-HiH Section-

Hello and welcome to the HiH section of this Magazine! This Section will feature an article on HiH news every issue, as well as alternating between Professor and Student of the issue. These latter two will cover either a Professor or Student each week, involving a short bio and possibly an interview. 

Writers for this section:

Misty Swanson

News: Perplexing Punctuation and Disastrous Disappearances

 Following the arrival of our new Headmistress and the appearance of the promising blue bar at the top of the screen came something else: a site-wide roleplay. Distinguished by the hashtag #ThePlotThickens, the RP began with Headmistress Oshiro’s observations during her first few weeks as headmistress, but quickly escalated when Professor Morgan, the Gryffindor Head of House and Ancient Studies professor, brought back to the castle a mysterious, very very old, Japanese scroll. And thus began a curious debate, around a curious topic - a small, inconspicuous smudge of ink above one symbol. 

 But, according to Professor Dowler, the smudge was a lot more than just a smudge.”The thing was more dash than dot, but less dash and more dot. It was a half-dash, semi-stroke, double dot. It was something, but even he, with all the words he tried to find in his vocabulary, couldn't quite grasp the name of that particular form of dashdot. Or dotdash. Dashot. Dotted dash. Dee-dee.”

 The doshdat debate among the Professors was all good, but then Ravenclaw Dean McCormick added a new element to the roleplay - #StudentParticipation. Many students jumped at the opportunity to take part in the roleplay, subtly listening through the office door or, in some cases, not-so-subtly falling into the room. Teams formed, and #TeamDot and #TeamDash were seen on many posts and comments. Hufflepuff Lily Wood created campaign posters, “Keep Calm It’s a Dash” and “Keep Calm It’s a Dot” to add to the competitive fun. 

 But it appears that #ThePlotThickens is not only about perplexing punctuation. Once Professor Dowler joined Professors Morgan and Maddox in debating the identity of the unruly symbol, they decided to call in Professor Stevens, Ravenclaw Head of House and official expert of said symbols. All four Heads were in the room with the mysterious scroll, talking over the symbol… and something happened. All four of them have been missing for days now, and their lessons and lectures have arrived by themselves. Professor Batyaeva, noticing their absence, went in search of them and has now disappeared as well, leaving behind only her disgruntled cat and kneazle. Professor Oshiro put Professors Penrose and Riley on the case, skilled as they are in Dark/unsafe magic and transportation, but there’s been no sign of them since.

 Thanks to #StudentParticipation, many students have also noted their disappearances and wish to solve the mystery. If you want to participate and haven’t yet, you can see the most recent posts on this helpful document the professors have compiled: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rjIMbdaikAevq410A5yywx1gop2Rs9Uk9_GRpBeRTew/edit Write your post, add the hashtags #ThePlotThickens and #StudentParticipation and you’re in!

-Misty Swanson

-PROFESSOR OF THE ISSUE-

For this issue we will honour a fine member of staff named Professor Lucrezia Batyaeva, Potions Professor at Hogwarts.

Professor Batyaeva is deputy headmistress of HiH and Potions professor. She is a member of the Slytherin house. She was born and raised in Reinweiler, a small Wizarding enclave a little northeast of Vienna, Austria. Professor went to Russia for her schooling, studying at her parents’ alma mater Akademiya Belzaly, a small Wizarding school near Omsk in Western Siberia.

At Belzaly she studied Magical Theory, and only entered the subject of Potioneering research when she returned to Vienna. While completing her post-graduate studies in Vienna she was given two awards, the Miss GroBraum Reinweiler award and the Magische Österreich. 

Professor Batyaeva owns (or perhaps belongs to) a black cat named Sandman, and a dark brown kneazle named Penelope that she adopted from her ex-husband, August Rubedo. 

When she was in Vienna, previous Astronomy professor Dax Polgara contacted Professor Batyaeva and offered her the position of Potions professor. She eventually advanced to become Deputy Headmistress, and was later offered the position of full Headmistress, which she declined. However, she did consent to be interim Headmistress and was involved in the choice of the new Headmistress, Headmistress Oshiro.

For even more on Professor Batyaeva you can go either to her bio (http://www.hogwartsishere.com/lucbatyaeva/) or to her full profile in the HiH Professor Profiles book (http://www.hogwartsishere.com/library/book/2512/read/?chapter=5)

-Misty Swanson