Days of Wonder: February 2016

Hello,

My name is Lynne, and I'm Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some of you may not know that the Head Girl and Head Boy at Hogwarts get to have their own dormitory rooms with a small private bath as one of our perks. After a long day of keeping first years out of trouble and reporting Peeves to Headmistress McGonagall, it's nice to be able to relax in my own space.

The decor changes based on the house of each Head Boy and Head Girl. The prior Head Girl was in Slytherin House, but the castle had no trouble changing over the room once I received my letter with my Head Girl badge. I will give you a peek into my room, so that you will know what to expect if you are chosen as Head Girl someday.

As you know, the Fat Lady's portrait guards the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. She also keeps a small portrait of herself on my door, which she likes to visit occasionally. Professor Flitwick applied a charm to it so that even if she's not in her portrait, she will hear the password when I pronounce it at the door to my room, and she will let me in.

I truly love the Gryffindor common room, so I'm glad that the castle gave me some of the same tapestries for my room. My room has the same cozy feel as curling up in a soft armchair in front of the fire in the common room.

My family is an old wizarding family, and we are direct descendants of Godric Gryffindor, so it was no surprise that I was placed in Gryffindor, even though my mother was a Hufflepuff, and my father attended Durmstrang. Most of my family members have been sorted into Gryffindor, thus our family crest contains elements which demonstrate that.

I have a portrait of Headmaster Dumbledore in my room, too. He was a great man, and his time at Hogwarts was probably the most important period of history for the school. He is mostly quiet, but he does sometimes keep me awake at night with his mumbling to himself.

You may also have heard of a legendary House Elf named Dobby. He helped the Auror Harry Potter escape from a cruel Death Eater and lost his life in the battle. I admire this elf, and I'm a member of S. P. E. W., so I have a memorial art piece to him in my room as well. Dobby was lovingly handcrafted by Apryl Hopkirk, whose mother Mafalda works for the Ministry. If you've wondered, sculptures can move about like portraits do, such as turning their heads and moving their arms and legs, but they can't leave the spot into which they were placed. My Dobby sculpture likes to make me laugh in the mornings with his silly poses.

I have quite a bit of stuff in my room, such as the Skiving Snack Box and the Decoy Detonator I confiscated from a rowdy fourth year last week. At least I got to him before Filch could.

Here's my pet brown owl, Merriweather. He's taking a nap.

I have potions ingredients, as well.

Some school books, and an extra quill and ink.

My Hogwarts trunk.

My nightstand.

I hang my robes and scarf on the back of my door for easy access. You never know when a late night emergency may have the professors calling for assistance.

I'm an avid Quidditch fan. I support our Gryffindor house team, of course, but I also adore the Chudley Cannons! I just know they will win the League Cup this year! I don't play Quidditch because I'm a rubbish flyer, but I love the excitement of the games.

I'm studying wandlore and wandmaking for my upcoming NEWT tests. Here are some unfinished wands I've been working on. I hope to open my own wand shop in Diagon Alley some day. Ever since poor Mr. Ollivander passed on, the quality of wands available has been dismal, unless you want to travel to another country to get one.

I love this shelf next to my bed. I keep a bunch of junk there, such as my set of keys to the wandmaking lab, my favorite Chocolate Frog cards, and a piece of mirror that was passed down to me from Harry Potter, himself (Harry is a distant relative of mine, as both of our families lived in Godric's Hollow for generations.). He thought I could use it to let Aberforth know when the prefects and I were coming for a special mug of butterbeer after a long day of study.

Here is my time turner. It was issued to me under extremely special circumstances. Not since the famous Hermione Granger has a student been allowed to use one to attend more than the regular number of classes. But, I really wanted to continue with potions and wandmaking in NEWT level, and the class times conflicted, so they made a super special exception for me. None of the other students know, so please don't spread this around. Thank you. You can also see my snitch watch and the medal I earned for running in a race sponsored by the Ministry of Magic.

As you know, we have quite a few Muggle-born students at Hogwarts. I was able to spend the Christmas holidays with one of them, my friend Alice Penningsworth. She and her mum got me hooked on a Muggle hobby called scrapbooking. I fell in love, and I started doing this hobby in all my spare time. I asked the room to make a space for all my scrapbooking supplies, and it installed these shelves for me to keep all my paper, scissors, stamps, and other accessories. So, whenever I feel like scrapbooking, I conjure up a table and chair, and open the curtains, and I'm ready to go. It's amazing. Sometimes I ask Alice if she'll print me some photos at one of those Muggle shops. I enjoy seeing the people in them just standing so still. It's funny.

Here's a link to a wizard scrapbook that I made. I love using Muggle computers, too. Maybe I should ask McGonagall if I can add a NEWT in Muggle Studies, too. Hmm. I don't think she'll let me use the time turner for yet another class.

Another friend of mine, Kim Weasley, has really learned how to knit well from her Granny Molly. She made me this tribute to Hedwig, the most famous owl to ever live. We mostly learn about witches and wizards in History of Magic, so once you hear the story of Hedwig, you know just how important she was.

Check out this dragon painting. One of my favorite wizard artists, Mad McQuill, made it. It startles me when it lets out a fiery breath. It's so cool. I keep it above my miniature dragons that are replicas of the dragons used in the first task of the last Triwizard Tournament to be held at Hogwarts. That was a sad tournament, which my Hufflepuff mother still tears up over.

My young cousin Lexie Longbottom (Yes, she is related to Professor Neville Longbottom) made this portrait of some of our family members.

My bed is so comfy. I have a stuffed dog whom I've named Padfoot, after Sirius Black, the notorious Animagus who died in the great battle at the Ministry.

One of the best things about being Head Girl is my own loo! I have a lovely shower in there, and a sink with a dragon head faucet. Moaning Myrtle comes to visit occasionally, but she prefers to float about in the bathroom for the other prefects. The mermaid from the prefects' bathroom comes to her portrait here now and again, too.