The Hogwarts Pensieve - Halloween Edition

As I sit here in my spinny chair, staring out the window at all the lovely leaves on the trees, all of which are now gorgeous shades of yellow, orange, red and brown, there can be no doubt it’s that time of year for overlarge sweatpants and sweatshirts, hot apple cider, pumpkins and apple picking. The very smell of fall is in the air, and with that comes Halloween.

Now, I don’t know exactly who it was who decided that people be required to hand out free candy to passing children, but whoever it is, I’m eternally grateful. As someone who never has candy anywhere in their house normally, Halloween gives me a sugar rush for the whole next month as I chow down on all the candy I’ve acquired, which is a lot given I live in a tiny town, on a road with only one other house, so no one ever comes down here, meaning we never give any of our candy out, and I can take some whenever I want! *insert evil sugar high laugh here*

Not to mention, I’ve found my mom’s secret hiding place for this year’s candy stash so I’ve been very subtly (aka ninja style) stealing candy every so often over the past week.

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but Halloween has snuck up on me and found me quite unprepared. Not only did we just get our Halloween decorations up around the house last week (everything from ghosts to gravestones and skeletons), I just picked out a pumpkin and still haven’t figured out what I’m planning on carving. Though to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything but a “scary” (*cough cough*) face on mine as I’m quite incompetent at doing any sort of artistic thing, nevertheless on a 3D object, so if the pattern holds, it will just be an unimpressive face again. I sincerely wish I was one of those awesome people who make those elaborate pumpkin carvings.

And perhaps worst of all, I don’t even have a Halloween costume at the ready. My friends and I usually do a group costume together but this year it seems we’re all just too busy to get that done. It looks that I might go the Charlie Brown route and just throw a white blanket over my head…as long as I’m not getting rocks I’ll be happy.

Before I bore you all to tears, I will be taking my leave. Enjoy this Halloween edition of the Pensieve and have a Happy, Scary, Candy-Filled Halloween!



That's right HEers, it's time again for the one and only HE gossip column and while we haven't had one in a while, I've scraped up some juicy scoops for you. Trust me, you wouldn't believe half off the stuff I've heard recently. But honest to hippo, I've given you only the best and most important gossip there is around HE.

Raistlin the Wizard, otherwise known as our headmaster, has recently been involved in some sketchy behavior. After following him sneakily for weeks, I came to this startling conclusion. The headmaster wishes to replace Bobbinna the hippo as our mascot with a giant Fluffybear named Rai! I know, I didn't think it was possible either, but sadly, it's the truth. We'll need to stand up to him if we don't want to see our lovely hippo go. When asked for comment, he responded, "And this is news? I've always wanted that blasted hippo gone."

MarieC is a loyal Hufflepuff... or is she? We all know that Marie is the second head of Hufflepuff, but I'm afraid the Hufflies are dealing with a disloyal second head. While out to dinner, she let slip to a friend. "I'd transfer to Ravenclaw, if I could." Color me shocked as well. Seems no one is as loyal as they seem. She refused making a comment to me and also cancelled our date when asked about this.

Samantha Granger seems to be up to mysterious deeds as well. Last I saw of her she was bent over a text book, studying a certain unforgivable curse that allows you to control people. The reason? Word on the street is that she plans on forcing Rai to make her deputy headmistress. She claims she just wants to help, but I'll let you decide if that's the case.

Ever wonder how Katie, better known as amortentia773, gets all those homework assignments done? Well, I uncovered the answer and let me tell you, it's not pretty. I caught her red handed, or should I say I caught them red handed? That's right, Katie has made clones of herself! This way she can do everything and be everywhere at once. When asked for comment on this, she denied all of it. However, I have pictorial proof! Unfortunately, such proof got chewed up by my pet kitten. Keep your eyes out folks, if you can catch Katie and her clones together I'll award you 75 HP.

Our long lost HE owl has returned as of late. Caroru claims she was gone because of computer problems, but after extensive stalking research, I have found the truth. The truth is... she's been visiting other Harry Potter sites! Yes, our owl has gone behind our back and joined numerous other sites in the hope of becoming the owl of every HP site on the web. When asked for a comment, she said, "But I am the best owl a site could have. Don't be selfish, Bambi. Let me share the awesomeness."

In all the hours I've spent sneaking around, I also discovered that Sashi and stephy were up to a scheme of their own. It would seem that the two of them had planned to change everyone to Ravenclaw house and steal all of the points away for a Ravenclaw victory to exceed any other. "All of the other houses would have zero points," stephy explained to me. "We'd win by an unheard of margin." Luckily, now that I've got this information out, we can stop the horrors of house-napping from happening.

