#malumevent

HELLO STUDENTS!

  It is my pleasure to announce that any student in Third Year or higher with a valid signature from their parent or guardian will be able to visit Hogsmeade February 18th. Be sure to dress appropriately for the weather—despite the deceptive sunlight, the winds themselves will be quite chilly, as Scotland tends to be in February, and snow is thick on the ground.

  Given that Valentine’s Day has just passed, this weekend would be the perfect time to accompany any sweetheart you may have acquired to the lovely village of Hogsmeade. There are also rumours of celebrations to be found in The Three Broomsticks—alongside a cider and a smile from the lovely Madam Rosmerta—hosted by several members of Ravenclaw house, in celebration of the recent birthday of Xenophilius Lovegood and the upcoming (the very day after Hogsmeade, in fact!) birthday of Hestia Jones. Make sure to stop by to partake in celebrations and to send your birthday wishes to the two!

  Other activities include Zonko’s Joke Shop (just be careful who you hit with those dungbombs), Honeydukes (perfect for growing your collection of Chocolate Frog cards), Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop (a lovely romantic spot for you and that special someone - or just a place for some delicious tea), Dervish & Banges (I know you lot can be clumsy, and they’re great at repairs) and The Shrieking Shack (if you’re feeling particularly brave).

  So mark your calendars, and have a great time!

Hogwarts Valentines Delivery Service

Hi everyone!

Sorry it’s been a little while coming, but here is some information about the upcoming WINTER HOLIDAYS. The current week, as the date has not yet moved, is Saturday 10th December — Friday 16th December. The next week will begin soon, but it will be a short week, spanning from the Saturday 17th until Tuesday 20th. The in-character timeline will be as follows:

Tuesday 20th December // Final day of classes for the term Wednesday 21st December // Students who wish to leave the castle for the holidays travel on the Hogwarts Express back to Platform 9 3/4. Friday 23rd December // EXCLUSIVE EVENT: Pureblood Society Christmas Gala (more details to come). Saturday 24th December // Christmas Eve Sunday 25th December // Christmas Day; Christmas Feast at Hogwarts for students remaining behind Saturday 31st December // New Year’s Eve; EVENT: NYE party hosted by a Ravenclaw student, ALL STUDENTS INVITED (more details to come). Sunday 1st January // New Year’s Day Wednesday 4th January // Students return to the castle via the Hogwarts Express Thursday 5th January // Classes resume and the new term begins

As there are two events during this period, time will be passing somewhat differently. Holidays will be somewhat extended, with a prominent focus given to the two events. As not every character will be attending the Christmas Gala, that event will not have its own timeline, but the in-character days of Wed 21st—Sun 25th will span an entire week and a half, in order to pad out both the timeline for that event and for any Christmas celebrations that characters may be taking part in. Mon 26th—Fri 30th will span an entire week, and then the NYE Event on Sat 31st will span another half week, in order to suitably dedicate time to it. Mon 2nd—Wed 4th will be another half week, and then the following week and a half OOC will be dedicated to Thurs 4th—Fri 12th, encapsulating the entire week and a bit return to school and returning us to our normal timeline.

MATCH 002: HUFFLEPUFF VS. RAVENCLAW

Unlike the first match of the season, between the wild card team and the defending champions, talk leading to this match was less involved with theorising about the potential performance from the underdogs—then Slytherin, now most commonly agreed to be Hufflepuff, if only by virtue of being up against the Jones-Bagman-Karoonda trifecta—than the actual specifics of how the match could play out. Following Gryffindor’s win on a Slytherin snitch, the options have never been more varied.

• • THE TEAMS  • •

Following the surprise turn of the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, some speculated whether there could be any major surprises in store. By and large, Ravenclaw were the heavy favourites to win. Captained by Gwenog Jones, Ravenclaw sports the best Beater duo Hogwarts has seen for years—not simply due to their skill, but also their mutual dedication to the sport and ability to work together paralleled only by the Gryffindor chasers—as well as arguably the best Seeker in the castle. Arguments have been made for Regulus Black, but when accounting for broom quality and its effect on performance, popular opinion says Karoonda has him beat.

