Wall of Fame
Lesson 1
HW - Essay
As a means of transportation, I much prefer my Twigger 90.* I've seldom travelled on a flying carpet and that was when I was visiting the pyramids in Egypt. Something about flying carpets is that they are a more leisurely sort of mode of transportation. One sets out the tea pot and the cups and the pizza and cakes and then sort of forgets to steer. At least that is what happened on at least two trips on a larger flying carpet where the 'driver' was entertaining me and we were talking and ended up 100 miles away from where we wanted to be. Another unfortunate experience with a flying carpet was the sudden braking to avoid a taller building and all the tea utensils fell off. Fortunately, they did not hit anyone. Unfortunately, they were lost for all time because the Muggles saw these things falling from out of,
apparently, empty air and grabbed them, saying that they must be valuable and from flying saucers or something like that. Since it was a solid gold tea set, we were a little unhappy about it! (Of course, since we were in Egypt, our carpet WAS invisible.)
Which brings me to the initial question of this assignment -- do I agree with the British Minister of Magics' stance on carpets being Muggle artefacts and thereby prohibited to enchant? No. Muggles have broomsticks too, right? In fact, probably Muggles had broomsticks long before witches did because they had to sweep the floors with them, whereas witches have long since mastered the charms to keep a floor clean!
I'm not sure of just how that all came about; I think someone had a grudge against someone else and so just blocked any attempt to bring carpets into the country via whatever means possible, including politics.
- Prof. Tarma Amelia Black, pr_tar, Hufflepuff
apparently, empty air and grabbed them, saying that they must be valuable and from flying saucers or something like that. Since it was a solid gold tea set, we were a little unhappy about it! (Of course, since we were in Egypt, our carpet WAS invisible.)
Which brings me to the initial question of this assignment -- do I agree with the British Minister of Magics' stance on carpets being Muggle artefacts and thereby prohibited to enchant? No. Muggles have broomsticks too, right? In fact, probably Muggles had broomsticks long before witches did because they had to sweep the floors with them, whereas witches have long since mastered the charms to keep a floor clean!
I'm not sure of just how that all came about; I think someone had a grudge against someone else and so just blocked any attempt to bring carpets into the country via whatever means possible, including politics.
- Prof. Tarma Amelia Black, pr_tar, Hufflepuff
EC - Creative Writing
Dear Journal,
It is finally here! I knew that Leonard Jewkes could do it! He is a Ravenclaw after all! As soon as I heard the news this morning I immediately ordered twelve of his brooms for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Only the best for my team! We have been using the Moontrimmer for the past few months, but it was harder to get them than it is to get venom from a live acromantula! Half the team was flying on Moontrimmers while the other half was on Oakshaft 79s. It was a bit of a fiasco. So when I spotted Leonard at one of RQT’s game last year I pulled him aside immediately when the game was over and explained the situation. He set to work right away working on a broom to out-fly the rest and it is here today! He named it the Silver Arrow. Personally I would have preferred the Bronze Arrow, but as long as it gets my team up in the air faster than the rest I really do not care what he calls it! I am really quite excited to see the leg up this will give my team. The Slytherin team is still on Oakshaft 79s. The Gryffindors have a few Moontrimmers, but not enough to really make a difference. I am not sure what Hufflepuff has at this point, they are rather secretive about their brooms, but I doubt anyone will get the Silver Arrow faster than us! I told the team this morning and they were quite excited. I am really hoping to build up a legacy with this team to last for centuries and now I think we have the broom to do it! But for now I must go. It is almost practice time and that Alfred Lobiesk will whine incessantly if I’m late.