Not to be left out are the mysterious workings of second head of Slytherin, violetriddle. Although she's been busy working on her scheme, I followed her and found the truth. A drafted copy of a petition to allow bunnies as pets in Hogwarts... okay, so this one wasn't as evil as I thought it was. When asked about it, she proudly stood up and told me, "Ria has bunnies. I think he'd let bunnies in here too." And erm- well, that's all there is to this story. She's probably right.

On that note, I take my leave. Until next time, keep an eye out because you never know who is going to be caught up in the newest HE secrets.



Every one of us has had different reasons for joining the Hogwarts Experience, whether we wanted to meet new people, were dragged on it by old friends or just wanted to actually try and experience Hogwarts as well as one can do on the internet. However, we all have one point in common behind our reasons of joining, and that reason is a love of the Harry Potter series.

I was in sixth grade, and so eleven years old, when I first found out about the series, back in 2000. By then, the fourth book had only just come out, and our teacher had decided to read us the books in class - she got through all of the first three, and made it a few chapters into the fourth by the time the year was over. Obviously, I soon rushed to the library and picked it up for myself, and since then I've been hooked. It was only a year later that the first movie then hit the big screen, reaching out to even more fans who'd either not heard of the books (though quite popular in many countries by that point, it was not necessarily as well known in other places) or hadn't felt the interest to read them.

The Harry Potter fandom only grew from that moment on, with every new book and every new movie that came out, introducing a lot of people to their very first attendance of midnight showings or releases. When Deathly Hallows came out in 2007, there was a great deal of anticipation, but also sadness among the fans. It was the very last time they would line up at the local book store for a Harry Potter book, and everything would be over - the story would be coming to a close. However, it didn't necessarily bring along a real sense of closure - after all, the movies were still not done, were they? We still had that to look forward to.

And now, last summer has brought along the real ending to the Harry Potter era. On July 15th 2011, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released to the theater, and few are those who did not leave the movies feeling a slight sense of loss. After all, the majority of us grew up with the books - and in a sense, the books grew up with us, starting as more of a children series, and gradually becoming darker as its main readers gained in age as well. It's a strange feeling, knowing that there is no longer any books to look forward to, no more movies to eagerly wait for.

However, I don't think it's really the end - at least, it won't be for as long as we don't want it to be. There'll always be time to pick up the first book and re-read the entire series, or time to sit down with friends and go crazy with a full Harry Potter movie marathon - or even just time to come and pay a visit to our very own Hogwarts Experience, where we can just discuss every plot line and character as fiercely and passionately as if we'd only just discovered them, because true fans always feel the passion. And there'll always be more things to look forward to - Pottermore for one, J.K. Rowling's newest idea for the fandom, which will allow an interactive experience all through the books, and there's always hope for more projects out of the famous writer, such as The Tales of Beedle the Bard, or who knows, maybe someday we'll actually have access to books such as Hogwarts: A History.



For all of us novelists out there, National Novel Writing Month is quickly approaching, and if you know what’s best, you’ve probably already started doing your finger pushups and wrist exercises to prevent all the hand cramps you possibly can. For any of you who are not familiar with NaNo, it’s a program where hundreds of thousands of writers and aspiring writers dedicate their whole month of November to writing a 50,000 word novel, no easy feat in just a month for many people. Nevertheless, the valiant NaNo writers work tirelessly night and day despite the many other things happening in their life to complete their novel.

While some find the goal quite within their reach, other people struggle to remain on top of the word count, there can be no doubt that every one of us swims the Sea of Inspiration, climbs the Midway Mountains and fights off the guilt monkeys on the way to conquer NaNo.

HE has quite a few members who already take part in NaNo, but I encourage anyone who loves to write, or just wants a challenging goal this coming month, to stop by the National Novel Writing Month site and consider joining the fun. Whether you have an idea for a novel, or not, NaNo is the place for any lovers of writing. And never fear, there are plenty of ways to help keep you at the top of your game, from group writing sessions with other members in your area, online writing sessions with competitions to see who can write the most words in the time period, and of course, pep talks on the site to keep your motivated.

I hope that many of you consider being a part of National Novel Writing Month this November, and best of luck to you all!

30 days, 50,000 words: I hope you’re ready!



Ah, Halloween… when young wizard's hearts turn to… no not love (geez), it isn’t Valentine’s Day. Halloween is when our hearts turn to candy… lots and lots of candy.

While our very own Pensive staff lounged around the tower reading and eating candy… I mean *cough* *ducks as staff members throw wads of paper* *cough* while the staff busily got their articles ready for the new edition, the chatter turned to talk of various Halloween traditions.

“If people come to our house we chuck candy at them…” exclaimed Stephy, as candy went flying through the air toward Vi. “Well maybe not throw it at them but they get candy,” she giggled as Vi caught the candy in the air and chucked it back.

“I'm looking forward to having children so that I can dress up and go trick or treating with them, and listen to people awwww and ooooh over how adorable they are,” Marie chimed in as she twirled her wand and covered Amber in Sour Patch Kids.

