herbology
Herbology is one of the most fun classes that Hogwarts has to offer, where else would you be shrunk down to a miniature size to check out a rose, or go pumpkin bowling on Halloween (and get pumpkin guts all over ones fancy dress, like I did! ) or spend the class in a literal hot house with burning and smoldering roses? This year was no exception, with a field trip into the Forbidden Forest as well as a Trip to Italy, Professor Paul Meyers had once again brought his A game! Please never leave us Professor Paul, Hogwarts would indeed be a much sadder place without you, your amazing classes and your Hawaiian print shirts!
The first class started with Professor Paul waiting for everyone near the Groundskeeper's hut with several metal buckets scattered around him, he then announced that they were going into the Forbidden Forest where the light refuses to shine! Scary! But no one should ever fear while Professor Paul is near. As class began real life centaur stepped out of the Forest and joined the students! Was this was the Professor meant by them being completely safe? I know I personally would feel protected if I had a centaur near me but anyways, back to the article, yeah? Professor Meyers started speaking and indeed confirmed that the centaur named Thereos was going into the Forest with them for guidance and protection! Whew! As the class walked into the Forest, Professor Meyers kept on talking, no one had mentioned the plant they were going to be working with, which was Fire Seed bushes! As they all tromped through the Forest, he asked another question, "If you could create something--anything-- What do you think you’d make? And what properties of the bush would contribute to what you’d make? CALL out your answers, discuss with each other, I don’t care, I’ll be listening!” Many of the students had ideas along the same line, such as use them for various sorts of Firey things, either make it hotter, or use it in place of fire, and one Olivia Philips even suggested using it in candy! Professor Meyers must have gotten a bit distracted from all the creative answers because Thereos had to instruct him to get back on course! Once that was done, they kept walking, and walking and for a change of pace, they walked some more, until they were so deep in the Forest the only lights were from their wands.. Finally it seemed like they arrived at.. wherever it was.
Professor Meyers started to instruct them, they were in front of two caves, and they were going to take fire seeds from one cave, and plant them in the other. Before they could do that though, there was a spell to be learned and gloves to be worn! Once everyone had put on their fancy gloves, it was spell time. The incantation was Chaudensis. Its purpose? To heat up the metal buckets so the fire seeds wouldn't go out. The wand movement? A rotation with a very light wrist movement. The students were let loose to practice and given a warning to stay safe whilst doing the spell. Practicing seemed to go well with most of the students getting a grasp on the trickily worded spell. Seeing that nothing was amiss, The Professor started to speak again, instructing the students on how to pluck fire seeds off the fiery bushes, and put them in their metal buckets that they needed to heat up with the charm they had just learned. Once he had said all this he led them into the glowing fire seed cave. The place was just remarkable, sparkling with the light of the flames, amazing and full of fire! Professor Meyers demonstrated what he wanted to kids to do, and then let them loose. Everyone did exactly what they were told and no one got set on fire! So after everyone had their three seeds in their heated up buckets it was time to head to the darkened cave to plant them. Planting the seeds was a bit tricker.. They had to dig a hole in the ground, put the dirt that they had dug up, in their heated up buckets to warm up the dirt and then dump the fire seeds and the soil back in the hole thy had dug. But that wasn't all! They had to add boiling water to the now hopefully planted seeds. The students had to use the spell Aguamenti to fill their buckets with water and then heat up the bucket with the Chaudensis charm they had just learned. Once the water was boiling you poured it over your fire seed and the process was done. Now if everyone could get this done without being burnt. Though a certain Derfael Ashburry-Hawthorne managed to somehow melt his bucket, there were no other incidents in class. Once everyone was done planting it was time for the long walk back to sunlight and their next class.
