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(Willow) Baba Yaga
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 07-03-17 18:16
The time had come for Willow to present her creation at the Invention and Design Competition, which took place at Sydney's School of Wizardry. Willow was especially thrilled to be there, because she was at Justin's old school. It was nice visiting a place he knew well. If only he could have been at the SAT competition, too!
Willow's invention was a nesting doll that could answer when addressed. It couldn't hold in-depth discussions, but it could answer simple questions and store data like appointments. The doll was supposed to be like a personal assistant who could also provide basic information when called upon to do so.
She had named the doll Baba Yaga, after the witch from Russian folklore who sometimes wore the guise of a wise hag. Naming the doll had been probably more difficult than creating all the charms needed to make her to her job. Willow had tossed around a number of names before finally settling on something Slavic in nature, to match the doll's appearance.
The judges, Hildegard Onderdonk, Eva Lindberg, and Riordan Callaghan, sat at a rectangular table opposite where Willow stood. She had a small, square table, but she was standing next to it with the nesting doll right in the middle.
"Do you ever feel like it takes too much trouble to jot down a note or look at a calendar to see when your kneazle's next veterinary appointment is?" Willow began. "Do you want to know what the weather is without consulting the newspaper or the wireless network? Is there a word you wish to know the spelling of, or do you need basic information about a particular fact? Then look no further."
She looked at the nesting doll on the table. It stared out at the judges with its permanent smile drawn on its face. On its cheeks were two red circles, and it wore a festive-looking traditional outfit.
"Baba Yaga, is it supposed to rain today?"
The nesting doll looked the same as ever, but a voice, which sounded like a robotic version of Willow's own said, "It will not rain today."
Willow wished that her doll would have known this information without her "programming" the forecast in it just that morning from the newspaper, but perhaps more advanced tweaking would solve the problem of manually having to input certain kinds of data.
"Baba Yaga, schedule my Ancient Runes class for tomorrow morning at 9."
"Ancient Runes is tomorrow at 9," Baba Yaga confirmed.
"Baba Yaga, who are the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
"The founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin."
Willow then went on to explain how she came up with the idea to create her invention, and what process went into the initial design process. She then explained how the doll stored data and revealed her dreams for improvements on the device. The ten minutes allotted to her description flew by, and then it was time to answer the judge's questions about her invention.
Mim, Wiggentree, & Modified Cookbook (Heather & Amorica)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 07-03-17 19:31
Waiting for Amorica to give an Invention and Design presentation Heather tries not to think about how poorly she'd done yesterday in the Magical Plants contest.
Heather had raised a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, a somewhat uncommon plant. The plant, which she calls Mim, has grown steadily though not without a few problems along the way. At one point some sort of tiny fly had caused an issue just above the line of potting soil. After a sudden spurt of growth Heather had trouble regulating the proper amount of water. It needed more than it had been needing and she found that determine how much before it was too much was tricky. Thankfully, the rest of Mim's growth was far steadier and much easier to tweak amounts of water, fertilizer, and plant food.
Coming into the Best In Show: Magical Plants competition Heather was confident in Mim as a fine specimen of a Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The judge, Connor Kendall, clearly thought otherwise. He ranked Mim thirteenth out of fourteen participants. That Mim spurted Stinksap all over Judge Kendall undoubtedly helped in his decision to give Heather, and Mim, a lower placement though it shouldn't have mattered in her opinion.
Amorica had competed yesterday as well, showing her Wiggentree. A magical Rowan the Wiggentree's bark is used in potion making and while touching such a tree's trunk a person is protected from Dark creaures. Amorica's has a few Bowtruckles, magical creatures that guard the tree, a good sign of a healthy plant. She and her Wiggentree placed fourth for Group F.
When it's Amorica's turn to present to today's panel of judges she takes a deep breath then launches into her much rehearsed presentation of a modified cookbook. Inspired to assist her great grandmother, the person for whom she's named, Amorica's cookbook has step-by-step photos for each recipe that carefully show each of those steps in action. Additionally, to better see that step-by-step action in each photo, a photo can be magnified up to 10x (so far - Amorica's working on even greater magnification for those who need it). The recipe text can also be magnified for easier reading or, if preferred, read aloud to the cook. The reading can be one line of the recipe or the entire thing or anything in between.
