Hello, dear Gryffies! Welcome to the latest edition of Gryffindor's Owl Post. Grab some butterbeer and cheesecake to celebrate the beginning of another school year at HOL, but look carefully at whatever you pick to eat or drink, in case Humfrey B., the boggart, decided to play any pranks :o

Before we begin the usual updates, we would like to inform the newbies (and remind the oldbies) that the c-word is not allowed in the Common Room, be it on the forum (where it would be censored), or in the #Gryffindor channel (where you'd be automatically kicked). Why? Because Gryffindors aren't c-word! D:

Contents
  1. Point Status Check
  2. HOL Challenge
  3. Random Point Opportunities
  4. Classes Taught by Gryff Profs
  5. Promotions
  6. Dens
  7. September Den Challenge
  8. The Gryffindor Drama Club
  9. The Gryffindor Cheerleaders
  10. September House Meeting


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1. Points
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Yes, our usual obsession! If this is not your first year at HOL, then you know the frustration inflicted by being in the third place. If you are a first year, you might be wondering "Why only third? o_O". Indeed, my Inner Eye is currently looking at the giant hourglasses and it's telling me that even if we are not too many points away from other houses, we -are- first right now. You might be thinking it is enough to just earn a few more points to be even more ahead of the others. WRONG!

This is where the house multiplier comes into play. And being's a lot of students get sorted into Gryffindor, but few of them actually earn points for our house, the multiplier works to our disadvantage. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to re-read the "House Multiplier" section of the handbook.

Anyway, we most certainly do not want to -lose- any house points due to misbehaviour, so we *cough* recommend *cough* that if you haven't done this already although you were supposed to *grumblegrumble*, you should read the handbook, the Gryffindor FAQ (although it might require some polishing because it hasn't been used in a while, it explains a lot of things that you need to know to have a nice life at HOL), these Board and IRC rules, and this welcome note. So what if you might happen to read the same thing twice? As long as the information gets into your head, it's all good *nods*. And remember, if you have a question, check the handbook and FAQ first, to see if it's covered, before asking a staff member. Rumour has it that prefects don't like it when they're asked something that has already been answered ^_^ *whipping sound*

But enough rambling about reading rules (Although. Do it if you haven't. Now! D:). The main point of this is to threaten encourage you to work hard, so that we can cover the horrible disadvantage our dear multiplier will give us as soon as it starts working. Do your homework, cubs! *shooes*

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2. HOL Challenge
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This year, HOL is bringing us a challenge that sounds quite promising on the fun part \o/, and has already had a great number of teams compete in 2003. This is also a good chance for you to make a new friend or strengthen bonds with an older one. Details can be found here. Apparently there aren't any house points involved, but it still looks like a nice opportunity to use your imagination, compete and have a blast at the same time. So for everyone who signed up or is planning to do so, enjoy yourselves! ^.^

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3. Random Point Opportunities
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Besides the points you can earn in classes, there are many other ways to earn points around HOL. Those are usually offered by the HOL Library and HOL Art departments.

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4. Classes Taught by Gryff Profs
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If you haven't signed up for classes yet, a big part of them might still accept students. We warmly recommend the classes taught by Gryffindor professors. For no other reason except that they're all cool like that XD

So if any of these sound interesting to you, don't hesitate to sign up. And remember that your teachers love you, but please do not bribe them too obviously.

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5. Promotions
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Gryffindor would like to present to you the brave members who have recently become staff. Please bug them with questions give a warm welcome to Brenna Westfeld, Cyriel Aurorus, Marie Thenes and Zenix James. They are now proud owners of a Junior Prefect whip and some of them have already been taken to the dungeons *gasp*

Also, joining the ranks of prefecthood are Ilona Littrell and Joanne Grey. You might see them walking around ensuring mayhem and chaos order and silence in the Common Room and random broom closets halls. Sadly due to real life obligations, prefect Jessica Summers has stepped down.

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6. Dens
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This year, we offer you three dens instead of the usual four. This is to test if the den leaders can manage to handle a bigger bunch of insane Gryffindors and keep things running smoothly with random objects flying around their heads *nods*. Rest assured, you are about to be the victim of a prank safe in their hands.

The dens are Lunatic Leopards (led by Jenny Lupin and Zenix James), Paranoid Panthers (led by Jessica Summers Cyriel Aurorus and Ben Ackerman) and Twisted Tigers (led by Katie Potter and Brenna Westfeld). If you have been sorted into a den only recently, please allow a few days for the den leader to PM you the password. If you are already in the safety and comfortableness (yes, we know that is not a real word, but comfort doesn't sound fancy enough to our ears at the moment) of your den, have fun meeting the other members and making friends, because this is what being in a den is actually about. And don't forget to unite and come up with ideas for the den challenges in order to compete with the other dens ;D

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7. September Den Challenge
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As you probably noticed, this month's den challenge has been posted quite a while ago. Participate and use your imagination, but make sure you do that before September 26th, because that is the deadline for den leaders to send the submissions. For more details about the den challenge, click here.

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8. The Gryffindor Drama Club
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The Drama Club will open sign-ups for new members soon. If you are eager to have fun and be in one of our IRC plays, don't hesitate to join. And don't worry, the rabid squirrel doesn't bite much. Keep an eye out for odd people who walk funny, you never know which one is going to hiddenly post an announcement about the Drama Club! :o

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9. The Gryffindor Cheerleaders
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The Gryffindor Cheerleaders, a.k.a. the Spice Girls, are now accepting new members. If you have the Gryffindor spirit in you, if you can write cheers, and even better, if you can also make it to the GQT's Quiddy games, then you might want to consider becoming a cheerleader! These nice, cheery students help keep the fire burning in our lovely Common Room (no, we don't mean that literally, or the house-elves would be offended that their jobs are being stolen). Click here to find out how you can become member of the Spice Girls or of the Special Spirit Squad (or both :D)

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10. September House Meeting
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We hope you didn't miss out monthly house meeting. But if you did, don't worry, you can find the log somewhere around here by the end of the month, along with a bunch of house meetings from past years. If you missed September's but are planning to attend next month's meeting, make sure you first take a look at the rules of conduct.

And that concludes this edition of the Owl Post. Tune in next time, for more insanity news.