Hufflepuff, on the other hand, has its greatest strength in its chasers. They don’t have the same level of synchronicity and instinctive understanding as the Gryffindors—though they do come closest of the other three houses—but they’re still enough to give Ravenclaw Keeper Ailyn Wilkes a run for her money. Hufflepuff’s chasers have a good head for strategy and commitment to their plays, and it is their teamwork and ability to defer to each other—or at least, the other two’s ability to defer to Alice Fortescue—that elevates them above Ravenclaw’s in the rankings. The question on everyone’s minds: is that enough?

• • THE CONDITIONS  • •

Unlike the last match, there were no sharp, blistering winds to contend with. Yet as those conditions had driven a fast-paced game, these conditions did the opposite. In place of the frigid cold and the sharp wind, there was instead a heavy fog over the match, and it rained at several points, greatly affecting visibility. The match lasted quite a bit longer than the last as a result, and students could be found casting water-repelling charms throughout the stands.

• •  MATCH HIGHLIGHTS  • •

As was to be expected, Ravenclaw Beaters Gwenog Jones and Ludo Bagman played a remarkable match, both separately and together. Whilst Jones was often near her Keeper, Ailyn Wilkes, to survey the match and spot the space to fly into in order to maximise damage potential with incoming bludgers, Bagman was more concerned with the seeker Lucy Karoonda, though both abandoned their presumed posts in order to defend their team, particularly against the strongest Hufflepuff front: their Chasers.

The Hufflepuff Chasers held out well, even against Wilkes’ precise and efficient goal-keeping. After Hufflepuff’s seventh goal, scored by none other than Seventh Year Alice Fortescue, Bagman and Jones pulled off some complicated tandem Beating, with Bagman hitting a Bludger Backbeat to take Fortescue by surprise, forcing her to drop the Quaffle and dive to avoid the Bludger, and Jones hitting the Bludger back at the nearest Hufflepuff Chaser to ensure they did not catch it in its freefall, ensuring Ravenclaw possession.

When Hufflepuff regained possession, thanks to a particularly well-executed Double Eight Loop from their Keeper, the Ravenclaw Beaters came together once more to launch a Dopplebeater Defence against one of Hufflepuff’s Chasers. As intended, she dropped the Quaffle, but did not move quickly enough to avoid the Bludger, and ended up falling from her broom. Fortunately for all involved, both Bagman and the nearest Hufflepuff Beater flew for her at the same time, and retrieved her and her broom respectively. After a brief yet loud and colourful discussion with Madam Wood—featuring a lot of gestures towards Madam Pomfrey, who was looking very displeased by the fact that all involved were still in the air—play resumed, said Chaser having evidently convinced everyone that she was still fit to play.

Ravenclaw lost possession after what appeared to be unintentional—and displeasing to their captain, judging from her reaction—haversacking, though regained it after a particularly well-aimed Bludger from Jones to Fortescue. Surprisingly, it was Hufflepuff that brought the game veering towards dirty, with the Beater that had caught the falling Chaser evidently still holding a grudge. Bagman and Jones had their hands full protecting their Chasers, leaving both Karoonda and Wilkes to brave their tasks alone for the last twenty minutes of the match.

Thankfully for all who had not been successful with their casting of the water-repelling charms during the downpour, Karoonda somehow managed to find the Snitch amongst the rain and fog. Rocketing towards the Hufflepuff Beaters—and raising fears of an incident of blatching about to occur—Karoonda executed an extreme successful Wronski Defensive Feint, drawing the other Seeker down with them, before sharply pulling back up and snagging the Snitch cleanly from beside Wilkes’ ear.

