Ravenclaw Report: May and a Half in Hufflepuff

When we last met our heroines, they had left Gryffindor Tower on their way to the Den...

This term, Spring 2015, we are spending a term in Hufflepuff where students are divided into cetes. As with other groups on Ravelry in which I've participated, cetes started off the term with a get-to-know-each-other questionnaire. Typically one, maybe two people might respond to such a post if that. Most people just express "Welcome!" by clicking the love button. Not in Hufflepuff. I had about 4 or 5 personalized responses to my post. I was surprised and most definitely felt welcomed.

There are many games, challenges, etc in Hufflepuff to help motivate students to push themselves. I decided to keep my life simple and just focus on playing Puffopoly. The goal is to move your way around a Monopoly-like board. You earn moves by submitting advanced studies proposals, classwork, Quidditch, etc. You can learn more about Puffopoly here.

Luckily for me, Martin Freeman is a welcome sight in the Hufflepuff UnCommon Room; at least two denizens of the Den (Den-izens?) are noted Benedict Cumberbatch fans and Sherlock is one of the many fandoms floating around Hufflepuff.  I've also decided to do Puffopoly and leave many other threads unread...  although the title of the SWorD thread definitely appeals to me: the Puff version of the Lab stands for "Spinning, Weaving or Dyeing" and I may be poking my nose in there come June for some new skill ideas.

Oh yes: and the Tour de Puff: the Hufflepuff Head Girl Challenge for this term has taken a sweeping arc into Tour de France land for a multi-stage points/yardage/activities journey.  Students have formed their own 5-to-9-person teams for goals and glory and I have joined two teams because.  It goes beyond badges, I think, but my memory can't be trusted.  I don't really understand what's happening and I cannot explain my actions further and I'm running on FUMES, I tell you!

What have we learned so far?

• Puffopoly is multidimensional and multi-term; we won't be able to take advantage of gameplay past the end of S2015, but kudos to those loyal Puffs who have earned those hotels and whatnot!
• Communication in the Den is straightforward and friendly... not a lot of poetry (Vogon, Homeric, or otherwise).
• Badges badges badges!  Badgers!

Ravenclaw Report: A Short Report for a Short Month

When we last met our heroines, they were adapting to Gryffindor extroverts and pride culture...

I still haven't managed to participate in my Pride as much as I'd like. Even so, I'm enjoying getting notifications to collect my Chocolate Frog Cards and badges. There certainly are lots of tags and events to keep track of but doing so means you get a badge for every thing you do. Yay, badges! It kind of feels like getting a sticker on your graded homework. Sigh. I miss the days of collecting stickers. Now I don't have to miss those days because today is the day of badges for everything!

Yes, the badges have been fun -- especially since only Gryffindors get collectible Chocolate Frogs! -- but all the tracking is leaving me a little confused.  At the beginning of term I was asked to declare a goal number for my total yarn usage, and I was absolutely flummoxed as to both why it was necessary and how I would even begin to know what was right for me!  I understand tracking one's points (obvs), but why track yardage?  Maximizing class bonus points?  Maybe.  I'll go along with it... For The Mantel!

What have we learned so far?

• In a departure from previous terms, this term's Gryffindor pride groupings are named after a type of dragon, rather than a type of candy?  The deal with that: we're dragontrainers.  Each pride gets a baby dragon to train.  It's pretty serious business (srs bidness).
• The Marauder's Mission challenges for this term are similar to Ravenclaw moonpaths and prefect challenges, but they take the pledge-a-point-total concept a bit further by introducing a group challenge aspect.  Deathly Hallows Missions allow for group pledges in points, yardage, and storytelling to inspire maximum pride in one's efforts at Hogwarts.
• Apparently there's usually Bingo, and the WIP the First detention challenge, and something called Trolley Treats...  all of these are absent in Gryffindor this term, so if you want to know more, that research is on you.  :)

Ravenclaw Report: the View from Gryffindor Tower

When we last met our heroines, they were adjusting to a new life in a new House at Hogwarts...

I hadn't realized until this term how comfortable I had become in Ravenclaw. There we were sorted into Dorms by year so as time went on, the dorm turned into a core group of people with guests in and out from term to term. Cyprienne's and my dorm consisted of mostly introverts who enjoyed sharing WIP (work in progress) pictures and personal life tidbits. In Gryffindor, students are divided into sizable Prides with discussion themes for each day. I have found my pride to consist of several chatty extroverts. I haven't been as intentional about getting to know my pride-mates as I had intended and hope to rectify this over the rest of the term.

In addition to getting to know my pride, there is a lot to learn about the ins and outs of Gryffindor. There are all sorts of missions to inspire participation, particularly since Gryffindor is making a big push to win the House Cup this term. Overall, everything is just so new and I'm still adjusting. I find myself focusing more on my knitting and less on the game which is an acceptable approach but not exactly in the spirit of exploring the houses. Fortunately there is still plenty of time for me to become more familiar with Gryffindor House and this lovely group of extroverts.

I have used more exclamation points this term then in all previous terms combined...  that may not be an actual stat, but it feels like it sometimes!!  (Regular sentences get one exclamation mark!  Two punctuation points mean I'm here to party and feeling emphatic!!)

I was lucky enough to get swept into the Common Room during the later half of December.  I came bearing cookies -- the legendary Gryffindor sweet tooth? not exaggerated! everything from disappointment to a dissertation is celebrated with ice cream -- and they've consistently pulled me back in throughout the term with Martin Freeman gifs...  a gateway nugget to convince me to ROAR! and drink the kool-aid, perhaps?

What have we learned so far?

• There is a definite culture of excitedly Doing.All.The.Things, with copious yardage-tracking and tagging of posts and badges, badges, badges
• This term, Gryffindor has put WIP the First on the back burner -- with a new focus on Advanced Studies proposals, the Lions are keeping pace with Ravenclaw and Slytherin!  Surprised?  Don't be.  It's no accident.
• In Ravenclaw, the Common Room is the chatty place to be while the Dorms are where the low-key discussions happen. In Gryffindor, the Common Room is less chatty and the Prides are where all the action resides.