Welcome to a new school year, Gryffindor! Here's your first Owl Post of the year to kick things off. Have a great year. smile.gif
Contents:
1. A New Gryffindor Year!
2. Welcome to New Students
3. Board Updates
4. Start of Term
5. Class Signups
6. House Meeting
7. Gryffindor Summer Camp
8. The Summer Quidditch League
9. Gryffindor Quidditch Team Tryouts
10. Spice Squad Tryouts
11. Paw Print Applications
12. Studious Un-Relenting Nerd
13. Become a Point Hoarder-Today!
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1. A New Gryffindor Year!
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Professor Ben Quaddler, Gryffindor's Deputy Head of House, wishes to welcome you all to a new school year. He also wishes you marshmallows:
"Once again we are excited to welcome in a new year. A warm welcome to new Gryffindors and many happy marshmallows to all our returning Gryffs! For those of you who were promoted up a year, congratulations on the reward for your hard work. Keep it up! For those of you who weren’t so lucky, another year is another chance to earn two quills.
This year of course we will be following a two-term system (a maximum of 300 points per term per class), and I would encourage everyone to pick their classes wisely. Be sure to consider whether you have time to commit before selecting a full load of five classes. Discuss past class experiences with your fellow Gryffindors too, if you would like some advice on which classes are good to take. However, we would hope that you put your best foot forward in your classes – after all, without a team effort we will not reach our goal of winning both the HOL and Quidditch Cups!
There have of course been many changes to our staff over the holidays, so expect to be saying hello to some new Gryffindor Professors and Prefects. Be sure to make them feel at home with a traditional Gryffindor welcome, too.
So good luck to all of you, and good health for the upcoming year – we hope to see you active and making the most of it!"
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2. Welcome to New Students
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To all new Gryffindor students, a warm and hearty welcome!
We believe that our Common Room is a great place, and we invite you to come and enjoy all it has to offer – make yourselves at home. You’ll find many Gryffies who are willing to discuss almost anything from the wildest HP-related theories to role-playing to music and most importantly are exceedingly friendly. So come join in the conversations, because we don’t bite (note: there are a few exceptions to the “no biting” rule, but we haven’t had any serious biting sprees in at least a month). As long as you have a positive attitude and are prepared to keep the talk appropriate, we’re confident that you will fit on superbly.
The Gryffindor attitude to life can probably be best described as excitable, enthusiastic and slightly insane (the good kind of abnormal). However, we believe in respecting our fellow Gryffindors and HOLers – please remember this, as while we expect the occasional burst of nuttiness, we also expect you to respect your fellow Gryffs.
Of important note are our Prefects who toil tirelessly keeping our House active and earning points for the HOL cup (which we desperately want to win this year). Our Prefects are approachable, but are also extremely busy dealing with rabid, transifigured mushrooms and the leaking faucets in Boris the Sock’s bathroom (we suspect Humfrey B may be involved). A quick note that you should take heed of: check out the Gryffindor FAQ and the HOL handbook before asking Prefects questions that might already be answered.
While we would love to greet every first year personally, the sheer number of Gryffindors who join each year makes this task all but impossible. Instead, you will find yourself sorted into a Den, led by a lovable and friendly Prefect: your Den Leader (if they are not lovable, we will whip them into lovableness). They are in charge of running Dens, which are places for us to hold monthly competitions and regular activities. Hopefully you’ll have fun in your Den and maybe even meet a few new friends!
Finally, I would strongly encourage you to try out some of the many activities we have in Gryffindor: come join us on IRC at #gryffindor for a chat; try role-playing (read the rules first), consider joining a club, have a go botting or even playing quidditch, read and contribute to our House Paper (the Paw Print) or even have fun in our very addictive Arcade (I can personally vouch for the addictive power it has on you)!
There simply is so much to do in Gryffindor, and we hope you that you make the most of it. If you have any questions, remember that The Lion’s Mouth is the appropriate place to ask them. Feel free to send me a PM, even if it is to simply say hello or if you have any pressing concerns.
Professor Ben Quaddler
Gryffindor Deptuy Head of House
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3. Board Updates
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Guess what's back and better than ever? It's the Gryffindor Common Room! Thanks to your creature-busting Gryffindor staff, the CR has been reopened and students are now free to come and go as they please. It seems that recent trouble was caused by several creatures somehow finding their way into the CR and wreaking havoc on the place. After cleaning out a mess of troublesome pixies, several wild nifflers, a drunk gnome, Humfrey B, and some stray bagels, the CR is finally back and functioning.
If you do happen to experience some problems with the CR, be sure to let the staff know by posting in The Lion's Mouth. Otherwise, feel free to go nuts and starting posting on the forum again. Just make sure you don't spam, or else you might find yourself under a certain prefect's whip faster than you can say, "oooh, can I play?"
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4. Start of Term
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The 2006-2007 HOL school year will be starting on September 1st. There's still seventeen days left until the new term begins, so be sure to use this time to empty your heads of last year's lessons to make room for the new ones. Also, before term starts, make sure to sign up for your classes. (More on this in the next announcements).
Once the term begins, you'll soon see announcements about many different clubs and activities to join. Getting involved in different groups is a great way to stay active and make friends (not to mention drink free butterbeer biggrin.gif), so be sure to try something new this year.
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5. Class Signups
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Beginning on August 15th, you can start signing up for your new classes. This year's list of available classes can be found here. Be sure to sign up as early as possible since some classes may only have a limited number of seats available. Also, please keep in mind that you're only allowed to sign up for 5 classes in a single term. If you take any one-term classes, you'll be able to sign up for the same number of new classes for the second term once the first term ends.