• • MATCH OUTCOME  • •

Whilst the end of the match was of no surprise to the more well-versed Quidditch fans amongst the crowd, a great many expressed surprise at how well Hufflepuff had managed to hold their own initially. The distinctions between leadership styles of the two captains was evident to all, and left few with any doubts as to which was more effective. If the weather had more visibility, perhaps Hufflepuff’s Seeker would have fared better, but as it was, it was their Chasers carrying the team. Wilkes did well combating them, but even though Hufflepuff’s Keeper was slightly weaker today, Ravenclaw’s Chasers did not have the same ability to defer and fall in line with each other that Hufflepuff managed to do in order to play a strong game in the low visibility.

The FINAL SCORE was 260—140 to RAVENCLAW, making them the winners of the second match of the season.

• • COMMENTATOR’S REPORT   • •

"Good morning, Hogwarts, this is Lily Evans coming at you from under the frizzy hair in the commentator's box - we've got a really exciting game ahead of us, with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw coming out to show us what they've got and I know I can't wait to start squinting at our line-ups through the fog, but first - as always, I've got to recommend a good water repulsion Charm with the sky doing its best to soak us to our souls, remember the wand motion is up, down, left because I'm already seeing some trouble out there, be sure to ask for help if you need it -"

"Lead Hufflepuff - lead Ravenclaw - bloody h - unsuccessful turn from our Hufflepuff seeker, there, right into Karoonda and that's got to hurt. Don't think we have to worry about blatching, though, because they're both looking a little dizzy now - or maybe it's just the fog, got to admire them flying at all when I keep losing track of my own elbow -"

"- and in a shocking twist it is in fact raining, again, you heard it here first folks - Jones and Bagman seem to be doubling down, bludgers are flying back and forth like angry, confused ping-pong balls but our Beaters sure know what they're doing, I wouldn't want to fly through that - and my God, a stunning Backbeat from Bagman! Fortescue dives and Ravenclaw recovers possession thanks to a tricky move from Jones, some really exciting Beating over here -"

" - honestly, I think she should just let her back in the game, I've seen Chasers recover from Parkin's Pincer in less time than this argument's taking but I just do the talking around here, not the - okay, that gesture was a little rude, listen, I'm just going to offer some chatter for the younger among us to listen to until the debate gets a little less, uh, colourful. Have you ever heard the one about the Grindylow and the clown? The clown walks into a lake..."

"- and that's ten to Ravenclaw, nicely done, and Hufflepuff's got the quaffle, cutting through the bulk in Hawkshead Formation - yes there's a longer name but excuse me, it's a bloody triangle - wonderful dive from Fortescue -"

" - oh! Of course - it looked like they were feinting, folks, and Karoonda's got the snitch from right under Wilke's nose! That's 260-140 in favor of RAVENCLAW, a brilliant match all around if I do say so myself. Hufflepuff's teamwork is really shining through in their Chasers, with I suspect some insightful direction from Chaser Fortescue - and I think we'll be talking about that steal halfway through the game for a while - but in the end, there was no beating those Beaters and they had the team to back them up. Hufflepuff will have to step it up for next time, but there's still a long season ahead and I don't think I speak too soon in saying they've got a lot more to show us. Now, I think we'd all like to get inside and warm up - find yourself a hearth to sit by for me, and break out the drying Charms, we're all looking pretty well soaked."

• • ANALYSIS AND INJURIES   • •

Madam Pomfrey spent a significant amount of time following the match tending to the players, particularly to check for concussion for the Hufflepuff Chaser who fell, as well as a sprained wrist for Alice Fortescue and a bruised side for Lucy Karoonda, following an early-on bump from the Hufflepuff Seeker. There were some other sprains and aches, but nothing immediately notable as a serious injury beyond the potential concussion.

Heading into the third match of the season upcoming in February, SLYTHERIN vs RAVENCLAW, the cumulative points for the tournament are as stands:

GRYFFINDOR: 330

SLYTHERIN: 260

RAVENCLAW: 260

HUFFLEPUFF: 140

WELCOME TO FIGHT CLUB

The year is 1972. Steve Talkalot is in his Seventh Year, and he has been the Slytherin Quidditch Captain since 1968, when he was a Third Year. Much to his frustration, the Slytherin Quidditch team is not fantastic. They are, in fact, in a similar position to where they were at when Steve himself became captain—that is, the only player on his team that he feels remotely comfortable recommending as his successor is one Emma Vanity, a Second Year in her first year on his team. Still, she’s competent and skilled, with more drive and leadership ability than the rest of them put together, and if anyone’s going to believe in a thirteen year old, it’s Steve.