Rolling my chair closer to Amber so that I could snatch a few Sour Patch Kids (I figured there were more than enough, seeing as the only bit of her I could see poking out from the giant pile was the scowl on her face as she stuck her tongue out at Marie), I stuffed my mouth full, and then turned my attention to Katie.

“I know I’m too old now, but my friends and I act like little kids, so we still go out every year,” Katie said as she shielded herself from the Sour Patch Kids war that was going on between Amber and Marie.

“Last year we were an ice cream sundae (I was the Hershey’s syrup), the year before we all spelled out the word “Booo!”, and the year before that we were each a different type of candy,” as Katie finished her sentence, a cease fire was called, and Marie and Amber used their wands to clean all the sugar off of one another… and then Amber swiftly tackle-hugged Marie into the giant pile of candy that had accumulated.

Sashi looked up from her article long enough to chime in (she was the only one who actually appeared to be working) “I went to a Halloween party last year. It was my first, and it was fun! No trick or treats, but we had dress up. I dressed as a violinist doll. I always wanted to be a doll when I was young.”

As we all contemplated the cuteness of Sashi dressed like a doll, Rai (somehow sensing the cute thoughts) poked his head into the room.

“What is with the mess! Someone clean all of that candy up right now!”

“Oooo, I know what Rai should be for Halloween! Let me get you a little maid outfit! And then you can clean the mess yourself!” yelled Marie, as everyone burst into fits of giggles.

“Everyone who wants to see our dear Headmaster in a little maid outfit this Halloween raise their hands!” chimed in Amber as everyone’s hands punched the air as one.

Glaring around the room and mumbling something about “rueing the day,” and “house points,” Rai took his leave, and your brave Pensive staff, unable to control the laughter, dove into the piles of candy that had magically accumulated during the all the chatter.



If you haven't lived under a rock since 2008, there's a good chance that you've heard of a little series known as Twilight. Twilight mania swept the globe after the first movie came out and suddenly Robert Pattinson was the hottest guy around. Not a place went untouched by the Twilight madness and this includes our very own Hogwarts Experience. We had a whole forum devoted to the Twilight series. Graphics all around the site were being made for the series, speculations about Breaking Dawn were happening left and right and a good portion of the site read the book together even, commenting chapter by chapter on the last Twilight novel. And then, almost out of nowhere, I come back to the same people who had been hosting Twilight chat quizzes and making graphics, posts and claiming Twilight characters, suddenly hating the series.

It wasn't just around H.E. either, the more popular the series grew, the more I noticed the Harry Potter fandom taking a decidedly anti-Twilight stance. Hate started popping up all over the place from those who once raved about the series, mocking and laughing about the books they'd read more than once. Media started pitting Harry Potter against Twilight and the fans were quick to follow. I suddenly got the memo that you couldn't like both Harry Potter and Twilight. You had to pick a side and the side should be the Harry Potter side. Crazy comparisons started popping up; people were comparing Bella to Hermione (in a bad way for Bella), Jacob to Lupin (not surprisingly, again, bad for Jacob) and Edward to every vampire there ever was (you can guess the outcome of this). People tried to compare Harry Potter and Twilight by saying that it was apples to apples.

News flash everyone: Harry Potter and Twilight are not the same. They can't be compared properly on that scale because it's apples to oranges. What is the main premise of Harry Potter? Small, orphaned boy finds out that he's a wizard and must defeat the most evil wizard of all time. If this were a movie needing a genre, I'd put it into the action and adventure category first and fantasy second. Now, let's look at Twilight. Normal girl finds herself falling in love with a vampire and must choose if her love is worth the danger of her family and possibly her own life. If I had to pick a genre for that, I'd pick romance first and foremost, then fantasy, then action. The two series are too different to be compared in any such terms. So people need to stop making direct comparisons. There is Harry Potter, think of it what you will. There is Twilight, think of it what you will. Don't try to put them side by side.

You do not have to pick between Harry Potter and Twilight. It is perfectly okay to like both Harry Potter and Twilight. I like them both and I think we'd do better to stop hating on something because it's popular, or worse, because other people hate it too. So, stop the Twilight hate. Also, I'll take this time to suggest we bring back our Twilight forum so that when I reread the books and so that when other members read the books, we will know that here at HE, we can proudly support Harry Potter and Twilight.



As we reach that time of year filled with holiday after holiday meaning event after event, mixed with the recent new activity on HE that’s resulted in almost more opportunities to earn points than I can keep up with, there’s no doubt that the race for the House Cup this term is going to be a close one. While the Gryffindors are hoping to win for the third year in a row, they might be finding it a little more difficult this term than in the past. The Slytherins, led by Rai, are determined to do anything (including sabotage, I’m sure of it) to keep the Gryffindors from winning again. Hufflepuff House is yearning for the glory they’ve been denied for so long, and the Ravenclaws are fighting for a place in the competition as well.