To graduate and move onto the next school year, you'll need to earn a total of 2 quills for the entire year. Each class you pass will earn you 1 quill, so make sure to keep up with your homework and earn your points.
Signing Up For Classes In 3 Easy Steps:
1. Log into your HOL Office
2. Click on the "Sign-Up for Classes" at the bottom of the "MY HOL OFFICE" menu on the right side
3. Locate the classes that you want to take and click the "Sign-Up" link in the left column
The following is a list of classes taught by a Gryffindor professor or student teacher. While there are no added benefits or bonuses for taking a Gryffindor-taught class, your professor or student teacher might just reward you with a bottle of butterbeer or a nice cookie if you sign up for what they're teaching. *g*
Animal Magic (Prof. Pezzie Wolfe)
Around the World: A Study of Geography (Johnathan Myrie)
Battling the Dark Arts (Moiraine Lee)
Cryptanalysis (Prof. Siobhan McTavish)
Defence Against the Dark Arts (Prof. Ben Quaddler)
Egyptian Kings and Queens (Prof. Hatshepsut Nahyan)
Greek Mythology (Lily Padfoot)
Healing Herbology - Nature's Poisons (Prof. Aislynn Willow)
History of Magic (Missa Matz)
Muggle Flight (Prof. Joshua Lorris)
Practical World Domination (Prof. Ben Quaddler)
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6. House Meeting
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It's almost time for another Gryffindor House Meeting, everyone's favorite monthly event! The first house meeting of the new school year will take place on Sunday, September 10th at 9 PM HOL (4 PM EST). Attending the meeting will provide you with many important announcements and updates, as well provide you with as much butterbeer as you can drink and the opportunity to see Gryffindor's dHoH get pushed into the lake (but shhhh, don't tell Prof. Ben that!).
As always, meetings are held in the IRC channel #gryffhousemeeting. For those of you who aren't sure how to use IRC, please read the HOL Handbook. Attendance is not mandatory, but it's very appreciated. Logs of the meeting will be placed on gryff.net for your viewing pleasure at a later time. For students who have never attended a house meeting before, you can also find the house meeting Rules of Conduct on gryff.net. Be sure to follow the rules or no cookies for you!
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7. Gryffindor Summer Camp
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Due to the start of term approaching and a sudden depletion in the butterbeer supplies (how'd we run out of butterbeer so quickly, anyway?), the Gryffindor Summer Camp is closing its tent flaps for the summer. This year's camp was a bit short-lived due to unexpected sailing difficulties, but look for the pirating insanity to continue long after the ships pull into their docks. Also, come say your final farewells to the GSC in this thread.
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8. The Summer Quidditch League
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HOL's Summer Quidditch League is more than halfway over, but it's not too late to catch some of the fiery quidditch action. The Chudley Cannons and Kenmare Kestrals are currently the most dominant forces in the league, but don't count out the other teams yet! There's still 2 weeks of matches remaining, so be sure to watch the last two league games, as well as the SQL Champion Play-off, the concluding match of the summer! The SQL schedule can be found here.
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9. Gryffindor Quidditch Team Tryouts
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If you've ever wanted to play on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and help bring the glory to our house, then now's your chance! Starting next month, you'll have the opportunity to try out for the team and earn a place on the elite GQT. If you're interested, Missa Matz has posted more information regarding tryouts in the Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts 2006/2007 thread on the CR.
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10. Spice Squad Tryouts
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The Gryffindor Spice Squad is ready to cheer up a storm and they want YOU to help them! The Spice Squad is Gryffindor's very own cheerleading squad. Not only does this very talented group of cheerleaders help gather everyone's attention and raise their excitement during quidditch matches, but they also promote house spirit around Gryffindor. If you're interested and you think you have what it takes to join this dedicated squad of cheerleaders, Jessica Summers has posted more information regarding tryouts in the Spice Squad Tryouts thread on the CR.
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11. Paw Print Applications
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Paw Print, Gryffindor's Newspaper Magazine type thingy, will once again be accepting applications for the coming year. At this time, they are looking for 4-6 individuals to be added to staff, a layout designer, and a permanent Tea Leaves columnist.
Application information will be posted in the Announcements section of the common room within three days of it being back up and running. Please make sure to check out the extremely detailed topic once it is posted for the application process and information.
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12. Studious Un-Relenting Nerds
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Are you studious? Are you un-relenting? Are you a nerd? If you answered yes to these questions, especially the last one, then Gryffindor has just the thing for you! Presenting... SUN! Also known as Studious Un-Relenting Nerds, SUN is a collection of Gryffindor study groups all aimed at helping you with your homework and improving your grades. To learn more about joining or starting a study group, read the SUN FAQ located here.
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13. Become a Point Hoarder-Today!
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The following is a non-profit public announcement approved by the Gryffindor staff and sponsored by butterbeer, lonely socks, and the number 6:
Gryffindor is a house that is well known for producing hardworking, overachieving, insomniac students who earn points by the truckload. These fine students, these praised, adored, and worshipped students, are known by the elite and coveted name of "Point-Hoarder". There is no honor greater than being one of the top point earners in Gryffindor in any given month. By taking five classes a term and doing all of your homework and extra credit assignments each month, you'll be sitting at the top of the point earning charts with the rest of Gryffindor's great Point-Hoarders in no time. You can even earn more points by participating in HOL-wide contests and competitions. It's not hard to do, so become a Point-Hoarder today!
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--Owl Post Staff