The fact remains, however, that he is in his final year and in a constant state of Fed Up, for reasons including both the fact that his team is in a state that their best hope for the future is currently twelve and his name is Steve Laughalot. It is for these reasons that he begins a fight club. It has to be admitted that as far as fight clubs go, it’s… not very good. In fact, it’s terrible. It does the job, though, and acts as an outlet for his frustration. It fades once he leaves, though, because most members of the club are fairly appalling fighters, and are pretty sure that Emma—even at thirteen—could beat them, and so they never really inform her of this club’s former existence.

In Hufflepuff, though, it becomes a thing of legend. One Hufflepuff member of said fight club is actually remotely competent with their fist, and, having won a fight, proudly informs their entire common room, to which the general reaction is one of confusion. The following comment—“what? who the fuck are you fighting? we are wizards, bartholomew”—is one of many heard that night in response to that declaration. Bartholomew tells them all the story, and it passes through the entire common room and, as the years go on, through the house itself. It becomes a legend, and as the years pass, the details became skewed and embellished, because a member of their house won, so obviously it had to be a top-notch club, and the whole fight club eventually is remembered as a lot cooler than it actually was. Members of other houses hear whispers of it, but nothing particularly easy to pin down—only enough to pique interest and get some rumours rolling.

FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB

The year is 1977. Emma Vanity and Marlene McKinnon, Seventh Year Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively, have their own little fight club—or version of it, anyway—where they literally just rail against each other to get rid of the frustration and anger they have running through their bloodstream and coiling under their skin. Ludo Bagman, Seventh Year Ravenclaw, hears about it from Marlene, and is immediately reminded of a story his brother once told him. Otto, a Sixth Year Hufflepuff, had been seized by a fit of house pride and had informed Ludo of the fight club legend and the founder, Steve Laughalot, former Slytherin Quidditch Captain and mentor to young Emma.

Ludo, valuing his face, decides against making any quips to Emma about repeating history, because Steve was captain when he created it and Emma isn’t, and Ludo would rather not be decked for the reminder. He can, however, make mention of her “old mentor” and following in his footsteps, which piques Emma’s curiosity. Ludo informs Marlene and Emma of the legend. Marlene, being Marlene and therefore prone to questionable decisions and a natural recalcitrance that sometimes manifests as delight in defying authority, is immediately interested. Ludo, who enjoys skill analysis and also winning, is pretty sure he can make money off of this.

He starts approaching people, asking “hypothetically, in a fight, who would you bet on…?” and starts bringing people along, simultaneously generating an audience/potential fight pool and a betting ring. It quickly spirals. Alice Fortescue, Seventh Year Hufflepuff, hears about it and demands to have a go, citing the (greatly exaggerated, unbeknownst to all of the students currently at Hogwarts) great skill Hufflepuff has shown in the past. It is not the roaring success she’d expected it to be, but it does open up the fight club to other members wishing to showcase their Hufflepuff pride, and before long, it seems like nearly everybody is involved.