Let’s just take a quick moment to look at where the House Points Standings are currently. By a surprise maneuver by Raistlin, the Slytherins have passed the Gryffindors for first place with 10,427 house points; leading for their house is Second Head of House violetriddle, with 4,956 points. Not far behind in second place, Gryffindor currently has 9,577 points; Second Head of House Samantha Granger is currently leading the house with 4,606 points. Trailing behind, Hufflepuff ranks in third with 8,682 points; Head of House amortentia773 is leading, with 5,117 points. Finally, Ravenclaw is placed in fourth place with 6,780 points; leading for their house is Second Head of House Rigby Dumbledore, with 3,047 points.

As you can see, the standings are quite close, with only a couple thousand points standing between the Houses and first place. It should be quite interesting to see how each house fairs in all the upcoming events and who will come out on top. Regardless of who wins, it will be a term filled with tough competition, so best of luck to all the Houses, and I know we’re all secretly rooting for Hufflepuff domination this year!


Few are the children, or grown ups for that matter, who do not know of or love Disney. Many of us grew up with the magic of those movies, and the tradition just keeps getting passed down to the younger generations as more and more novelties come out, whether in collaboration with Pixar studios for latest movies like Up, Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, or just by going with the good old fairy tales with The Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Winnie the Pooh. Nowadays, when those movies hit the theaters, the audience finds itself filled with young adults, teenagers and grown ups as much as little children. And with the new era of 3D movies, it's not only the new that we want to see, but the old as well.

The release of The Lion King in 3D this past month may have been many things - a strategical move by the company by accompanying it, a few weeks later, with the actual Blu-Ray and DVD release, or maybe just another way of making more money. For all of those who ran to the nearest movie theater to relive moments of childhood, however, it was simply more magic. I belong to a generation that mostly grew up watching Disney classics - Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and obviously, The Lion King. I, however, knew these movies on VHS only. As a child, it made little difference what quality I was watching the movie in or what size screen it was showing on. And now, as a twenty-two year old, I can honestly say I enjoy rewatching all my Disney movies on tapes as much as on DVD or on the big screen. However, the latter option offered to me as much magic as the plain VHS did when I was a child.

Is it a marvel of 3D technology? No, it's not. It was not made that way - it belongs to a time where animation movies were first drawn, then animated, and so its 2D nature makes it hard to give a proper depth that we recall from the very first 3D movies to ever come out. The effects won't have you reaching out to try and touch a waterfall, or moving around in your seat from fright of being crumpled during the stampede scene. At most, the perception of distance is what has been highlighted by making the movie into a 3D experience, and so is it necessarily worth paying more, or even just paying a movie ticket when the DVD is gonna cost maybe twice as much but stay with you for a much longer time? Maybe not for everyone. For people who aren't fan of Disney movies, or this particular movie, they won't find themselves blown away by its renewal - they'll actually probably wonder why in the world they wasted over ten dollars to see it. Even some hardcore fans might be slightly disappointed, after hearing all the hype and raising their expectations.

Personally, I didn't care. The 3D, to me, was a mere addition, not the main point of why I was going. I went to relive a moment of my childhood, to feel the magic again, because that's what Disney movies should be all about. I felt happy as I watched it (except for the stampede scene - I can shamelessly admit that I cried like a baby) and that was the feeling I was looking for when I headed over and payed to see a movie that I'd seen dozens of times before.

The Lion King's time in theaters is coming to an end, or simply over, mostly everywhere. For those of you who wanted to go see it and missed you chance, there's always the DVD option - if you adore this movie as I do, you really don't need the 3D to enjoy as you did before (you didn't need it as a child after all, did you?). And if you're really feeling bummed out, perk up - this will not have been your one and only chance to see an old Disney movie on the big screen. Due to the immense popularity of this release, the Disney studios have announced four more movies to follow suit in the next two years. Coming this January 13th 2012, Beauty and the Beast will be found on the big screens, followed by Finding Nemo on September 14th 2012, Monsters Inc. on January 18th 2013 (mention: Monsters University, a prequel to the original, will also be coming out in 3D on June 21st 2013) and finally, The Little Mermaid on September 13th 2013.



My latest read came from one of the movies I saw this summer - titled The Help. After seeing it in the theater, I headed over to a bookstore to kill time before the next movie I'd been seeing that day (something called Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows Part 2, I don't think many of you have heard of it ) and just so happened to fall upon the book from which the movie had been inspired. Having loved the big screen version so much, I couldn't help but grab and buy it, wanting to fill in gaps and learn more details. To me, reading a book on which a movie has been based *after* seeing said movie is always like adding to the story. It's like gaining even more information than what I saw, like a bonus version, and that's why I much prefer reading books after seeing the movie, rather than the other way around, which in return makes me feel cheated out of some favorite parts.

