art bu Joanna Quinn

The Kitchen Cauldron

Written by Ivy Nettlebed

Edited by Rowan Blackclaw

Hello dear readers,

Our recipe this week was contributed by April Rose of Hufflepuff House. She says these shortbread cookies are a wonderful spring or summer treat so we hope you will enjoy them. Also, should you receive an owl from April, please know that Circe, her owl, is a bit ornery and peculiar at times. Tiggy and I found bribing her with owl treats works well!  This recipe is adapted from myfancypantry thanks to a muggle website: http://myfancypantry.com/2012/03/29/honey-lavender-cookies/

Honey Lavender Cookies

Ingredients:

-1/4 c. sugar

-1 heaping tbsp. honey

-1 stick of butter (1/2 c.) room temp or slightly melted

-1 1/2 tsp. culinary lavender buds, roughly chopped

-1 large egg yolk

-1 tsp. vanilla

-1 c & 2 tbsp. all purpose flour

-1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

-Combine sugar, honey, & butter in a large bowl. Mix together well. Add lavender, egg yolk, & vanilla. Mix well, combining all ingredients.

-Add flour & salt. Stir together until all ingredients are combined. The dough should be sticky and a little wet.

-Put dough on parchment paper & form into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Freeze for 30 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

-Remove dough from freezer. Slice into 1/4 inch disks. Bake at 350 degrees F for 7-8 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown.

-Let cookies completely cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack, and let cool completely.

Lemon Icing:

Ingredients:

-1 c. confectionary sugar

-1 tbsp. lemon juice

-1 tbsp. milk (or water)

Directions:

-Sift confectionary sugar.

-Add lemon juice and milk to confectionary sugar.

-You may need to add more sugar if the icing is too runny, or more milk if the icing is too stiff to work with.

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Creatures in the Classroom

Edited By Rowan Blackclaw

We, as witches and wizards, have a very large advantage over Muggles when it comes to education. Most of what we are taught doesn't come from a book. Unfortunately, not all professors feel that way but, many subjects are best taught hands-on. 

The two subjects where this philosophy can become questionable is Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. In this article, I will be focusing on the creature aspect. There are several documented incidents in Hogwarts history where a creature, or creatures, has gone rogue. This includes "pets" like dragons and large sentient spiders as well as classroom instructions like hippogriffs and Cornish Pixies. Creatures also play a significant role in large events like the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-Wizard Tournament. 

The danger and unpredictability begs the question of wether or not schools should be allowed to use live creatures in lessons?

There is a big difference between something pesky and irritating like Cornish Pixies and something legitimately threatening like an acromantula. Even mildly harmful beasts like Blast-Ended Skrewts can cause quite a disruption if left unattended or not tended to properly. As noted in the previous hippogriff incident, a student was sent to the hospital wing because they did not follow the proper protocol. 

By the same token and despite the dangers, having that kind of hands-on experience guarantees that students will learn practical skills necessary to safely interact. I believe that professors should be able to use creatures to teach, but with the understanding that things may not always go according to plan. That is, they can bring in creatures but not complain when they have to grab a handful of prefects to contain a horde of flesh eating slugs. Use creatures at their own risk, being mindful that it's all for the sake of education.

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Here at Last: The thrills, the Spills and the drama as the Quidditch season begins

Written by Jenny Harper

Edited by Rowan Blackclaw

After an off-season that seemed to last forever (at least to this particular journalist), the British and Irish amateur Quidditch leagues began with aplomb this week as clubs all around the country aimed to get their season up and running in the most popular sport in the Wizarding world.  While space constraints in the Quibbler prevent me from writing 15 match reports, a selection of reports of the matches from the opening weekend of the season, including the champions of the Ireland Quidditch League and the South of England Quidditch League.

Brockenhurst Blue Dragons 320 – Holybourne Hornets 50

Last year’s Brockenhurst Blue Dragons began the season with a comprehensive win over local rivals Holybourne Hornets. The early exchanges saw the two teams evenly matched, a number of mis-directed passes perhaps showing early season jitters. A quick-fire double goal by the Blue Dragons resulted in eased nerves and side began to find their stride. Three more goals put the Blue Dragons 50-0 up. The Hornets responded quickly, however, scoring two goals without reply, before the Blue Dragons scored another to put themselves 60-20 up.

Another two goals from the Hornets pulled the score back to 60-40, suggesting that we would have a close match at hand, however by this point the Blue Dragons began to get into their stride, hitting 8 goals without reply as last years’ champions’ chasers ran riot, tearing up the late summer Hampshire sky, before the Hornets scored a consolation goal, bringing the score to 140-50.

Two more late goals were followed by the Blue Dragon’s seeker catching the sneak to secure a comprehensive first win for the Brockenhurst Blue Dragons as they began their title defence.  

Haverforwest Hawks 170 – Bicester Beavers 30

Haverfordwest Hawks defeated Bicester Beavers in a low scoring game. Despite being the away side, Bicester flew out of the traps, with goalkeeper Jane McIntosh, newly signed from Kirkwall Knights making a great double-save early on to preserve the score at 0-0. A few moments later, she made a magnificent diving save when it seemed certain that the Beavers would score. Following this, the match descended into a stalemate. Particularly accurate hitting by both side’s beaters meant neither side were able to string together many passes before losing the quaffle. Andronicus Constantilov, making his debut for the Hawks, showed some of the form that he showed at Hogwarts, direting a torrent of bludgers at the Beavers’ chasers, preventing them from building up much momentum. Despite there being several turnovers, much of the play remained in the middle of the pitch, in what was ultimately a poor quality game, lacking in entertainment.

