View From a First Year

4/30

I have been waiting with anticipation for a bit now to get word of where I was going to be sorted. Slytherin pride runs through my veins, but you still never know just where the hat will put you. Today was the Sorting Ceremony and I am proud to say that I ended up where I wanted to be and I hope everyone else did too. I have already been chatting with others in the common room and have been having a blast meeting everyone. I also got a kind message from my Big Snake (mentor today). I think that this is an awesome program to help guide us and answer questions so we don't have to keep running to the Prefects or Head of House when problem arise. I'm sure they are occupied enough as it is. Although I do know that they are always there when we have a question.

(Our "View From A First Year" column is brought to you by ajkane, a First Year Slytherin at HPKCHC Hogwarts. The original posts can be found here.)

HPKCHC Hogwarts Orientation

Hello, prospective students! Today is the day you'll all be finding out which House you'll be sorted to and tomorrow is the day the class assignments will be revealed, all of which has many of you quite literally buzzing with excitement! Well, to take a bit of the edge off of the waiting, here's a guided tour of your new home.

INTRODUCTION

Founded in the summer of 2008 by PRINCESS ONICA, the current Headmistress, HPKCHC's Hogwarts is now on its third "year" (years are defined in three month intervals -- May, June and July will be the Spring 2009 year -- separated by one month breaks).


Year 1 Classes offered were... Astronomy, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions and Transfiguration


Year 2 Classes offered were... Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic and OWLs were introduced


Year 3 Classes offered are... Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Muggle Studies, two rotating classes (wherein a different subject will be offered each month -- Rotation 1 will be Ancient Runes, Divination and Potions; Rotation 2 will be Arithmancy, Transfiguration and Astronomy) and OWLs


Each year (and during the breaks in between) there are extracurricular activities offered to students and staff alike -- Quidditch, knit/crochet-alongs, design contests, etc. Some are just for fun, but keep your eye out for some of these as opportunities to earn extra points for your House or prizes for yourself!

HPKCHC HOGWARTS FLOOR PLAN

On the school grounds there are several rooms for students to get lost in. Hopefully this map will make things a bit less murky.

GRYFFINDOR/HUFFLEPUFF/RAVENCLAW/SLYTHERIN COMMON ROOMS: These four rooms are where all the teams call "home base". Students can retreat to their common room to study with one another, to share ideas about homework assignments, to seek advice from upperclassmen, to plot House strategy, etc. Generally these rooms are reserved for members of each respective house. There are no restrictions on entering another House's common room, and no punishment will be doled out, but there is another space created specifically for inter-House activities...

THE GREAT HALL: Here is where any member of any House can come to relax, chat with friends, plan trips outside the school grounds, have a bit of breakfast, anything their heart desires! Students should not feel compelled to read every post in the Great Hall (insanity may ensue if they try), but should feel free to jump in at any point in any conversation or to start a new conversation. The same can be said of the House Common Rooms and Hogsmeade.

THE STAFF LOUNGE: This is a room where professors, assistants, the Quidditch coach, Caretaker, Groundskeeper and Headmistress gather to discuss staff matters. While the staff dearly loves the students and their input, this should remain a student-free room.

DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY (DA): This is where students can come together to help one another with particularly difficult tasks. If a student needs help reading a chart or learning a technique, or with any crafting problem they might be encountering, they can come to the DA and seek guidance from their peers.

DETENTION: All projects turned in for class assignments must be created after the assignment is posted. However, almost every student has at least one WIP (work in progress) sitting around their dorm room (or might have one after the class if they do not finish their homework in time). Detention is where students go to receive encouragement and support to finish those WIPs once and for all.

HOGSMEADE: Hogsmeade is an off-campus location where former students, students on hiatus or students-to-be (called NQFYs -- Not Quite First Years -- around HPKCHC) can gather for relaxation and merriment while not taking classes. No work, all play!

A MONTH IN THE LIFE...

A typical month for an HPKCHC Hogwarts student goes something like this.

On the first day, class assignments are posted. Eager students sign up immediately if they feel it is an assignment they will enjoy and can complete before the last day of the month (which is when all assignments are due). It is not mandatory to sign up for a class on the first day. Or the second. Or the fifteenth. Some students prefer to complete the assignment before they announce that they will be signing up for the class and then simply sign up and turn in their work on the same day. Students may sign up/turn in work up to the very last day of the month.

Students turn in assignments by posting a photograph of their work in the classroom. For those students who have not yet learned the photograph posting spell, they can look here, at the tutorial. If a student cannot complete the full assignment by the last day of the month, they can still earn points for their House by posting a photograph of the incomplete work in the classroom. Students are strongly encouraged to do this as every point counts!

Typically, 5 points are given for a photograph of incomplete projects, 15 base points are given for a photograph of a completed project and bonus points may be assigned to completed projects at the professor's discretion. Each professor has different criteria for how they assign bonus points, so it is best to pay close attention to the instructions and commentary given by professors along with the class assignment at the beginning of the month.