Getting off track though - back to the book. I loved it, plain and simple. It was touching, shocking, it bothered me and it amused me at the same time. For those of you who have neither read the book nor seen the movie (run to the bookstore or make a line until the DVD release, it's really worth it), the story takes place in the small town of Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, and is told by the point of view of three very different women - Aibileen and Minny, two African American maids with rather conflicting temperaments, though it doesn't stop them from being best friends, and Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan, an ambitious white girl who'd rather find a job than get married. They are brought together by a desire to change things and show what life is really like down in the South for African Americans, at a time when contact between white and black people had to be reduced to professional contact only (with, obviously, white people as the superior).

Kathryn Stockett, the author of this novel, was partly inspired by her own life story - hailing from the city of Jackson, where she was raised by her African American domestic worker rather than by her own mother, she then moved to New York City to work in publishing, reflecting Skeeter's side of the story. The similarities between the author and character, I feel, always brings something more to a novel - though Stockett was born in 1969, and so probably didn't fully experience racism quite as much as Skeeter did, her childhood was obviously enough to put in her a desire to show things the way they were. I'm not saying this book is based on a true story, nor does it claim to be. However, in spite of its being a fiction novel, there's always that realism that can be felt all through every single page, and it's enough to keep you connected to everything that happens, the characters and the way they feel, whether you love them or hate them.

Really, this book is a bit like a good dose of reality. Not necessarily a reality we face every day anymore, but racism is definitely not entirely gone even nowadays. The Help can both make us feel proud about the way things have evolved, how much better rights are for people these days, but it can also provide us with the knowledge that there's still so much improvement that can be achieved. All in all, a great read with all the elements of a great book, and if you're not entirely sure about it, you can always start, like me, by watching the movie.



Few people who know me are unaware of my Taylor Swift obsession - to me, she's one of the best artists out there right now, not only because of her music and writing, but also because of her personality, the way she treats her fans, how humble and sweet she is in spite of her fame and how she doesn't forget where she came from. Her latest album, Speak Now, came out almost a year ago, and in a week sold over one million copies - and since January, she's been on the road touring the world with her band. The Speak Now World tour, once it ends on March 18th 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand, will have visited over seventy cities and lasted over a year, with the majority of its venues completely sold out (both Gillette Stadium dates, in Foxborough, MA, in less than two minutes).

I've had the luck of getting a very close look at the country sweetheart on July 14th in Montreal, by scoring pit passes, and though it was very hot and there was no room to sit (my feet and back had no feeling but pain afterward) it was totally worth it - who sits at a concert anyway? From the very first moment she appears on stage til the very end, the energy in the room is incredible, the screaming is practically non ending between the songs and the entire crowd joins in to sing along for every single song. One of the best parts about Taylor's shows, however, is the effort she puts in entertaining the crowd between the songs, by having little skits or dancing acts - the stage itself is made to remind of a theater.

She starts out the concert with the popular Sparks Fly (a song fan had heard back on the Fearless tour and loved so much that she ended up putting it on her new album), with Taylor rising up from the center of the stage, and incorporates both new songs and old favorites all through the show, pairing up Our Song with Mean and ending the night with Fifteen and Love Song - not to forget You Belong With Me. Practically every number of the new album is featured during the evening, and her North American dates have also included many surprises all through the tour, including covers of many songs from artists originating from the city visited at the time, and several special guests joining her on stage - Justin Bieber, Hot Chelle Rae, Jason Mraz, Hayley Williams, Tim McGraw and Ellen Degeneres, to name a few.

Although Taylor is still young (only twenty-one years old), she obviously knows what she's doing, and you have to really want to not like it to leave her concerts disappointed. From the moments when she talks to the crowd and expresses her happiness and greatfulness to be with them, to the fireworks and showers of sparkling confettis that wows everybody, there really isn't anything that isn't thought of or left out - and Taylor's personality shines through it all, from performing an entire night in the rain at the roofless Gillette Stadium to mere giggles during a wardrobe accident that caused her skirt to fly up. Her professionalism definitely equals the love she has for her fans and for what she does, and we can definitely expect a lot out of her in the upcoming years.

Taylor's next CD, though there is still no official date or title, should be coming out this next year, and if you haven't had a chance to see her perform live, you can always see her perform on your TV by buying the Speak Now Tour DVD and CD combo, which will be out this coming November 21st.



Outside the castle, raged the most violent storm Hogwarts had ever seen. Lightening illuminated the swollen lake as thunder clapped so loud it made the very foundation tremble.

A light could be seen flickering off the walls in the tiny room at the top of the tallest tower. Sheltered inside by their powerful anti-weather charms, a small group sat huddled around a jar of flames, planning their Headmaster’s demise.

“He took 100 points off me yesterday because he saw me smiling at another student,” raged Caitlin, as the others nodded their agreement.

