Prof. Will Lestrange

This postcard was based on a picture taken in the city of Helsinki, Finland! From the harbour you can see the Northern Lights ("Aurora borealis") and their reflection upon the water. The city's location on the Baltic Sea allows for all sorts of great views of lights reflecting in the water, and when the Aurora borealis is visible, it's a wonder to behold! Although I haven't been there since 2012, Helsinki is one of the best planned cities in existence: it's easy to get around and transition between city, marketplace, waterfront, and wilderness. When the weather is awful, the fact that yo

One place in Africa that I'd like to visit would be the Masai Mara National Reserve (as pictured below), which can be found in southern Kenya (in eastern Africa, just south of the equator). I would be particularly interested in Masai Mara because of the scenery and the chance to observe the wide variety of animals - many of which are unique to the region or the continent. I could even participate in the Muggle version of flying known as a "hot air balloon" to see particularly interesting views from the reserve - and if I plan my approach right, I might even get a view of the equator itself!

My favourite is Oceania (sometimes referred to as 'Australia') even though I've never been there. There seems to be something for nearly everyone there in terms of landscapes... along with such an awesome coastline, interesting cities paired with empty space - AND winter is never a problem there!

When most people think about board games, their first thought is probably of games where each player plays for themselves and all other players are considered as opponents to that one player. (So if someone else wins, you lose.) But there are plenty of games in which the players are broken up into teams (some of which, like Codenames, are played here over IRC in Gathering and Games). So, this dichotomy allows plenty of room for discussion: -do you prefer playing board or card games as an individual, or as part of a team, and why? -what is your personality or strategy when playing

After a very Muggle game last month: it's time to return to more whimsical enemies in the form of bouncing balls... that's right, we're going to be playing Super Pang this month! Super Pang (known as Super Buster Bros. in the Americas) is a game where the player moves around the screen trying to deal with bouncing balls. You'd think that enemies whose motion is predetermined (and have no choice in where they go) would be easy to deal with, but these are wrong! For one thing, you're restricted to walking horizontally - or using ladders... which blocks off a lot of escape paths. Worse s

FINAL STANDINGS FOR MARCH 2021 1st place: Prof. Will Lestrange - 16290 points (Gold Joystick) 2nd place: Lucia Dinapoli - 14490 points (Silver Joystick) 3rd place: Iverian Gnash - 9435 points (Bronze Joystick)

I've decided to go to Chichen Itza to explore the site - trying to see evidence of magic among the ancient Mayan peoples. Inside the pyramids I saw something that surprised me: tons of reference and evidence to chocolates! Apparently, chocolate was used as a form of money - a true form of commodity money as it could be eaten by itself or prepared into all sorts of dishes! I noticed that the Mayans did not sweeten chocolate nearly as much as we did; nor would they try to smooth it out with milk - instead they would add water and ingredients that wouldn't look out of place in a Potions class

I'm pretty sure I answered this - in some form - for February Fortescue in a class last term. My patronus is an anaconda, and we already have a house with snake mascots at Hogwarts so there's no point of trying to duplicate a house that exists! But my animagus form is a killer whale, and that is a great house mascot as well! The house name is Walikyl - and the types of students that I would want in there would be those who have the potential to be excellent at something - though, despite that potential, they can avoid being overbearing except when absolutely necessary. And of course they n

In the top there is the word "Lestrange" in cursive; the upper left and lower right quadrants are green with an outline of an anaconda while the other two quadrants are dark grey with a full picture of a waterfall on it.

My favorite that I can think of: anything from Argentina involving dulce de leche Something I would love to try: authentic massaman curry from Thailand, which was once rated the most delicious food in the world

This creature, known as a Quinxe, has a body outline like a dragon but its skin is bright pink with various purple linear markings over its body. Instead of fire, it breathes blue smoke. It is native to the city of Quiberon in the south of France, where it may have been the inspiration for the Quafflepunchers' shocking pink uniforms. It can eat anything nearby, but its preferred food is actually a Muggle humanoid confection known as cotton candy. It is more intelligent than most creatures (and some humans), and it can also change its shape to mimic the outline of other creatures (but