Students generally are allowed broad or unique interpretations of assignments. However, if there is any question at all as to whether a project meets the assignment description, students should contact the professor of the class for clarification.

After all the assignments have been turned in and the month ends, professors will post the assignment for the following month. Meanwhile, professors and their assistants will be busily assigning points for each project and turning them in to the Headmistress to be made official. Students are strongly discouraged from pestering the professors, assistants and Headmistress about the points during this time! Sometimes it seems an eternity to wait, but patience is a virtue. If a student sees what they feel is a discrepancy regarding the points, they may point it out politely and the staff will ensure everything is properly sorted out.

GOOD LUCK!

The staff is thrilled to welcome over 350 students to this third year of classes at HPKCHC Hogwarts and hopes that each and every one of them finds new friends, new skills and tremendous amounts of fun!

22 days into sign ups

Look at these numbers!
As usual analysis of point breakdown compliments of ScarlettB

April 23, 2009 12:17 AM

Oh, bugger. I did say I’d do that tonight. Okay:

Total Students: 320
Target House Size = 80

First Choices:
Apple: 81
Saffron: 75
Blueberry (sorry, Claws - very few naturally blue foods): 86
Asparagus: 68
Hungry (aka no preference): 10 + scarlettb, who missed dinner

Upperclassmen/Firsties
Lions/cubs: 27/54
Badgers/kits: 29/46
Eagles/eaglets: 26/60
Snakes/hatchlings: 24/44
No Preference: 1/9

13 Days into Sign-up!

A Breakdown/Analysis from ScarlettB

Total students enrolled: 247
Current house size: 61.75

First Choices (en français):
Gryffondor = 65 (~26%)
Poufsouffle = 56 (~23%)
Serdaigle = 67 (~27%)
Serpentard = 51 (~21%)
Aucune préférence: 8 (~3%)

Second choices (in italiano)
Grifondoro: 60 (~24%)
Tassorosso: 45 (~18%)
Corvonero: 58 (~23%)
Serpeverde: 55 (~22%)
Nessuna preferenza: 29 (~12%)

Returning Students (in English, as I have run out of funny translated names for the houses):
Total: 105
G= 27 (~26% of current sign ups, 67.5% retention from last year)
H= 29 (~28% of current sign ups, 72.5% retention from last year)
R= 26 (~25% of current sign ups, 65% retention from last year)
S= 22 (~21% of current sign ups, 55% retention from last year)
NP= 1 (~1%)

First Years!
Total: 142 (holy crap!)
Roar! 38 (~27%)
Huzzah! 27 (~19%)
Soar! 41 (~29%)
Slither On! 29 (~20%)
General Yay! 7 (~5%)

The morals of the analysis:

• Despite my fear, the houses actually aren’t that far off of one another - the distance from the least-chosen to the most-chosen is only 16 people.
• Hufflepuffs are the most loyal to the Cup and their houses, and thus most likely to stick around from term to term.
• Slytherins are most likely to be all-or-nothing: 9 Slytherin 1st choices don’t care where else they’re sorted (or, more likely, since…hey, we’re Slytherins: don’t want to play unless we’re Slytherins (I am one of those 9))
• Ravenclaws are most likely to specify a second choice. Probably because we’ve mentioned how popular that house is, and how high the odds they might be sorted elsewhere are.

Other Fun Facts:

• When you arrange the houses alphabetically, as I always do, Gryffindor is first, Hufflepuff next, then Ravenclaw, and Slytherin is last

• The first student, alphabetically, is aayjay, who wants to be a Gryffindor.

• The person right in the center, alphabetically, is KnitforBrains. She chose Hufflepuff and then Ravenclaw.

• The last student, alphabetically, is Zanahoria12, who wants to be a Slytherin

• These alphabetical analogues are creeping me out a little bit.

Teaching Staff Summon Students

In an effort to involve members of the group, the teaching staff and volunteers have started sending Summoning Charms (aka PMs) to students to remind them that Spring Term 2009 sign-ups are open. Spring term will run May-June-July 2009. Sign-ups will close on April 28, midnight PST. (Subject to change)

While the staff tried to avoid Summoning students that were already enrolled, there may be a few spells that go astray. Students that have already enrolled and are struck with a stray charm should not worry, the spell will quickly wear off. Madame Pomfrey has advised the simple counter charm of deleting the said errant charm (PM).

The Spreadsheet Sorceress is diligently working with the Sorting Hat & is keeping a close watch on the Sign-up Thread. If you signed up, she has your information. If you need to change your house selection, just “Reply to Thread” and say “I’m *insert rav-id* I need to change my preference to: Choice A, Choice B, Choice C.” It WILL be noted.

Nine Days into sign ups

April 9, 2009 9:34 PM
**225** Students are signed up!

By mine, too. The boring breakdown is:

McGonagall = 60
Sprout = 49
Flitwick = 62
Snape = 46

and…eight no preference.