SECOND RULE OF FIGHT CLUB: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB

The Hogwarts Fight Club is an unofficial club which largely takes place after hours. The home of betting and fighting analysis is the Ravenclaw common room, mostly due to the presence of Ludo Bagman, Xenophilius Lovegood and Elena Woodrow, all of whom are influential in some way in how the betting or statistical analysis work. Mundungus Fletcher’s connections and skillset also do not go amiss. Emma Vanity and Marlene McKinnon are widely regarded as the founders and leaders of the club, though it’s becoming its own beast, and are always amongst the most likely to be found fighting. Ludo thinks they should ask Lily to announce, as ey is so skilled in the art of Quidditch commentary, and also commentate if ey knows much about physical fighting. (James Potter, part-time announcer and part-time ring girl, concurs with this job opportunity for Lily. Marlene is fairly sure ey will not get involved and doesn’t think they should compromise her chance at plausible denial. Someone suggests they restart the debate club as this ensues, which is largely ignored by the deliberating Seventh Years). In all the spiralling out of control, they got to the point where a solid group of people coming along actually had no intention of fighting, and were simply coming along to bet, analyse or observe when they were bored. Fight club events and meetings are distinct from just general fighting—the latter is fine, but unless it’s a specific grudge between the fighters, is a waste of time in the eyes of the club, because the club exists for the purpose of working out frustration and anger without necessarily targeting a specific person. Given the network of the club, meeting details of the fight club are passed along by word of mouth, especially because location changes each time. They’re not official enough—nor as organised as Hermione Granger—to have figured out anything more efficient than that. It’s a narc-free zone, though, which can only be enforced by three things: the social stigma one would earn if they told, the fact that everyone has to ‘fight’ (however badly; this is coming into play from this meeting onwards, and is really just an insurance method to ensure that everyone is as culpable as each other so nobody will narc, and was suggested by a Ravenclaw Sixth Year) and a list of every person who has ever been present, which is kept in Marlene McKinnon’s possession, though she refuses to admit where, only stating that of all the ringleaders, she’s the one who can afford trouble the most and is in a female dorm, which has enchantments that prevent access to a significant percentage of the castle’s occupants.

Not all members are at every meeting either, which should be noted, as that may affect your character, and it’s still in its early days, though given how it’s spiraled, it’ll probably keep growing. The members stand in an octagon in the centre of the room—which changes each time—and because all of these children are Needlessly Dramatic, several have their own ‘mentors’ as time goes on and the club gets bigger and more populated. It’s mostly just a way for students to work out their frustrations—which was the original intent—or sometimes to make some money. Xenophilius Lovegood insists that they deal with as much healing in-house as possible, and Marlene McKinnon is very clear that the punishment for using magic in a fight is expulsion from the group, and possibly a fist to the face if attempting to prevent use of magic. Even merely drawing a wand during a fight is prohibited.

Whether your character is aware of or part of fight club—which is a recent occurrence and is super unofficial, just look at the ringleaders—yet is up to you, but they may also (and some who wish to attend the meeting should) learn about it in character. Feel free to message the main if you’re unsure as to whether your character would have heard of it yet, and we’ll help you figure it out! The next fight club meeting will take place in-character on Sunday, 20th November (ooc: the week of the 22nd Aug - 28th Aug), which is the weekend after the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match and the weekend before the Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff match.

"Days and days, the people of Hogsmeade and volunteers from other places across the country have helped prepare for this Harvest festival,” Madam Rosmerta’s voice echoed through the crowds, magic making her voice louder. “And while I cannot wait to officially open this wonderful happening, there are a few points that need to be addressed!                  Firstly, and this should be very logical, drugs won’t be allowed. Students who are caught using, selling or carrying these, will be send to the castle. Their Heads of House will decide on the consequences there. Adults will be reported to the Aurors that, yes, are present.                  Secondly, there will be no duelling, fighting or other dangerous magic in the streets, due to the business and nature of the festival. This will result to the same consequences as the before mentioned rule.                 And lastly, there will be volunteers walking around the festival, wearing an orange coat that says the word ‘volunteer’ on the back,” she said, turning around to display her own. “We are here to help, so please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions or share any of your concerns. Now, there is only one thing left to do, and that is to open this festival!” Her wand aimed at the sky, as well as those of fellow volunteers, and soon fireworks were colouring the sky. “Be responsible, but most importantly, have fun!”

   With this, the Harvest Festival has now officially started! The town of Hogsmeade is dressed in the colours of fall, and there are activities everywhere. Students above the age of seventeen are allowed to drink, but there will be teachers around so, like Madam Rosmerta said, be responsible!

