Hogwarts Halloween!

This week we had our Hogwarts Halloween Party! Having just finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this week, the timing was just right! The kids were initially surprised to see that their teachers had been replaced by Professors McGonagall and Snape who sat them down to spell out their lessons for the day.

In Herbology, students pulled out seeds from various pumpkins and gourds and tallied the seeds using their knowledge of tens and ones. This required an unsqueamish disposition as there were lots of goopy innards to separate from the seeds.

In Charms class, kids were given ink pots, quills and parchment to write their own spells. After working with these new writing implements, we could easily see how the Diagon Alley shop called "Flourish and Blotts" got its name!

In transfiguration, the 1-2 kids had to perform a tricky bit of magic using the "Elixir of Life" (procured from the Sorcerer's Stone and supplied to the Hogwarts professors by Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel). Using a bit of this transforming solution, students had to transfigure an ordinary rock into a precious piece of gold! They were advised to get it locked up in Gringotts Bank as soon as possible!

In Divination class, kids were given a cup of warm water and loose tea. They swished around the contents of their cup of tea and then drank (or drained) their cups to look at the arrangement of the tea leaves in the cup. With the help of Professor Trelawney and the manual "Unfogging the Future" kids got a glimpse of what the future holds in store for them. But as divination is a very imprecise branch of magic, we don't set too much store by these prognostications.

In a special lesson hosted by the Honeydukes candy store in Hogsmeade students got to sample some of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. In order to help them decide if they dared taste the flavor of their bean, they were shown how to use a dichotomous key. This saved many a timid soul from a nasty encounter with an unsavory bean flavor (like earthworm or vomit!) though many brave young witches and wizards dared to try these exotic tastes.

And at Ollivander's wand shop, students crafted their very own magic wand. Once their inspired wand had been created, they were given a copy of "The Standard Book of Spells Year One" with spells to test out their wands and magical skill.

Finally, the Great Hall was overladen with delights! There were chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties, popcorn balls and cheesy broomsticks, pretzel sticks and Rice Krispie treats, cut up fruits and oranges as well as apples, juices, cider, water. Each child got to take several passes through this feast of snacks!

Check out pictures below of this very special event!