Day 3 Recap from Spring Signups

As of April 3, 2009 at 9:33 PM EST,
Scarlettb be reports:

Just so everyone knows:

When theShizzKnit signed up earlier today, we passed last term’s enrollment. After only 48 hours. There are 170 people signed up this term so far. Of those, the first choices are:

Roar= 42
Snarfle=36 (what sound does a badger make, y’all?)
Caw= 58
Hiss= 28

(and 6 “no preference”s)

People who are really, really desperate for Ravenclaw…despite all my Slytherin instincts, I am not accepting bribes. It might be wise to really consider your second choice, and try to picture yourself being part of that house.

The countdown is up!

The countdown is up (or going down) and I am getting more and more excited for the next term. I love overseeing which classes will be offered and the assignments that will be given. I love sign ups. I love the fact that next term will be more HP centered in that we are all gearing up for the movie! I'm making a list of patterns and yarn so I can figure out what I need to order. The nice thing about being the Headmistress is I do have very firm knowledge of what the upcoming classes are going to be. Lots of queue management in my future!

I hope that many of you will join in the fun this next term. I can't wait to see what amazing projects y'all will do next!!

Day 2 Sign-up Recap

Continuing on the Recaps from the Sign Up process...

As of 4/02/09 11:48pm, EST, approximately 34 hours into sign ups:

There are 153 people signed up for the House Cup. Of these, the first choices are as follows:

Scarlet & Gold= 38
Yellow & Black= 31
Blue & Bronze= 54
Green & Silver= 26

And four students with no preference.

There are:

78 First Years
45 Second Years and
30 Third Years.

Last term there were 160 sign-ups, which mean we are currently experiencing a 47% retention rate (among students who have competed in a previous term) after less than two days.

Stats From Sign-ups Day 1

**DAY ONE**

There are 112 people currently signed up. Sign-ups have been open about 12 hours. 9 1/3 people have signed up each hour since we started. If we continue at this rate, we will exceed our Winter participation five hours from now. If we continue at this rate until midnight, PST, April 29th, there will be 6,281 Housecuppers. (Pray for us all that we slow down!)
The house first choices are like so:
Gryffs= 25
Puffs= 22
Claws= 41
Slyths= 22
(with two having no preferred house)
The house second choices are like so:
Gryffs= 24
Puffs= 17
Claws= 21
Slyths= 32
(with 18 having no second-choice preference.)
While Ravenclaw is the clear leader for first choices, there is a surprising enthusiasm for Slytherin as a second choice! (Also, Dear People With Ravenclaw As Your Second Choice: it is very unlikely that you will end up there. See first-choice breakdown above.)
Other fun facts:
There are 4 returning Third Year Students from each of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor & Slytherin. There are 11 Third Year Ravenclaws.
At least three people named Julie have Slytherin as their first choice.
There are 21 Firsties who want to be in Ravenclaw. There are, respectively, 14, 9, & 7 who want Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
Slytherin makes a surprise rally amongst the 2nd years, considering the slim First Year prospects - 11 Second Years want to be Snakes. Lion, Badger & Eagle Second Years come in at 7, 8, & 9, respectively.
The most common 1st/2nd pairing is Ravenclaw/Slytherin, with 19.
The least common 1st/2nd pairing is Slytherin/Hufflepuff, with…zero. Ironically, Hufflepuff/Slytherin is the most common Hufflepuff combination (there are 8).
The students most likely to have no second-choice preference were Slytherins, by a huge margin - 9 Slytherins don’t care where else they might be, as opposed to five Hufflepuffs and two each Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.
-- snagged from Scarlettb's post 200 in the Sign-up thread

End of Winter Term & Spring Sign-ups!

WOW. The Winter Term of HPKCHC has come to an end. Many of our students had a difficult term. Not concerning classes here at Hogwarts, but rather in the Muggle world. There were floods, erupting volcanoes, kitchen repairs, illness, computer deaths, ailing family, broken cars, job losses. And also positive, yet distracting things. New jobs, new babies, new homes...

The end of term feast celebration was aided by Casey. He provided party hats to all Hogwarts students & got carried away spreading them throughout Ravelry. There were also some fun party games provided by Casey: chase the random buttons, bugs that skittered across the screen, and I've heard rumors of cats & penguins popping out of the site logo banner!

And even though all assignments have been turned in, the final house points have not been tallied. (There is a LOT of work that these professors do for us!) So in a few days, we hope to have the final term points & we can announce the House Cup Champions!

----
With the end of term comes the much anticipated Sign-up list for next term. Seven hours after posting the sign-up sheet, there are already over 75 students waiting to be sorted! Term sign-ups will be open through the month of April, and close April 29. Our Sorting Hat is managed by Scarlettb, our Spreadsheet Sorceress. Each student can request his or her top two preferred houses. Or state no preference. ScarlettB has mastered the skills required to keep the sorting fair, keeping the house size even, and keeping the students preferences in mind. This term, as last, returning students have weighted prioity in their house preference. But remember, there is no guarantee that a student will get their top pick. Sometimes the Sorting hat determines a student belongs in a different house.

More updates to follow-- Stay Tuned.