Eventually, the Beavers broke the deadlock as Jones scored after a blistering counter-attack which left the rest of the Hawks’ line-up stranded, with Jane McIntosh unable to save the shot. Some might have thought that breaking the deadlock would have livened up the wrong. They were wrong. The match continued in a sluggish manner (by Quidditch standards). The Beavers doubled their advantage before the Hawks pulled one back. After over 40 minutes play, the score remained 20-10 to the Beavers.  The Hawks then scored to equalise.  

No more goals were scored before the Haverfordwest Hawks’ chaser caught the snitch to draw to an end a poor game of Quidditch. Both sides will be looking for improved performances in the future, but Jane McIntosh has already proven her worth with a number of impressive sides with the scores locked at 0-0

Denbigh Dynamite 560 - 20 Kirkwall Knights

The loss of Jane McInctosh was keenly felt by the Kirkwall Knights who were hammered by the Denbigh Dynamite in their opening game of the season. The match was barely 2 minutes old when the Dynamite’s new signing, Sean Grant, split apart the Knights’ team and scored with a well-placed shot which left Tobias Grant, the Knight’s debutant goalkeeper, with no chance. Two more quick fire goals sent the Dynamite into an early lead. The Knights scored two goals, but that was as good as it was to get for the side from the Orkneys.

The next couple of hours saw the Knights’ goal under siege. On the rare occasion the Knights did manage to hold onto the quaffle, the sheer physicality of the Dynamite chasers and the accuracy of their beaters meant they did not hold on to it long. Debutant goalkeeper Tobias Murray made a number of saves, otherwise the score could have easily reached over 600 points, although was unable to stop the onslaught.

Eventually after two hours which must have felt like 20 hours to the Knights’ fans, Denbigh Dynamite’s seeker caught the Snitch to put an end to the Knights’ misery and settle the game with the score at 520 – 20. While Sean Grant made a positive start as a Dynamite player, both him and the team will face tougher opponents. The result clearly bringing into question the decision of the Knights’ coaching staff’s to sign a beater when the Scottish side have by far the weakest chaser trio in the league.

Athlone Athletes  310 – 200 Waterville Waves

The clash between last season’s Ireland Quidditch League champions and runners up was always likely to be billed as an exciting game, and this time at least, the match lived up to its. Under a sapphire blue sky, two top quality Quidditch sides went toe-to-toe, the Athlone Atheletes and the Waterville Waves.  

The match began with a flurry of chances for either side, as both sides saught to break the deadlock early. Flashes of brilliance were on show as the quaffle was passed with lightning quick speed, from one seeker to the other. Eventually the deadlock was broken by the Waves, but there was an instant reply by the Athletes. The Waves retook the lead, but again the Atheletes quickly equalised, taking the score to 20-20.

At this time, both the Waves’ and Atheletes’ seekers spotted the snitch, glistening in the sun. Both players hurtled towards the snitch, but a well-timed bludger, launched by David O’Connell, the Waves’ new beater signed from Carryduff Cyclones, forced the Athletes’ seeker to evade the incoming projectile, at the same time forcing the Waves’ seeker to change trajectory. By the time the seekers had regained their composure, the snitch had already disappeared

Meanwhile, the match remained close as one side, then the other attacked, with precise, lighting quick passing. The score was soon 80-80 as neither team could build up a lead, however the Waterville Waves did something for the first time in the match, making a brilliant interception enabling a quick counter attack which helped to build a lead of 40 points. Both sides kept scoring, however, and the score now reached 160 – 200.

With the match turning into an entertaining affair and a great advert for amateur Quidditch, the snitch was again spotted by the two sides’ seekers. As the two seekers hurtled towards the snitch, neck-to-neck, the Athletes’ seeker was marginally quicker. With just inches in it and their arm stretched as far as they could, the Athlete’s seeker managed to grab the snitch, securing the win for the Athlone Athletes with the final score  310 – 200.  

Elsewhere in the leagues:

North of Britain Quidditch League

Castleford United 40 - 180 Thursk Thunder

Denbigh Dynamite  560 - 20 Kirkwall Knights

Haltwhistle Hurricanes 370 - 90 Alnwick Allstars

Ullapool Harriers 350 - 100 Ulverston Regals

Whitby Wildcats 200 – 50 Portpatrick Pirates

South of Britain Quidditch League

Brockenhurst Blue Dragons 320 – 50 Holybourne Hornets

Chepstow Chasers 110 - 240 Framlingham Firestorm

Dulverton Dynamos 220 - 80 Brecon Boomers

Haverfordwest Hawks 170 - 30 Bicester Beavers

Stroud Swans 10 - 160 Whitchurch Warriors

Ireland Quidditch League

Athlone Athletes 310 - 200  Waterville Waves

Ballybunion Blazers 300 - 130 Roscommon Racers

Carryduff Cyclones 50 - 170 Aclare Arrows

Drogheda Dolphins 20 - 150 Carlingford Chargers

Kilkeel Kings 200 - 60 Kinsale United