One lesson in February had everyone arriving to see Portkeys set up, for they were off on a field trip to somewhere special.. Where? To Professor Paul's own Villa in Tuscany Italy. Once it was time the students took off with a zoom and landed right in the middle of a lovely vineyard. The bright sun beat down on the kids as they all put their lunches in a bucket and followed Professor Meyers though the vines as he started to talk about Drip Irrigation? Apparently this was a good way to water the vineyards but the pipes had had some issues lately and instead of fixing them all himself he had brought the students along to help him! First up though.. "SOOOO….we’re going to learn a little spell. It’s a wee bit of a mouthful...Diminuendo Cavum Punctum. Going off of that spell...what will we be DOING to the pipes and tubing, eh? What is wrong with them?” Most of the students say the same thing, shrinking holes in the pipes, though some of that students thought that perhaps the pipes might have been clogged? And a few others, hadn't taken well to the portkey journey and lost their breakfasts right there in the vineyard.. Thankfully.. it was easily cleaned up! Once everyone had gotten their bearings the lesson continued! The spell was indeed to make holes smaller, and hopefully it would be able to fix the vineyards leaking pipes. While the incantation of the spell was a mouthful; I mean.. Diminuendo Cavum Punctum Fwoopers what a tongue twister! Thankfully the wand motion was a simple circular motion and a jab. At least that part was easy! The students were let loose to practice the spell and then when they were ready, try the spell on the pipes. The students did just that but a few actually tried to pick the grapes on the vine and what happened? The vines slapped them. Pretty funny, yeah? I myself didn't pick a grape, but I could understand why a few people tried, they looked amazing and it was hot. But, moving on. Now that most of the holes were fixed? Maybe? I'll have to follow up with Professor Meyers about this, but anyways.. It was time to move on. They started to walk towards the back of the vineyard to a very special plant. The vines were how Professor Meyers and his husband kept bugs out of the vineyard without using pesticides.The vines were a crossbreed of grapevines and Black Swallowworts which was a magical plant that's toxic to animals if the leaves are ingested. These plants killed bugs however, they reached right out and grabbed them and killed them. Fun eh? Professor Paul asked for volunteers and then asked the class "Does anyone have any thoughts on pesticides? Is this crossbreed better or worse than using one of those? Is this plant ethical? I want thoughts!” Most everyone agreed that pesticides weren't okay to use and the plant was a good option! After demonstrating how the plant killed bugs, Professor Meyer led them all to a gigantic pool filled to the brim with grapes and then he took off his shoes and socks and hopped right into it. It was grape squishing time! The rest of the class was spent happily stomping grapes and getting quite juice stained. A much needed break from the pressures of school, I managed to catch up with Professor Meyers after I wrote this article and he did indeed confirm that all of our spells helped out the leaking pipes. So you go classmates! We did some good. And we made some pretty darn good grape juice while we were at it.
The first class started with Professor Paul waiting for everyone near the Groundskeeper's hut with several metal buckets scattered around him, he then announced that they were going into the Forbidden Forest where the light refuses to shine! Scary! But no one should ever fear while Professor Paul is near. As class began real life centaur stepped out of the Forest and joined the students! Was this was the Professor meant by them being completely safe? I know I personally would feel protected if I had a centaur near me but anyways, back to the article, yeah? Professor Meyers started speaking and indeed confirmed that the centaur named Thereos was going into the Forest with them for guidance and protection! Whew! As the class walked into the Forest, Professor Meyers kept on talking, no one had mentioned the plant they were going to be working with, which was Fire Seed bushes! As they all tromped through the Forest, he asked another question, "If you could create something--anything-- What do you think you’d make? And what properties of the bush would contribute to what you’d make? CALL out your answers, discuss with each other, I don’t care, I’ll be listening!” Many of the students had ideas along the same line, such as use them for various sorts of Firey things, either make it hotter, or use it in place of fire, and one Olivia Philips even suggested using it in candy! Professor Meyers must have gotten a bit distracted from all the creative answers because Thereos had to instruct him to get back on course! Once that was done, they kept walking, and walking and for a change of pace, they walked some more, until they were so deep in the Forest the only lights were from their wands.. Finally it seemed like they arrived at.. wherever it was.