“He tried to give me detention yesterday,” exclaimed Caro, “just for answering a question correctly in his class. He said I made him look bad, or something… I wasn’t really listening… but I had my wand out under my desk, and before he could get the whole sentence out, I made his chair collapse,” she giggled. “I slipped out the door while he was trying to get back up, and I haven’t seen him since.”

As the group roared with laughter, Katie quietly said “we really must do something, twice this week I have seen him reduce a first year to tears.”

“Listen, I have been thinking, and I have the perfect way to get revenge on old Fluffybear,” piped up Amber.

The girls all put their heads together to listen to Amber’s plan.

“Perfect,” giggled Samantha.

“Amazing,” laughed Marie.

“When do we get started?” asked Sashi.

Melly and Violet were laughing too hard to say anything.

The next day was Halloween, and the castle was alive with laughter and pranks. Headmaster Rai considered it a pretty good Halloween so far, as he headed down the hall toward his office. He had given 10 students detention, taken 150 points off Hufflepuff, 175 off Ravenclaw, 250 off Gryffindor, and had managed to award Slytherin 300 points. He had also made 3 first years cry and had confiscated a lot of really great joke shop items for his personal collection.

He took note, as he neared his office, that all laughter and conversation halted wherever he went. Satisfied that the students were showing him proper respect for once (not knowing they were actually plotting against him), he arrived at his office, and hissed his new password at the stone gargoyle guarding the door.

Little did our clueless foe know, that sly Violet sat just around the corner with an extendable ear, and heard his secret password. Sending her patronus off to notify the other girls of her success, she ran off to prepare for the next part of the plan.

The headmaster left his office and went down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Taking his place at the head of the table, he noticed there were a few empty staff seats, however, he didn’t think much of it when he remembered how many detentions he had given out. Smiling to himself at the thought of so many people missing out on the fun and the food, he settled into his throne, and set his raptor eyes on the students taking their seats.

Deciding that it was time to eat, Rai slowly eased out of his chair, and, looking around the room, whispered “silence.”

All conversation came to an immediate halt, and every eye in the room warily took in the headmaster.

“As you all know, I have a special appreciation for the gloominess of this holiday, however, I will not have any more of this happiness. There will be silence for the remainder of the feast, and the first person who makes the slightest sound will have detention for a month.”

Sitting back down with an evil grin, he allowed the food to be served.

As his favorite dishes began appearing before him, he stowed his wand inside his robes and began to eat. Suddenly, from the far corner of the hall, a great popping sound was heard, and an enormous shower of glitter began to fall towards the students.

Glancing up from his meal, there were suddenly so many glitter balloons popping everywhere that it sounded like machine gun fire.

Before the headmaster could get up or grab his wand, manacles appeared, binding his arms and legs to his chair.

Rai roared in disgust, as the students all jumped up and began dancing in the glitter, to the music that had begun bouncing off the walls.

After the glitter party had gone on for about an hour, with the headmaster seething in his chair the entire time, unable to reach his wand, the doors of the Great Hall burst open, and the missing staff members appeared (Caitlin and Caro had led off the dance party and were, at that moment, furiously and relentlessly sending glitter waves crashing against Rai’s chair).

Seeing the staff’s entrance, Rai bellowed for them to set him free and help restore order.

“When I find out who the students responsible for this were, they will be expelled immediately!” he yelled as Samantha, Katie, and Sashi rushed over to help him, while Marie, Amber, Melly, and Violet spread out among the students to stop the party.

Finally free of his glittery shackles, and satisfied that the staff would take charge, Rai stormed out of the Great Hall and thundered toward his office, not trusting himself around the students.

Barking his password at the gargoyle, he marched up the steps, and threw open the door to… well he wasn’t sure where he was exactly…

The moment he entered his office, he walked through a shimmery haze that seemed to paralyze him where he stood. The whole world suddenly looked pink and fluffy, like he was incarcerated in a giant marshmallow peep. Feeling the paralysis lift, he took a step forward, and sunk into the floor. Looking down, his eyes almost bugged out of his head, as he saw that he was standing on a vast field of pink clouds. The air shimmered pink and purple, and had a slight scent of lavender. Wondering where on earth he could possibly be, he strode forward into the mist, and faded from view.

“Ooooo look!” exclaimed Caro, “he seems to have found the ice cream castle,” she giggled and she passed the little snow globe over to Melly.

********

“And that, dear students, is where the snow globe that sits on the new Headmistresses' staff came from,” said Katie to her new group of Hufflepuff first years, as they sat in the Great Hall.

“Good morning,” sang Amber, and she smiled at them and waved her staff as she moved through the hall to take her seat.



Aries (March 21-April 19)
You’re almost out of clean socks; don’t bother washing any, they’ve all been stolen by Nargles. Don’t waste your time looking and just buy some new ones.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Here are the answers to the questions you keep asking yourself: yes, it’s all in your head, only half the time.