‘Til next time – Lyndon Adderholt
- Kyrie Adderholt, ky830, Ravenclaw
It is finally here! I knew that Leonard Jewkes could do it! He is a Ravenclaw after all! As soon as I heard the news this morning I immediately ordered twelve of his brooms for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Only the best for my team! We have been using the Moontrimmer for the past few months, but it was harder to get them than it is to get venom from a live acromantula! Half the team was flying on Moontrimmers while the other half was on Oakshaft 79s. It was a bit of a fiasco. So when I spotted Leonard at one of RQT’s game last year I pulled him aside immediately when the game was over and explained the situation. He set to work right away working on a broom to out-fly the rest and it is here today! He named it the Silver Arrow. Personally I would have preferred the Bronze Arrow, but as long as it gets my team up in the air faster than the rest I really do not care what he calls it! I am really quite excited to see the leg up this will give my team. The Slytherin team is still on Oakshaft 79s. The Gryffindors have a few Moontrimmers, but not enough to really make a difference. I am not sure what Hufflepuff has at this point, they are rather secretive about their brooms, but I doubt anyone will get the Silver Arrow faster than us! I told the team this morning and they were quite excited. I am really hoping to build up a legacy with this team to last for centuries and now I think we have the broom to do it! But for now I must go. It is almost practice time and that Alfred Lobiesk will whine incessantly if I’m late.
‘Til next time – Lyndon Adderholt
- Kyrie Adderholt, ky830, Ravenclaw
This was found on a well preserved piece of parchment. We 'translated' it from the original because even though the person used English, it was before any kind of regularity of spelling and syntax was formulized.
~*~*~*~
yur of r Lerd nin hundrd an sxtie at cum bak frm mi siztrs hs on hr bromsteck
Translation:
Year of our Lord 900 and 68
Come back from my sisters house on her new broomstick. She is saying that she will be able to make broomsticks that work a lot better than those that she's seen. She prophecizes that broomsticks will be THE mode of travel henceforth although I have my doubts as it took me almost as long to get home on her broomstick as it would have to ride my horse.
She wanted me to write to her about my experiences so this is what I'm doing. She will need to do something about the height of the flying. Although it seemed to maintain a goodly height of about 10 feet off the ground for half of the journey, the other half of the journey it would hover about shoulder height then dip towards the ground. I'd have to run a few steps and kick it back up into the air with a hover charm. It went about as fast as my horse can canter. That did not vary and it stopped immediately at my command (which my horse sometimes doesn't do).
She wrapped some cloth around the handle where I sit, to make it more comfortable than those I've seen that other people are using. I think that she has done good in designing this broomstick. It is a lot better than anything else I've seen or even heard of. Sometimes I could get it up at tree top level, maybe 20 feet high, but I had to use the hover charm several times to keep it there.
She says she will make me one. That it would be good to use when the ground is too wet and dangerous to ride horseback. I think she is right, and so I thank her.
Translation:
Year of our Lord 900 and 68
Come back from my sisters house on her new broomstick. She is saying that she will be able to make broomsticks that work a lot better than those that she's seen. She prophecizes that broomsticks will be THE mode of travel henceforth although I have my doubts as it took me almost as long to get home on her broomstick as it would have to ride my horse.
She wanted me to write to her about my experiences so this is what I'm doing. She will need to do something about the height of the flying. Although it seemed to maintain a goodly height of about 10 feet off the ground for half of the journey, the other half of the journey it would hover about shoulder height then dip towards the ground. I'd have to run a few steps and kick it back up into the air with a hover charm. It went about as fast as my horse can canter. That did not vary and it stopped immediately at my command (which my horse sometimes doesn't do).
She wrapped some cloth around the handle where I sit, to make it more comfortable than those I've seen that other people are using. I think that she has done good in designing this broomstick. It is a lot better than anything else I've seen or even heard of. Sometimes I could get it up at tree top level, maybe 20 feet high, but I had to use the hover charm several times to keep it there.
She says she will make me one. That it would be good to use when the ground is too wet and dangerous to ride horseback. I think she is right, and so I thank her.
~*~*~*~*~
The scrap of parchment had gotten wet about that place and we could not make out the rest of the words. But obviously there were people around in the 10th century who were already knowing of broomstick travel and desiring that it be a lot better.
Archives, London
MInistry of Magic
- Prof. Tarma Amelia Black, pr_tar, Hufflepuff
Archives, London
MInistry of Magic
- Prof. Tarma Amelia Black, pr_tar, Hufflepuff
August 30th, Year 963
My dad finally finished the broom he was working on for the past month. A full month of work, and it seriously looked worse than any broom I've ever seen or heard about. However, I was about to get the chance to fly in the air for the first time in my life, I wasn't going to complain even if he wanted me to ride a rock. I wouldn't let him a feet above the ground at the age of 62, so now came the time to show my support by testing out his broom for him.