Professor Meyers started to instruct them, they were in front of two caves, and they were going to take fire seeds from one cave, and plant them in the other. Before they could do that though, there was a spell to be learned and gloves to be worn! Once everyone had put on their fancy gloves, it was spell time. The incantation was Chaudensis. Its purpose? To heat up the metal buckets so the fire seeds wouldn't go out. The wand movement? A rotation with a very light wrist movement. The students were let loose to practice and given a warning to stay safe whilst doing the spell. Practicing seemed to go well with most of the students getting a grasp on the trickily worded spell. Seeing that nothing was amiss, The Professor started to speak again, instructing the students on how to pluck fire seeds off the fiery bushes, and put them in their metal buckets that they needed to heat up with the charm they had just learned. Once he had said all this he led them into the glowing fire seed cave. The place was just remarkable, sparkling with the light of the flames, amazing and full of fire! Professor Meyers demonstrated what he wanted to kids to do, and then let them loose. Everyone did exactly what they were told and no one got set on fire! So after everyone had their three seeds in their heated up buckets it was time to head to the darkened cave to plant them. Planting the seeds was a bit tricker.. They had to dig a hole in the ground, put the dirt that they had dug up, in their heated up buckets to warm up the dirt and then dump the fire seeds and the soil back in the hole thy had dug. But that wasn't all! They had to add boiling water to the now hopefully planted seeds. The students had to use the spell Aguamenti to fill their buckets with water and then heat up the bucket with the Chaudensis charm they had just learned. Once the water was boiling you poured it over your fire seed and the process was done. Now if everyone could get this done without being burnt. Though a certain Derfael Ashburry-Hawthorne managed to somehow melt his bucket, there were no other incidents in class. Once everyone was done planting it was time for the long walk back to sunlight and their next class.
One lesson in February had everyone arriving to see Portkeys set up, for they were off on a field trip to somewhere special.. Where? To Professor Paul's own Villa in Tuscany Italy. Once it was time the students took off with a zoom and landed right in the middle of a lovely vineyard. The bright sun beat down on the kids as they all put their lunches in a bucket and followed Professor Meyers though the vines as he started to talk about Drip Irrigation? Apparently this was a good way to water the vineyards but the pipes had had some issues lately and instead of fixing them all himself he had brought the students along to help him! First up though.. "SOOOO….we’re going to learn a little spell. It’s a wee bit of a mouthful...Diminuendo Cavum Punctum. Going off of that spell...what will we be DOING to the pipes and tubing, eh? What is wrong with them?” Most of the students say the same thing, shrinking holes in the pipes, though some of that students thought that perhaps the pipes might have been clogged? And a few others, hadn't taken well to the portkey journey and lost their breakfasts right there in the vineyard.. Thankfully.. it was easily cleaned up! Once everyone had gotten their bearings the lesson continued! The spell was indeed to make holes smaller, and hopefully it would be able to fix the vineyards leaking pipes. While the incantation of the spell was a mouthful; I mean.. Diminuendo Cavum Punctum Fwoopers what a tongue twister! Thankfully the wand motion was a simple circular motion and a jab. At least that part was easy! The students were let loose to practice the spell and then when they were ready, try the spell on the pipes. The students did just that but a few actually tried to pick the grapes on the vine and what happened? The vines slapped them. Pretty funny, yeah? I myself didn't pick a grape, but I could understand why a few people tried, they looked amazing and it was hot. But, moving on. Now that most of the holes were fixed? Maybe? I'll have to follow up with Professor Meyers about this, but anyways.. It was time to move on. They started to walk towards the back of the vineyard to a very special plant. The vines were how Professor Meyers and his husband kept bugs out of the vineyard without using pesticides.The vines were a crossbreed of grapevines and Black Swallowworts which was a magical plant that's toxic to animals if the leaves are ingested. These plants killed bugs however, they reached right out and grabbed them and killed them. Fun eh? Professor Paul asked for volunteers and then asked the class "Does anyone have any thoughts on pesticides? Is this crossbreed better or worse than using one of those? Is this plant ethical? I want thoughts!” Most everyone agreed that pesticides weren't okay to use and the plant was a good option! After demonstrating how the plant killed bugs, Professor Meyer led them all to a gigantic pool filled to the brim with grapes and then he took off his shoes and socks and hopped right into it. It was grape squishing time! The rest of the class was spent happily stomping grapes and getting quite juice stained. A much needed break from the pressures of school, I managed to catch up with Professor Meyers after I wrote this article and he did indeed confirm that all of our spells helped out the leaking pipes. So you go classmates! We did some good. And we made some pretty darn good grape juice while we were at it.
history of magic
History of Magic can at times be a dry subject, after all who wants to sit and learn about history when there are spells to learns, potions to brew and magical plants to tend to. Thankfully Professor Rosalyn Newton manages to take a "boring" subject and makes it come to life and this term was no exception. So thanks Professor Newton for inspiring us to actually pay attention in your classroom instead of staring out the window and wondering why we aren't out there.
