Candy Diggle is going to start a club for midgets

Goodness me I overslept this morning! I always do that when I first arrive home for the holidays there is something very nice and cosy about sleeping in a different bed. Today was a lovely day I fixed the cooker because it was acting up and then Dido and Clytie and I baked biscuits and we are probably going down to the seaside tomorrow for a day trip. I am very glad to be home! I do not feel like I am old enough to be a NEWT student this September but maybe I will feel more ready when my OWL results come but that is not for a long time so I will not think about it any more.

I understand the necessity of bringing in all the jarveys but they are so rude! I do not understand why Professor Behr did not cast silencing charms on them I mean he already blunted their teeth and claws so I do not think it can be an ethical thing. I would almost rather have the gnomes at least they do not go around shouting rude things at people.

He was very informative about goldfrogs though when I asked him how they could be mating and he drew a few diagrams which I think are very interesting if anyone else wants to have a look?

It was not me that spilt paint on all those costumes just so everyone is clear! I do not tend to help paint things and I especially would not paint things if I was alone because I could get the colours muddled.

I just wanted to say that we are working very hard on repairing the costumes so do not worry they will all be fixed by Friday at the latest but if anyone has any other issues then please let me know and I will do my best to get it sorted!

Dear Drama Club,

Please try not to destroy the set or the props before the actual show! I mean I am not saying that you would but I always get very nervous at this point because it takes a long time to fix these things and the musical is in a week so we do not really have time on our side. So just be careful please.

Thank you,

Candice Diggle

Congratulations Ravenclaw! I am very happy that we have won the Quidditch Cup and I look forward to Cheering for our new team next year.

OWLs are keeping me very busy but I have been reading my fairy tales book in my spare time and as the musical is not that far off I suppose I should do another tale!

( Rapunzel )

I am very sorry Cam and Charlotte and everyone else but I do not think I will be coming to Bandestra tomorrow.

My G-string broke!

There is going to be a vigil tonight for Kingsley Shacklebolt in the Colin Creevey Memorial Park and we are going to have candles and stay up all night. I am going with all my family even Perseus who is very young to miss a whole night's sleep and my grandmother who has a bad hip because we think it is about time that wizardkind made a stand against this recent madness. (But it is going to be a peaceful stand do not worry.)

I know it is not my place to tell anyone what to do or not to do but I think anyone who respects Kingsley Shacklebolt and what he did for wizardkind after the end of the War and who was shocked and saddened by this news should come along too.

Thank you and that is all.

For what it is worth I do not think our headmistress is a neo-purist. Professor Sprout has been headmistress of Hogwarts for a long time and she was a professor before that too and in all that time no one was ever kidnapped by neo-purists until recently. So for everyone saying she made it easy for them then your logic is a bit flawed I think.

I am glad that St Patrick's Day is over. For a colour that I cannot see (at least not the same way everybody else sees it) there is certainly a lot of fuss made over it. Next year I think I will ask someone if I am actually wearing green because I thought I was but apparently it was undeniably a blue jumper and I got pinched a few times.

I have been reading about Mothering Sunday and apparently the tradition had nearly died out by the 1930s but was revived by American soldiers fighting in World War II. Mothering Sunday was originally a day that all domestic servants were given off so that they could visit their mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together since in other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours. It is traditional to give your mother flowers on Mothering Sunday and also to eat Simnel cake which is a fruit cake with marzipan on top and eleven marzipan balls to represent the eleven faithful disciples. I think it is interesting how there is always symbolism behind traditions. Nothing is ever straightforward!

There are lots more Muggle fairy tales than I imagined! It is taking me a while to get through the book Clytie sent me. But I have recently read Little Red Riding Hood which is also one of the fairy tales included in Into The Woods so here is my summary and my notes on the story.

( Little Red Riding Hood )

I gave my wand to Professor Gerber so he could check it for tagging spells since I do not have anything to hide. It only took him a few minutes and then he gave it back and as far as I can tell my wand is completely fine so if anyone is worried then please do not be. Unless you had something to do with the tagging spells. Then you probably should be worried. But if you had anything to do with the tagging spells then you are probably not going to hand your wand over anyway so I guess that is a moot point.

By the way if there are any fifth years who need notes for Muggle Studies or Arithmancy then I have plenty as my duplicating spell went a bit wrong. I have cast Finite Incantatum now and I believe they have stopped multiplying but there are certainly enough copies for everyone who disappeared. We mostly reviewed things that we have already covered but Juliana thought it would be helpful to take extra notes because it is our OWL year.

Apparently petitions do not always work but it is all right because Dido and Clytie have said they will take me to a science museum during the holidays which will be fun. I am also looking forward to working on the sets for Into The Woods! I have not heard of the Muggle fairy tales this musical is based on so I got Clytie to send me a book with them in. It also has different interpretations of each story which I think are very interesting but I am not sure how I am supposed to tell which interpretation is the right one.

I think I will write out what I learn because it might be helpful to other people who do not know these fairy tales or who want to learn more about them.

( Cinderella )

PETITION TO KEEP MUGGLE STUDIES TRIPS

We, the undersigned, wish to protest the decision made to cancel the Muggle Studies trip to a science museum.

On Monday 18th January 2024 it was announced that the Muggle Studies trip to a science museum had been cancelled. It is unclear whether it is simply this trip, or all future trips, that have been cancelled. We wish to have the trip reinstated as we believe it would be an educational experience that would benefit all those who take part. We also wish that no future Muggle Studies trips be cancelled either. While we do not necessarily oppose the installation of telephones at Hogwarts, we do not think that this is a fair replacement.

Sincerely,

( Necessity is the mother of invention. )