As Amorica talks she demonstrates the cookbooks features and functionality. Ending her presentation she waits for the panel to begin the five minute question and answer portion, hoping she's prepared herself adequately enough to answer whatever they throw at her.
Memories
Author: Marzipan
Date: 07-04-17 15:04
Marzi sat in the audience next to Professor Longbottom and watched as the students participating in the Invention and Design Competition presented their inventions to the panel of three judges. Both of the Hogwarts sixth years, Willow Westwick and Amorica Wenlock, had already had their fifteen minutes on stage.
Marzi thought they'd both done an excellent job coming up with their ideas, and the research and work they'd put into their projects was quite impressive. She didn't think she was inventive enough to come up with anything unique and wouldn't even know where to begin. She would probably do something Herbology related, but beyond that, she had no clue.
Yesterday had been the Best in Show: Magical Plants event, which she and Neville had sponsored together. Hogwarts had done well overall. Only the home school, Sydney's School of Wizardry, as well as Watling's Wizarding Academy, had performed better. Hogwarts had come away with 11 points for the Best in Show: Magical Plants. Marzi was very proud of her students, and she knew that Neville was too.
Now that their part in the competition was over, they could enjoy the very last competition the SAT had to offer them. Of course, they were both on pins and needles, hoping the four Hogwarts students would come away winners in today's event. They wouldn't fully relax until the results were posted.
It was hard to believe that this was the very last SAT event of the school year. It was also hard to believe that the school year was almost over. OWLs and NEWTs started a week from tomorrow. Then, it was time for finals. This was Marzi's first year as an upper years' Herbology professor, so she only had one week of classes left with her fifth and seventh year students. It would seem odd teaching only the sixth years during the two weeks allotted for OWLs and NEWTs.
Marzi's thoughts drifted from exams to summer. Alaric, who was sitting with the Beauxbatons contingent, had invited her to visit him in France. Marzi had agreed to it, but they hadn't made any set plans yet about when she and the boys would come. Carter and Vallon were staying with her mother this weekend while she was in Australia, at the very same school she'd attended as a girl and where her father had taught Ancient Runes for many years.
It was not lost on her that her father had died within the very walls of this school. She had already been to his grave, and if there was time before the magical RV departed, she might stop by again. Being home again reminded her how much she missed him, even after nearly ten years of his being gone.
She felt herself grow increasingly saddened and pushed thoughts of her father from her mind. There were newer, happier memories to be made at Sydney's School of Wizardry, which hopefully included big wins in the Invention and Design Competition!
The Burrow's Kitchen
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 07-05-17 19:46
Placing a mug of tea in front of Harry Molly asks, "Have you decided anything?"
"Not yet," Harry sighs heavily. "I had thought it would be an easy decision but now, faced with it, it's anything but."
Stirring honey into her own mug Ginny sheepishly admits, "My initial reaction was let her rot wherever the Ministry has stashed her."
Arthur pats her hand. "No need to sound remorseful at having such a reaction. Perfectly understandable."
Harry nods in agreement. "I keep telling you, Ginny, you've no reason to be apologetic. That was my initial reaction as well. For what she did to Hendrika alone is reason enough to not claim her body if they ever release it."
"According to Kingsley this morning that could be in the morning," Ginny tells her parents.
Since his cousin's body came through one of the Floo conduits located in the Ministry of Magic's Atrium, Harry has been besieged by reporters, Rita Skeeter in particular, for an interview. He's been deluged with questions from friends, co-workers, and Ministry employees (many whose faces he doesn't think he's ever even seen before).
Questions have ranged from Will you over see Fairchild's burial? to Will you be taking over as Head Death Eater now that Fairchild is out of the way?
There have been renewed calls for Harry to be let go from the Ministry altogether. Some opinions are that Harry should be placed in Azkaban for an indefinite period.
What short memories so many seem to have. Have had since Adriana went dark.
Harry wishes that if a newspaper such as The Daily Prophet is going to run more stories about him, those articles would focus for once on reminding others of his role in defeating Voldemort. An article that focused on the good he's done as an Auror.
Reaching for a Jammie Dodger type biscuit on the plate Molly's just put on the table, Harry eats it in two bites, not because he's wanting a sweet but because it's something to do that keeps him from having to talk more about his supposed, and now dead, cousin, at least for the time it takes to chew and swallow.