Gemini (May 21-June 21)
You’ll have an annoying song stuck in your head all day. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all.

Cancer (June 22-July 22)
Eat Chinese food and check your fortune. That’s all I have to say.

Leo (July 23-August 22)
Someone is trying to steal your cookies. Don’t take the bait. Just leave the cookies at home.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)
I see change coming in your future. Perhaps try checking behind the couch, under the cushions or in your sibling’s piggy bank.

Libra (September 23-October 23)
The Stain Fairy is coming for you. Don’t wear white. You’ve been warned.

Scorpio (October 24-November 21)
It’s never too early to just go back to bed…trust me. Go back to bed.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
Happiness may be just around the corner for you, but I fear you’re stuck in traffic. Hope you don’t mind walking.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Life is short. Sing everywhere you go today: in the shower, at work, at home, in the car, in the grocery store. Everywhere.

Aquarius (January 20-February 19)
The world is your oyster. Hope you’re not allergic to shell fish.

Pisces (February 20-March 20)
You’ll be receiving good news today. Congratulations, but check your “spam” folder just in case.



Calling all goblins, ghosts and ghouls! It's that time of year for everyone to show off their scariest, or geekiest, costumes, and everyone at the HE Pensieve would love to see them! To inspire everyone to go all out this year on their costumes, we'll be holding a Halloween Costume Contest. The winner will be voted on by the members of the Pensieve staff, and the winner will be featured in our next edition of the Pensieve as well as earn House Points!

To enter the contest, all you need to do is get a costume, take a picture of you in it, and send it in by PM to amortentia773 by Saturday, November 19. Late submissions will not be accepted! To see the requirements, please click on the picture above.

Some Parting Nonsense From Sam

As Halloween nears, all I can think about is my costume… and how I don’t have anywhere near enough time to finish it. I guess this is what I get for always wanting to put a costume together rather than buy the costumes that come in kits. But, I always think the adult costume kits are too slutty for whatever character I am dressing as. This year I am going to be Alice (as in Wonderland), and all the adult costumes are “sexy” Alice. First of all… ew… she is a little girl (a teenager at most, depending on what version of the story you like). Second of all, I am currently living somewhere that gets snow, and there is no way I am prancing around in 10-30 degree weather in a teeny tiny little dress. So until costume companies stop thinking like 19 year old frat boys, I am forced to try and put my own costume together from whatever I can scrounge up at the Goodwill.

I'm still not used to living in the snowy country land... nor am I used to only having to pay 3 or 4 dollars for a pumpkin. In the city this same sized pumpkin would be at least $10. So I bought a pumpkin about two weeks ago from a little girl off the back of her dad’s truck. It has been staring at me ever since, waiting impatiently to be turned into something awesome. I think I carved a haunted house into my pumpkin last year… but I don’t remember. Maybe I shall do a Harry Potter themed one this year. But I am not terribly skilled with the little carving tools. And then they always break, so I have to buy at least 3.

Oh, and I would have thought that living in a town surrounded by corn fields would mean there was a rockin corn field maze for Halloween... but no. I guess it would cut too much into their profits... which I understand... but boooooo

Anyway, enough of my rambling… I hope you all enjoyed our special Halloween edition!

Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe, and don’t forget to share your candy with me!! *nudge* *nudge*

~ Samantha Granger


Hello there, I am violetriddle. Most of you call me Vi, Violet, Lesley, Les, or in Ria’s case, VIOLET ANN RIDDLE!!! That’s when I know I’m either A) In trouble or B) Being forced to something against my will. I’m in my senior year of high school (to those who live in different countries that means it’s my last year of school unless I decide to go to college). I am the Second Head of Slytherin, which has always been my house of choice, and I am the Muggle Studies, History of Magic, SPS, and Transfiguration professor. The first class I ever done was Transfiguration and as you know, it has expanded. I’m not sure, but I think I have been a member for about 3 years. I think I came on the site during the second birthday of the HE. I was introduced by my best friend, magicguy93, who sadly, no longer comes on the site much. I have no idea how long I’ve been on the pensieve team, so I will say about a year or two. I usually do the graphics for the team (along with a few others who I think have disappeared). I love anything to do with history and I like to study it in my spare time, along with reading and playing with my dogs or other animals. I live in the USA, on a farm.


