Is there a Harry Potter quote, reference or joke that’s crept in to your day to day life? Sometimes when my family are discussing what we all have planned for the day and I don’t have anything particularly noteworthy to report, I’ll trot out ‘and I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’...

I definitely like mine fluffy and crisp on the outside, rather than caky (although a caky one with really thick icing is good if I'm in the mood). Growing up, I would always get ones filled with raspberry or strawberry jam (and dusted with sugar) if I was at a café with one of my parents so they're ...

Congratulations on a great activity, both! I'm not sure I've seen one that inspired such an incredibly high level of creativity in quite some time. I had a blast setting little Elesti on her way to a much better future.

May was an excellent month for points and I’m excited to see so many new and newly returned members on the list this time round. Without further ado…. The top point earner for May was Louis Walles of Slytherin with a very impressive 654 points. Very well done! Gryffindor: Dani Crespo - 360 Hufflepuf...

Our first prompt for June is …. (drum roll)

The moment in a fairy tale when someone is cursed

From Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

I am not ruined, I am ruination

The lack of healthy food and variety in the Great Hall. Don't get me wrong, I would adore stuffing my face with pies and cooked breakfasts but after a while I'd be crying out for a salad, a curry or a nice bowl of pasta. I'm hoping that Harry just doesn't get round to describing the healthier or mor...

No thanks necessary, Lo. Helping you get the most out of HOL is a pleasure. Getting to know you this year has been incredible - you're a credit to Gryffindor. Thank you for trusting us.

Elesti would demonstrate her powers of negotiation and emotional intelligence by asking for a volunteer to provide her with an example of something that they felt made them feel irrationally angry. She would then ask open ended questions to try to learn more about their thought process and also so t...

I think what’s lacking in the code for me is the importance of changing one’s mind and adapting based on new situations. While this is partly covered by knowledge triumphing over ignorance, I think there’s still a danger of a Jedi being so set in their ways under the guise of being serene that they ...

Elesti’s greatest fear is conflict. In order to overcome it, she had to realise that there are things that are worth fighting for and also that conflict can also bring about beneficial change. She first profoundly realised this during her second year at the temple and it is this experience that she ...

It’s very easy to consider the dark and light sides of the force as destinations, firm ‘places’ that you can either ascend to or fall into. I’ve always wondered though whether there are such things as the dark and light sides because force sensitive beings have conditioned themselves to think that w...

A 1. Elesti would put 10 people in the defective pod and the remainder in the fully functioning one. First, she would hold a negotiation between everyone. She would start out by telling everyone the importance of having a working crew in the defective pod to maximise survival and asking for voluntee...

Following Lo’s excellent lead, I decided to share an experience from my own life that I feel fits the question in more ways than one. My primary school had a swimming pool and now and again each class would spend a few weeks having their P.E lesson be a swimming lesson. The pool had a shallow end an...

I learned today that one of my favourite comedians, Adam Hills, has a new puppy called Albus Dumbledog. I love it.

All ansmerians are assigned a small ship for their peace bringing duties. Painted in the characteristic lavender colour, they are built for speed and durability rather than comfort. Comprising an oval shaped craft with pointed prow and stern, they are fitted with a light weight engine (occupying the...

The happiest of birthdays to Raevia Ward! I hope it's been fabulous.

Interestingly, Elesti struggles most with the emotion/peace and passion/ serenity dichotomies, simply because she feels she understands them deeply but doesn’t actually truly appreciate them for what they are. Since birth, she has been trained to put aside her own emotions for the sake of peace with...

One of the most important events in Ansmere’s history didn’t happen on the planet at all. It was in the first few centuries of the planet’s rise to prominence as the source of fair and impartial arbiters for conflict. An Ansmerian delegation was invited to oversee negotiations between the planet of ...

The music has always been one of my absolute favourite parts of the Harry Potter films. John Williams’ score for the first 3 always manages to lift my spirits but even as the music gets darker as the series progresses, it still remains magical. I think my favourite piece of music has to be Leaving H...

Though outwardly calm, Elesti was very frightened by the idea of being sorted into a clan. She had been brought up to value solitude and detachment from situations above all else. Due to their need to bring about peace and compromise, Ansmerians are excellent listeners but very bad confiders. Within...