  This will be the activities your characters can attend:

Pumpkin Carving: Make the most beautiful pumpkin, and you might just win a year long supply of pumpkin juice! Sponsored by pumpkin juice and Rubeus Hagrid, who provided the pumpkins.

Performances on the big stage: Every hour, a different musician will perform. You can find the full schedule on the flyers, at Dominic Maestro’s and near the stage, but the biggest highlight will be Celestina Warbeck, who will be performing songs of her newest album! Go to Dominic Maestro after each performance to buy merchandise and to meet and great the performers!

Board-games-tourney: Go to the Hogshead to find fellow board-games enthusiasts, and find out if you’re really as good as you think you are! Gobstones, Wizard Chess, Quodpot and Snitch Snatcher can all be played here!

Corn-eating competition: Make your way to over to the Magic Neep to battle fellow wizards and witches in a corn eating competition! Every hour there will be new prices and opportunities!

Other stores will also be open, and have smaller special activities (at Madam Puddifoots, there will be exclusive Harvest-festival teas!) and Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy have hired half of The Whiskey Dragon pub to celebrate their birthday! 

Friday, October 7th, 1977.

HELLO STUDENTS!

  It is my pleasure to announce that this year, Hogwarts students will be permitted to take part in a HARVEST FESTIVAL being held in Hogsmeade. More details about this will follow soon, but expect an opportunity to embrace the traditions of the Harvest on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29TH. We are aware that the Muggles have already celebrated their Harvest Festival this year, at the very close of September. We have elected to take an extra month and celebrate it alongside the villagers of Hogsmeade at the end of October in order to ensure that we can do all we can to guarantee the safety of all involved.

  Furthermore, Hogwarts will be holding a HALLOWEEN BALL. All students in Fourth Year and above are invited to attend. Younger students will only be permitted if invited as a date by an older student. As this ball is only open to our older cohort, it is being held on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, to close the HARVEST FESTIVAL festivities in Hogsmeade. This means that the HALLOWEEN FEAST will go ahead as per tradition, on MONDAY, OCTOBER 31ST.

  As this ball is in the spirit of Halloween, we are pleased to encourage costumes to be worn. Students may prefer to simply wear traditional Wizarding dress robes, and they are at their liberty to do so if they please, but we look forward to you all embracing the spirit of the holiday and dressing up. NOTE: costumes that cause danger to any other patrons or oneself will not be permitted—for instance, any repeats of the “flaming volcano” attempt of 1964 will be turned away, with any and all involved students being promptly assigned detention.

   Tomorrow, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, is the only Hogsmeade weekend prior to the ball (as Hogsmeade stores will all be shut during the Harvest Festival in order for all the villagers to participate in the celebration of the autumnal harvest), so that may bear keeping in mind for any students who wish to prepare a costume or anything else for the ball. Your Head Students, James Potter and Lily Evans, are available to assist with any queries you may have, as are your Heads of Houses.

  Heads of Houses will also be responsible for running optional dance lessons. It is at the discretion of the Head of each House and their prefectship team as to how these are run and whether they are compulsory or not; further information will be posted in your common room.

  We hope you are as excited as we are—mark your calendars and prepare to embrace the Halloween spirit. For it is important to remember, even when there is terror, pain and darkness in our world, there is also always light and friendship to be found. We look forward to coming together as a community to celebrate the Harvest and Halloween, and hope you do as well.

YOU MAY BEGIN WRITING HOGSMEADE WEEKEND THREADS AND REACTIONS TO THE HALLOWEEN BALL ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE OOC DATE JULY 4TH. THE IC DATE FOR STUDENTS TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE HALLOWEEN BALL IS FRIDAY 7TH OCTOBER, THE DAY BEFORE THE HOGSMEADE WEEKEND. CHARACTERS MAY REACT TO THIS IN THE FORM OF LAST MINUTE CHANGES TO THEIR HOGSMEADE PLANS, FOR INSTANCE.