My name is Jayme, but I would be more known around here as Samantha Granger. I am a Gryffindor (woot!), and just got named co-second head of house. I teach Dark Arts Studies, Healer Studies (first I teach you how to hurt someone, then how to fix them up ), Divination and Ancient Runes (everyone go do some of my classes!). Technically, I have been a member of HE since August of 2007, but that was only for a short time, and then I disappeared until around October of 2010. Now HE can never escape me o_O I just joined the pensive team, so I have been a member of it since September of 2011. In my spare time (when I'm not working, doing homework, or hanging out on HE) I dabble in photography, am obsessed with books, and tend to obsess over particular television shows *cough* Farscape *cough*. Basically, I am a huge nerd face. I currently live in the U.S. In the middle of the country. Surrounded by cows and corn. In a town with 1100 people in it. Since I just moved here (a year ago) from a city of millions in the desert, this place is strange.


I'm Amber, or Amby, current head of Gryffindor house (Gryffindor ftw! Even on Pottermore, I'm a Gryffie at heart), Arithmancy professor and member of the amazing HE since March 2006. However, I didn't grow active until June 2006 when HE took a hold of me and didn't let go. Over the years I've been a prefect, professor, regular member and now I've gotten to my current place. I've just joined the Pensieve team in September 2011, but I think that I'll really enjoy it. In the time that I don't spend on HE, I co-admin an RP site with the lovely MarieC where I have a total of 29 characters. My other free time is spent on Skype calls aforementioned lovely co-admin. I currently live in a small, lakeshore town in Michigan.


My name is Marie-Christiane, but you can call me Marie (please do). I've been a member of HE since the very beginning - I was the 9th member to join - and was the original Hufflepuff head of house, as well as History of Magic teacher. My interest in the site did, however, fade a little over the year as I started focusing more on my love of RPing and put most of my focus on the site I co-own with Amber (amberg93). I did make a few attempts at comebacks, during which I'd generally try and give as much of a boost of housepoints for the Huffles as I could, but I'd end up going back to my own site. I do plan on being back for good this time though, and am currently second head of house for the Hufflepuffs and just recently joined the Pensieve team in September 2011 (though, if I recall correctly I was also a member of the original team). Most of my free time is spent talking to my bestest friend/girlfriend, Amber, on Skype, browsing through Tumblr and Facebook and posting on the RP site I mentioned earlier on (on which I have 42 characters ). I also love watching movies (and buying movies *hangs head in shame*) and reading, and travelling is one of my passions. I like in Quebec, Canada, in a suburb of Montreal, less than an hour away from the border line to Vermont and New York states.


Hi! I'm Katie, also known as Katonstruous to a certain few, mainly Rai. I'm a Hufflepuff (also known as the best house ever created) and joined the site just a little over a year ago now (yes, I know I'm still new xD)! I'm Head of Hufflepuff House, Herbology and Mythology Professor, and Chief Editor of the Pensieve which I joined sometime around Christmas last year. I'm in my junior year of high school now and when I'm not working on school stuff, I can usually be found playing my cello, composing and arranging music, and of course, trying to win as many points as possible for Hufflepuff! I'm obsessed with books and have a whole bunch of TV shows that I always obsess over (at the moment, Farscape!). I live in a small town in the USA about an hour away from New York City.

YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!

This is awesome everyone!!!

Everybody needs to do the activities and send them to me!!!

The gossip column was hilarious... but if anyone was vying for deputy head... I will keep my mouth shut... just read the Halloween fic, and you'll know XD

I really liked the horoscopes... and I really want to watch The Lion King now

Congratulations everyone! This was a really good edition of the pensieve, I really like the adsm they give it a nice touch!

I elect amber's gossip column as my favourite piece (I actually gasped out loud) and I vow to never let Sam get any more powers she must suffer for blaphesmy!

The Hogwarts Pensieve wrote:

In all the hours I've spent sneaking around, I also discovered that Sashi and stephy were up to a scheme of their own. It would seem that the two of them had planned to change everyone to Ravenclaw house and steal all of the points away for a Ravenclaw victory to exceed any other. "All of the other houses would have zero points," stephy explained to me. "We'd win by an unheard of margin." Luckily, now that I've got this information out, we can stop the horrors of house-napping from happening.

Unfortunately, whenever you point at somebody to blame for something three other fingers are pointing back at you.
XD

But yeah, watch out, we'll rise from our ashes!

All in all, I luff the ish. It's awesome, as always! Props to the new staff.
But gah, you guys took the wrong turn in this part:

The Hogwarts Pensieve wrote:

As we all contemplated the cuteness of Sashi dressed like a doll...

'cause there wasn't any cuteness at all.


-------------

OHEMJI! SHARON!!!
Can't wait to see the Purple Hippo kid! :D
We'll all stand with you and keep Rai's fluffyness away from Bobbina.
XD

Quote :

OHEMJI! SHARON!!!
Can't wait to see the Purple Hippo kid! :D
We'll all stand with you and keep Rai's fluffyness away from Bobbina.
XD

Good good! Bobbina doesnt need rai's corruption! Although if that happens, I am sure that the little elf will help protect it - she already has three purple hippo teddies in her room!

You people cannot take me muahahahaah

I shall always succeed over you alll!