mind off her. Don't watch romance films though they're terrible, and they probably won't help you much. ---​ Dear Agony Aunt, My best friend is leaving, they're graduating and I don't know how to deal with it. I'm really angry at them but I don't know how to get over it. I'm worried our relationship won't be the same after this. -Left Behind If it was me, I would try and work on why you're angry at them before they go. It will be much harder to make up if it's by owl and in my experience, sometimes you don't get second chances. ---​ Dear Agony Aunt, I love someone, but I can't tell anyone about it. We're perfect together, but there's things around us that make it hard. I don't want to lose this person, but I don't know if I can keep us secret either. -Heartache It sounds like you're struggling to keep a secret, and if you're not allowed to tell anyone then maybe you need to take yourself out of the situation. What is more important, your feelings or your loyalty? ---​ Dear Agony Aunt, I can't decide if I want jam or peanut butter. They're both amazing, but I can't decide which one I like more. Jam is sweet, but peanut butter is smooth. It's such a dilemma. Help? -Rock and Hard Place You're asking the wrong question. What you mean to say is, why not both?​

IN THE LIGHT OF THE MOON​ By: Violet Fields​ In the light of the moon She howls in agony From the pain that rips through her fragile anatomy In the light of the moon Her delicate fingers once dainty and slender Are replace by claws, nails sharp to kill, and ready to dismember In the light of the moon She sheds back soft, radiant skin Has changed to the sight made from horror and sins In the light of the moon Her shadow stands greater than six feet tall Hovering from above, making one feel ever so small In the light of the moon She once a beauty of brown enchanted eyes Are now soulless, bleak and bring about one’s demise In the light of the moon Her face twisted, beyond unrecognizable Hurry, run! Before you’re next and indescribable

Editors Note: It's been a pleasure to be able to lead the Hogwarts Monthly this year as Co-Editors, and we couldn't have produced these issues without the help of everyone on the team, so thank you very much to all of you who involved, constantly working hard to produce content. We're pleased to be able to announce that next year, Nell Wright will be taking over as Editor and we're very confident that she will be able to take the paper to bigger and better things! It will be sad to leave the HM behind, but to all our writers and our readers, we wish you well and I'm sure we will meet again!​ - Leda & Josh ​ Out of Character Note: Thank you, Pheeb and everyone else who did their part to keep HM running smoothly. Me and Joshua had doubts about taking charge at the beginning. I'm just glad we were able to handle it and get through with it with everyone's help. Thanks again! - Madz ​ ​