Professor Newton started off her class one early December morning with a simple question. "What do you all know about Hogwarts? It can be anything at all. Well! That was a fun an yet easy question, see what I mean about inspiring us to pay attention? Answers started to come flying in, from facts about that castle itself, to the founders, to the residents the reside in it, everyone knew at least one thing about the great stone castle that they called home for most of the year. As Professor Newton started to talk again she began to give the History of how Hogwarts was founded and then of course started to talk about the four founders, and the houses they had created. She asked a simple enough question Now what do you know about the four founders? You don't need to state a fact for more than one of them unless you want to. Anything about their lives at all even if it's just a small detail." The question was innocuous enough and the answers were fairly well given until Kitty Valentine spoke up. And said something... not very nice about Salazar Slytherin. I don't want to repeat her words here as I don't think I can stay neutral bout them. Needless to say, they didn't go over well. It ended up with a rather heated discussion and Kitty storming out of class. Professor Newton handled the conflict well and rightly moved the class along to the next activity. Which was they had to pretend to be a fifth founder of Hogwarts, they had to come up with a house name, animal, colors, characteristics and then a crest for their houses. People were allowed to work with a partner, and thankfully after the earlier drama most everyone started to settle down a bit. Everyone got into creating their houses and the class fairly flew by, the unhappiness of earlier had evaporated thankfully. There was only a minor interruption as candy grams arrived for Brent Westwood, Kane Westwood and the Professor Herself! After that it was back to work and soon the class was over. The students left the classroom full of house pride and more reasons to be nice to each other.
One morning in Mid April, Professor Newton started off her class with another simple but engaging question. "Starting off, I would like to know what you guys know about Quidditch - focusing on its history." Well who doesn't love Quidditch? Most people did so answers came flying in. From when it was started, to how many fouls there are (over 700!) most people responded with something. Once everyone had their answers in, Professor Newton gave the full history of Quidditch, the bit about how the snitch came about was super funny, but anyways back to the lesson.. After we were fully informed about the ghosts of Quidditch past, Professor Newton asked another question.. "On top of Quidditch there are many other wizarding sports out there - games as well. Now I would like for you to give me an example of another magical sport or game and give a little bit of information about it. Preferably about its HISTORY." Almost at the same time, Tenacius Salander and Leon Kennedy brought up Quodpot, a Quidditch like sport played in America, Henrietta Kramer brought up Gobstones and Rooney Bronwyn mentioned Wizard's Chess. All of those were fantastic answers and led up to what they were going to be doing in class, which was making their own magical sport/game! They could work in groups of up to three but they needed to make up the name for their sport, the targeted group of people who would be playing it, rules of course and if it was a team sport or a one on one sport. The rest of the class was spent with the students eagerly working on their games and class time flew by. Before they all knew it it was time to leave! And they all walked out of the room happy with the sports they had just created.
Professor Newton started off her class one early December morning with a simple question. "What do you all know about Hogwarts? It can be anything at all. Well! That was a fun an yet easy question, see what I mean about inspiring us to pay attention? Answers started to come flying in, from facts about that castle itself, to the founders, to the residents the reside in it, everyone knew at least one thing about the great stone castle that they called home for most of the year. As Professor Newton started to talk again she began to give the History of how Hogwarts was founded and then of course started to talk about the four founders, and the houses they had created. She asked a simple enough question Now what do you know about the four founders? You don't need to state a fact for more than one of them unless you want to. Anything about their lives at all even if it's just a small detail." The question was innocuous enough and the answers were fairly well given until Kitty Valentine spoke up. And said something... not very nice about Salazar Slytherin. I don't want to repeat her words here as I don't think I can stay neutral bout them. Needless to say, they didn't go over well. It ended up with a rather heated discussion and Kitty storming out of class. Professor Newton handled the conflict well and rightly moved the class along to the next activity. Which was they had to pretend to be a fifth founder of Hogwarts, they had to come up with a house name, animal, colors, characteristics and then a crest for their houses. People were allowed to work with a partner, and thankfully after the earlier drama most everyone started to settle down a bit. Everyone got into creating their houses and the class fairly flew by, the unhappiness of earlier had evaporated thankfully. There was only a minor interruption as candy grams arrived for Brent Westwood, Kane Westwood and the Professor Herself! After that it was back to work and soon the class was over. The students left the classroom full of house pride and more reasons to be nice to each other.