(Madoc & Minerva) Smart Box
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 07-06-17 18:21
Madoc's invention was called a Smart Box. It was essentially a magical filing system. Documents were first shrunk down and then put inside the box, where they were filed until called upon by the user. He demonstrated how the Smart Box worked with a couple of documents.
One was a homework assignment due in Professor Snape's Potions class. One was an acceptance letter for an internship for which Madoc had applied. The last was a partially-written letter he planned on sending his parents after he returned to Hogwarts.
First, Madoc filed the documents away using the incantation Ordo. Then he called them back up with the command Reditus. When Madoc first came up with his system, he ran into a snag because the Smart Box would only return a document if he gave the same descriptive title given when he first filed it. After a lot of adjusting, the Smart Box got smarter and could usually identify the correct document based on a handful of key words.
Professor McGonagall was quite impressed with her great nephew's handiwork. His Smart Box was quite good. Maybe she could convince him to help her organize her office before he graduated. There wasn't much time left for that, however. Madoc had exactly one week of classes left, and then two weeks of OWLs and NEWTs. He'd have a week to relax afterwards, which might be the prime opportunity to snare him into helping her, but he'd probably want to enjoy what little time was left of his time at Hogwarts. She couldn't believe the boy she'd met almost seven years ago was graduating.
The news about Adriana Fairchild had been in The Australia-Wizarding Times this morning. Minerva was very shocked and itched to confer with the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. She and Sirius had talked a bit about it over breakfast, but they'd been restricted by where they were and who they were with and had been unable to discuss everything on their minds.
There were so many questions and so little answers. Who had killed Adriana, and why? Had the killer dropped her body off at the Ministry of Magic, or had someone else done it? Had one of her own killed her, or had a "good samaritan" done it? It can't have been a completely random act, or her body probably wouldn't have found its way to the Ministry.
Minerva really hoped that Adriana's death meant the wizarding world was now a safer place, but she had a bad feeling something worse was to come. She tried not to think too much about it. Students were still in the process of presenting their inventions. Afterwards would not only be the awarding of the winners of the Invention and Design Competition, but the top three schools would also be recognized for their overall standings throughout the SAT. Following that, the Hogwarts contingent would eat supper and then board the magical RV for home.
Tenth (Jade)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 07-07-17 18:57
Tenth place.
Only tenth.
Jade had not been expecting to take first, or even necessarily second or third. She simply hadn't expected to rank as low as ten out of fourteen.
Was her presentation off?
Is her "video" concept overly Muggle and therefore not well grasped or understood?
Was everything perfect on her part and her idea not considered overly Muggle in nature but just boring and blah for the judges compared to what those placed higher than she presented?
Jade tiredly rubs her eyes. All this Scholastic Aptitude Tournament business, especially the school year long invention and design aspect combined with preparing for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests has worn her out.
She is not looking forward to the next few weeks. This week is the last before NEWTs then it's two weeks of exams. She cannot wait until school is over. Hunter, Baron, Jade, and some of their friends have several days at the beach planned soon after their last Hogwarts Express train ride.
Olive and Zubari have decided to get married later in the summer. Emerald, Olive, Hunter, and Jade are also planning on a weekend together in the States, visiting their former home. Zubari and Phin are of course invited but whether they go with or not isn't as important to Jade as the time back home with her former siblings, something they've not done together in all the years since their parents died and coming to live with Aunt Blythe and Uncle Woody.
In the fall, Hunter and Jade are planning to attend St. Emrys. For awhile Jade wasn't sure she wanted to do that. She's been missing Muggle life but as Hunter pointed out, if they want they could get a Muggle apartment, or flat as they tend to be called, or house. That's if she wants to room with him that is. Their old friend Millicent Rhodes is planning to be at St. Emrys and has suggested Jade and she room together. As Millie also has something of a Muggle background maybe she'd be up to Hunter's idea.
One of the friends she's made this weekend calls her name. Jade goes over with a smile though she's hoping it won't be long before Professor McGonagall has the Hogwarts contingent loaded into the magical RV, on its way back to school. She's tired and the time difference with little time to adjust to it is getting to her. She plans to crawl into her RV bunk and sleep the entire trip back.