To be honest I was very nervous. I don't remember ever being so nervous in my life. But the excitement of riding the broom and fly as high as I can simply over matched any other possible feelings. When I got outside the house dad was already anxiously waiting for me. Though he was more interested in giving me a long and boring lesson on how much care I need to take rather than seeing his product fly. We spent at least half an hour going back and forth on the same safety topics before we finally got to the riding.
I called the broom up, and after a few moments it slowly went up until it reached the mid-height of my body. I hopped on it, while dad kept repeating "WATCH IT! Slowly and steady now!" Though after several seconds of sitting on it, I realized my body won't like this. My butt would give up before I even went 10 feet off the ground. So I quickly run inside and grabbed a pillow to use for cushioning, while dad yelled at me thinking I abandoned him. He even argued the use of the pillow, but I talked him into it eventually.
Then came the scary part. Fantastic, but scary. I grabbed the broom with both my hands, but even then it felt really shaky and insecure. As I flew up in the air I almost regretted my decision to test it. Almost being the keyword here. As scary as it was at first, it soon became too awesome to have any regrets about it. I was actually flying, going up and down, and making circles in the air as I couldn't steer the broom left or right. I was so amazed by the experience that I didn't realize dad cheering and dancing below me until my head thought about the scariest part of the whole thing - landing. Panic started to suffocate me as I was trying to think how I'm going to land. My flying probably got worse by the second as I was hearing dad telling me to slow down the broom and lower my height.
Sadly, it was too late to follow instructions, I had already panicked enough and even though I slowed down, I wasn't able to land safely. Though I still called it success that I changed my direction and crashed in the mud in our garden rather than on solid ground. My father was neither impressed nor amused. He is currently spending the rest of the night trying to improve the broom. I, on the other hand, am hoping he figures out something soon so that I'll get another adventurous ride sometime soon.
Kenneth Delgard
- Zoki Phantom, zo808, Hufflepuff
My dad finally finished the broom he was working on for the past month. A full month of work, and it seriously looked worse than any broom I've ever seen or heard about. However, I was about to get the chance to fly in the air for the first time in my life, I wasn't going to complain even if he wanted me to ride a rock. I wouldn't let him a feet above the ground at the age of 62, so now came the time to show my support by testing out his broom for him.
To be honest I was very nervous. I don't remember ever being so nervous in my life. But the excitement of riding the broom and fly as high as I can simply over matched any other possible feelings. When I got outside the house dad was already anxiously waiting for me. Though he was more interested in giving me a long and boring lesson on how much care I need to take rather than seeing his product fly. We spent at least half an hour going back and forth on the same safety topics before we finally got to the riding.
I called the broom up, and after a few moments it slowly went up until it reached the mid-height of my body. I hopped on it, while dad kept repeating "WATCH IT! Slowly and steady now!" Though after several seconds of sitting on it, I realized my body won't like this. My butt would give up before I even went 10 feet off the ground. So I quickly run inside and grabbed a pillow to use for cushioning, while dad yelled at me thinking I abandoned him. He even argued the use of the pillow, but I talked him into it eventually.
Then came the scary part. Fantastic, but scary. I grabbed the broom with both my hands, but even then it felt really shaky and insecure. As I flew up in the air I almost regretted my decision to test it. Almost being the keyword here. As scary as it was at first, it soon became too awesome to have any regrets about it. I was actually flying, going up and down, and making circles in the air as I couldn't steer the broom left or right. I was so amazed by the experience that I didn't realize dad cheering and dancing below me until my head thought about the scariest part of the whole thing - landing. Panic started to suffocate me as I was trying to think how I'm going to land. My flying probably got worse by the second as I was hearing dad telling me to slow down the broom and lower my height.
Sadly, it was too late to follow instructions, I had already panicked enough and even though I slowed down, I wasn't able to land safely. Though I still called it success that I changed my direction and crashed in the mud in our garden rather than on solid ground. My father was neither impressed nor amused. He is currently spending the rest of the night trying to improve the broom. I, on the other hand, am hoping he figures out something soon so that I'll get another adventurous ride sometime soon.
Kenneth Delgard
- Zoki Phantom, zo808, Hufflepuff