Daily Prophet, Issue 10

Classes Have Begun!

Whew! Ms. Wartbobble had a late night last night. The House Elves were given the night off last night and all the teachers stayed up to decorate the Great Hall for the Beginning of the Term Feast tonight so I've had a late start to my day. What? You didn't know about it? You'll have to forgive me. I've been so busy that I complete forgot to announce the gathering. If you are able to make it that would be wonderful. If not just leave a note sometime today and I'm sure that someone from each House will leave minutes on their site or you can always look back at the archives. It's just a simple gathering of the Houses - not to worry. You won't miss too much.

Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
In the States many people are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and their are many little muggles hanging around, so please have patience if you don't receive a response from your swapee until later tonight or tomorrow. In some cases the little muggles will have next Monday instead of today.

Communicating with Your Partners
If you are the one doing the spoiling (The Spoiler) it is okay for you to contact your Spoilee (the one being spoiled) via their real email addy. But, you must use your secret email address so that your identity is not revealed. It is also okay for you - The Spoiler - to leave messages on their primary blog, whether they have a character blog or not, but you must remember to use your Potter name.

Participation and Scoring
Just wanted to explain how this works a little more. Yes, you earn points and being in a bigger House means that you'll receive more points, BUT the scores are figured out by the percentage of people that participate. I'm going to use the smallest House and the largest House as an example.

Logo Points

Slytherin
9 out of 10 participating equals 90%
10 out of 10 participating (plus 50 pt. bonus) equals 190%

Ravenclaw
35 out of 39 participating = 89%
39 out of 39 participating (plus 50 pt. bonus) = 125%

So, do you see how a smaller House could come out on top? In the last HSKS Hufflepuff was able to win because they had one instance of 100% participation which gave them a considerable lead right from the beginning. So, even if you have smaller numbers you can use them to your advantage, but you really ALL have to participate - that is the key.

LOSING POINTS

Posting Once a Week
With that begin said, I will also be taking away 10 House points per person for not posting at least once a week either on your primary blog or your character blog. So, if you have a character blog you must post once a week on your character blog as I will not be checking your primary blog. If you do not have a character blog you must post once a week on your primary blog. Once a week means within a 7 day span between Sunday 12:00 a.m. PST and 11:59 p.m. PST.

Mailing Requirements
I wanted to bring this to everyone's attention again now that we're all here. Please see the Mailing Requirements post. This is only going to apply to the U.S. residents and will really make a difference in the end. If you do not send me the tracking number for your package 10 House Points per person will be taken away.

Now, that's all I'll say about that negative stuff, but unfortunately it must be known to all.

Hogwarts Happenings

The castle is a-buzz with excitement on the first day of classes. The new potions teacher, Crispin Black, has created quite a stir. I do hope that he doesn't turn out to be like our previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Lockhart. Which brings me to another point. As some of you know the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was vacated once Professor Snape passed. Until today we did not know who was going to take his place. We had put the word out to a few wizards in the community, and had even received a response via a personal assistant, but until this morning the new teacher had not shown up. Some of you have already had the chance to experience his class this morning, but I wanted to formally introduce all students to Sir Hevling Von Humperdink. I know that he's rather intimidating, but he comes with a high recommendation and we're hoping that his strict instruction will be to our benefit with many passing their O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s this year. Plus, we want someone with a tough skin that will stick around longer than a year without dying or going crazy on us.
Come on students! Learn much and be Merry :)

The Beginning of the Year Feast is set for

3:30 p.m. Standard
5:30 p.m. PST
8:30 p.m. EST
1:30 a.m. UTC
2:30 a.m. CET