One morning in Mid April, Professor Newton started off her class with another simple but engaging question. "Starting off, I would like to know what you guys know about Quidditch - focusing on its history." Well who doesn't love Quidditch? Most people did so answers came flying in. From when it was started, to how many fouls there are (over 700!) most people responded with something. Once everyone had their answers in, Professor Newton gave the full history of Quidditch, the bit about how the snitch came about was super funny, but anyways back to the lesson.. After we were fully informed about the ghosts of Quidditch past, Professor Newton asked another question.. "On top of Quidditch there are many other wizarding sports out there - games as well. Now I would like for you to give me an example of another magical sport or game and give a little bit of information about it. Preferably about its HISTORY." Almost at the same time, Tenacius Salander and Leon Kennedy brought up Quodpot, a Quidditch like sport played in America, Henrietta Kramer brought up Gobstones and Rooney Bronwyn mentioned Wizard's Chess. All of those were fantastic answers and led up to what they were going to be doing in class, which was making their own magical sport/game! They could work in groups of up to three but they needed to make up the name for their sport, the targeted group of people who would be playing it, rules of course and if it was a team sport or a one on one sport. The rest of the class was spent with the students eagerly working on their games and class time flew by. Before they all knew it it was time to leave! And they all walked out of the room happy with the sports they had just created.
muggle studies
Muggle Studies might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Professor Kaysha Stewart makes the subject matter come to life in a way that leaves students feeling interested and engaged. Her Fun Room allows students and staff alike to explore muggle devices that provide entertainment for all ages. During lessons, Hogwartians get to take a closer look at subject matter of all sorts and then take that learning one step further, enjoying a hands-on experience. No doubt attending lessons like the following will leave everyone with a better understanding, and hopefully respect, of muggle culture.
Those with an interest in art would be pleased to find themselves enjoying a lesson about Mr. Pablo Picasso early in the term. A man of many talents, Picasso spent his years exploring art in various mediums and producing many notable works showcasing his talent. His pieces throughout the years were so many, that the man even landed himself in the Guinness Book of World Records, an admirable achievement. The class went on to share their feelings about art and whether a fan, an acting participant in the arts, or an uninterested party, all students demonstrated that art takes many forms, and can be found in lots of places. The class ended with students painting using watercolors and salt, a rather strange combination at first, but one that gave the paintings some texture and as the salt absorbed the water in the paint, created interesting designs. Perhaps some students even tapped into a creative side they didn't know they had.
Another notable lesson this term was Professor Stewart’s class on board games. These come on boards of all shapes and sizes, many decorated to reflect the theme of the game being played. Rules, token pieces for each player, and a goal to determine the winner are all frequent components of board games, though some allow players to be more creative than others. Playing games like Life, Monopoly, or Risk with family or friends is a great way to bond, be competitive, and showcase thinking and strategizing skills. Board games also give those not big on physical activities a place to learn about competition and teamwork. At the end of class, students partnered up or created teams and had the chance to select and play a board game of their choice. In the end, Hogwartians showcased good sportsmanship, and that board games are certainly an enjoyable pastime.
Those with an interest in art would be pleased to find themselves enjoying a lesson about Mr. Pablo Picasso early in the term. A man of many talents, Picasso spent his years exploring art in various mediums and producing many notable works showcasing his talent. His pieces throughout the years were so many, that the man even landed himself in the Guinness Book of World Records, an admirable achievement. The class went on to share their feelings about art and whether a fan, an acting participant in the arts, or an uninterested party, all students demonstrated that art takes many forms, and can be found in lots of places. The class ended with students painting using watercolors and salt, a rather strange combination at first, but one that gave the paintings some texture and as the salt absorbed the water in the paint, created interesting designs. Perhaps some students even tapped into a creative side they didn't know they had.
Another notable lesson this term was Professor Stewart’s class on board games. These come on boards of all shapes and sizes, many decorated to reflect the theme of the game being played. Rules, token pieces for each player, and a goal to determine the winner are all frequent components of board games, though some allow players to be more creative than others. Playing games like Life, Monopoly, or Risk with family or friends is a great way to bond, be competitive, and showcase thinking and strategizing skills. Board games also give those not big on physical activities a place to learn about competition and teamwork. At the end of class, students partnered up or created teams and had the chance to select and play a board game of their choice. In the end, Hogwartians showcased good sportsmanship, and that board games are certainly an enjoyable pastime.
transfiguration
As Transfiguration is still a mandatory lesson, there still have to be yearbook articles about it and someone has to end up writing them. You'd think someone more fond of the lessons would be assigned but I can still muddle my way through this with very little incident. Once again, Hogwarts received a new Transfiguration Professor, because the school's not very good at convincing them to stay despite its insistence that this continue to be a subject that is taught. This time, it was Professor Camilla Stewart who stepped up to the challenge of trying to hold down the job and she's shown that monsters and portals aren't enough to cancel class--even when it's probably for the best.
Sometime around December the students were greeted with hot chocolate and other treats as they entered the classroom. This would seem perfectly normal given the time of year...if it wasn't such a well known fact that the Professors have put something in the food and are trying to indoctrinate the student population for reasons still unknown. Funny how even the new Professor knows this rule. It must have come in the "new staff member" handbook--101 ways to brainwash your students. Not entirely sure Professor Marchand walking in to play Santa to the Gryffindors helped the case much either. The student body has been onto this ploy for years. When the lesson eventually did start, it was all about spells that could be used to make the weather more tolerable when under cold conditions. Manus cotone was one of the spells of the hour. I'd love to tell you what it does but you'd be better off asking someone who actually attended the lesson. I was told that once the class got the hang of it, the class was introduced to another spell, Crystallus decus, which apparently makes snow decorations. As if having to learn one spell wasn't hard enough.
Later on in the school year the students were taken out to the lake to have their lesson. This time there were tanks which were enough to give the false hope the Professor would allow everyone to catch and keep a Grindylow while they were there. Toads are alright, but they don't exactly scream the same level of excitement. In fact they would arguably gather more sympathy from the students. Just take young Junia Botros for example, with her apologies in advance for whatever the Professor would have them do. You know you've got reason to wonder when Professors begin asking you the reason for their actions. I've found it's often a trick question but this time Professor Stewart was curious as to the thought process students may have been following once they were told to dress comfortably. Turns out, the class would be wrangling toads. That was the only explanation for the spell, Incarcolvo, that creates a cage around the target. All made perfect sense when added together. After some quick duplication, the toads were set to hop about and the students were put to work capturing them. In the end, Slytherin won the mini competition with Gryffindor coming in a close second. The Claws and the Puffers tied for third.
Based on everything I've heard from the year gone, I'm not sold on attending Transfiguration classes any more than I was the year before, but some of our fellow school mates seem very keen on the subject, insisting the practicality is what keeps them coming back.
Sometime around December the students were greeted with hot chocolate and other treats as they entered the classroom. This would seem perfectly normal given the time of year...if it wasn't such a well known fact that the Professors have put something in the food and are trying to indoctrinate the student population for reasons still unknown. Funny how even the new Professor knows this rule. It must have come in the "new staff member" handbook--101 ways to brainwash your students. Not entirely sure Professor Marchand walking in to play Santa to the Gryffindors helped the case much either. The student body has been onto this ploy for years. When the lesson eventually did start, it was all about spells that could be used to make the weather more tolerable when under cold conditions. Manus cotone was one of the spells of the hour. I'd love to tell you what it does but you'd be better off asking someone who actually attended the lesson. I was told that once the class got the hang of it, the class was introduced to another spell, Crystallus decus, which apparently makes snow decorations. As if having to learn one spell wasn't hard enough.
Later on in the school year the students were taken out to the lake to have their lesson. This time there were tanks which were enough to give the false hope the Professor would allow everyone to catch and keep a Grindylow while they were there. Toads are alright, but they don't exactly scream the same level of excitement. In fact they would arguably gather more sympathy from the students. Just take young Junia Botros for example, with her apologies in advance for whatever the Professor would have them do. You know you've got reason to wonder when Professors begin asking you the reason for their actions. I've found it's often a trick question but this time Professor Stewart was curious as to the thought process students may have been following once they were told to dress comfortably. Turns out, the class would be wrangling toads. That was the only explanation for the spell, Incarcolvo, that creates a cage around the target. All made perfect sense when added together. After some quick duplication, the toads were set to hop about and the students were put to work capturing them. In the end, Slytherin won the mini competition with Gryffindor coming in a close second. The Claws and the Puffers tied for third.
Based on everything I've heard from the year gone, I'm not sold on attending Transfiguration classes any more than I was the year before, but some of our fellow school mates seem very keen on the subject, insisting the practicality is what keeps them coming back.