Volume 1 Issue 4

RAVENCLAW WINS THE HOUSE CUP!

By Jane Smith

One thing was on the mind of QA students at the end of term banquet held on Friday October 7, the House Cup. 

Throughout the year, the Ravenclaws were high points earners and were found each week to be leading the other two houses.  Hufflepuff House was consistently in the middle.  But, it was the Gryffindors that were the real surprise in this contest. 

All three Gryffindor boys were prone to great acts that would earn them large scoops of House Points.  Unfortunately, all three were also prone to great acts of rule breaking that would lose them House Points almost as quickly!  Consequently they were each week found to be the House with the fewest points.

But, during the last week of the term, the Gryffindors rallied!  They did everything they could to earn points and to keep them!  They worked so hard that they almost tied with Ravenclaw.  The three heads of house had to confer and determined that it was very close, but Ravenclaw did have slightly more points.

Great job Ravenclaws!  And great job to all QA students!

Monday, the new term starts and so a new race for the HOUSE CUP!

Witches on Halloween Night By Alahna Petersen

Once, long ago, there were three witches. They were wicked witches, and if a young child of 7 or younger ever came across the witches they would feed the child a special potion. Then they would suck the youth out of the child to keep the witches young. For if the witches didn't take someone’s youth on the night of Halloween they would die.

On Halloween night more than one thousand years ago a small girl named Lily, youngest of a family of 10, was out to get firewood for the stove. The witches caught her in the woods but one of her brothers, the second oldest who was 16, had been playing in the trees when he saw his sister being kidnapped by the witches. He ran after them and tried to save her but when he arrived his sister had already been given the potion.  The witches turned him into a black cat (for he was too old to take his youth) that would live forever unless a child the age of his little sister said a special incantation from the witches' book of spells that would free him.  Once it was said he would die after ten minutes.  A mob of 40 people that their father had gathered after he realized his children were missing arrived to get rid of the witches once and for all, but it was too late.  The boy was already a cat and Lily was dead.  The mob hung the witches but they never found out what happened to the boy.

981 years later a girl that had been taking care of the cat for 4 years found the book.  The girl had felt a special connection with the cat, and had been the only one that ever came close to being able to talk with the the boy, who was almost 1000 years old, while he was a cat. One day, the girl read the spell with out knowing that she would kill the cat she had owned and loved since she was 3.  In the 10 minutes the cat had before he died, he explained everything and thanked the girl for taking care of him.  He died peacefully and rejoined Lily and the rest of his family in heaven.  The little girl was sad that her cat had died but happy that he was free from the spell.

QA Staff Takes a Hint 

By Professor Hunt

Thanks to a recent article in The Leaf, students at Quercus Alba should have no reason to complain about empty stomachs at school gatherings. From Olympic cake rings to an onion ring Tower of Babel, school fare recently has been top notch.  

 

Students have also been contributing to the happy state of our taste buds.  We have sampled Hagrid's rock 

cakes, ginger snaps, magical banana bread, and a pyramid made of Rice Krispie treats.

A new school year begins in just a few days. I wonder what scrumptious foods we will have the opportunity to eat?

 

Play Dough Wars 

By Emma Palmer

 My friend Alexandra and I like to make play dough.  Then we go outside to the backyard, and throw it at each other!  It's fun because it hurts.  Our first play dough war was in the kitchen, but my mom won't allow that any more.  We get play dough in our hair and all over our clothes.  I'm still picking play dough off a shirt I wore in our last war, and Wednesday I found play dough on my shoe.  We actually miss a lot.  It's hard to hit someone with a play dough ball.

    

 First, we make the play dough from a recipe my mother got from my brother's kindergarten teacher.

3 cups flour

1 ½ cups salt

3 cups water

3 teaspoons cream of tartar

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

food coloring of your choice

1 small package of koolaid to match the food coloring (We like to add double the koolaid. It makes the play dough smell really good. One time we rebelled and did not match the food coloring with our koolaid.  We made turquoise play dough with lime koolaid.)

Combine water, oil, and food coloring in a large pan. Mix flour, salt, koolaid, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl.  Add to liquid.  Cook on low heat, stirring constantly.  Mixture will begin to bubble and get thicker. (Keep stirring, as it may scorch.)  When it forms a ball it is done!  Allow mixture to cool completely, then place it in a Ziploc baggie and seal tightly.

 After we make the play dough, we take the big ball and we split it into two balls.  Then we pack it tight, so that when we stand up and throw it on the floor it doesn't break.  Then we go outside and start the war!  What's bad about doing it outside is if it gets into the grass, and it will, then dirt and grass will be in your play dough.  We tried picking it out, but it took too long.  Still, we always have a great time!

Musings

A Weekly Column by Damarco Montoya

UFO Pizza

Standing by a car, leaning up against it (I think), late at night I noticed an unidentified flying object appeared over head.  Who would’ve thought a strange triangular-shaped flying object would have chosen ME as his audience?  I was thinking over and over as to what that was and figured it was simply unidentified, flying (yes, it was in the air so I assumed it was in fact flying), and it was or seemed to be an object. 

At the time I was discussing important matters with my nextdoor neighbor just before calling it a night.  Maybe it was what we were discussing that prompted the visitation from the land (or galaxy) of flying objects.  I can’t for the life of me remember what we were talking about that night.  Oh NO!  My memory must have been wiped clean by those who inhabit the flying object, which is unidentified.

What does that mean anyways, to be unidentified, flying, and an object really?  So, lots of things are unidentified in this world.  I can find maybe half a dozen things in my fridge right now that are considered by me and probably all who take a gander to be unidentified, though they aren’t or can’t possibly also learn to fly (I suppose if thrown really hard . . .).  For something to be flying (of its own capacity rather than being propelled- which would be rather easy, just ask any of my younger siblings) is a bit tougher since now we’re talking about technology and science.  In order to fly, one must have an engine of sorts (preferably the sort that causes flight) and a means to power the engine, like a battery or something equivalent.  An object is pretty easy to come by, since we are all objects (the definition of NOUN: person, place, or thing covers a lot of ground).

I’ve got it!  All I need to do is wear a strange costume and sprout wings and I will qualify as a UFO. Wouldn’t it be funny to see pictures labeled as UFOs but are shaped more or less like weird people in an unidentifiable costume rather than the overused or cliché flying disc?  An observer might say, “There it is again, that crazy weird flying thing.  Do you know what that thing is?” Another observer might say, “Nope, it’s unidentifiable to me, it’s an object alright, and it sure is flying.  Let’s give it a label and put it in the books!”

So my UFO was shaped like a triangle and had some lights on the corners.  I guess how it seemed to fly was what was remarkable to us.  The fat pizza slice-shaped thing seemed to fly quickly to right above us (really high in the sky of course- no, it wasn’t a neighborhood prankster hanging a piece of pizza overhead from a tree, unless he too was able to fly in which case he could’ve qualified as a UFO as well), and then it seemed to hover momentarily before flying quickly away.

We scratched our heads and continued with our conversation.  I’m sure it must’ve been our conversation that drew it nearby.  What were we talking about?  I know, we were talking about Pizza.  I came home with pizza and we were talking about different types of toppings.  I guess they were hungry!

At the time I was discussing important matters with my next door neighbor just before calling it a night.  Maybe it was what we were discussing that prompted the visitation from the land (or galaxy) of flying objects.  I can’t for the life of me remember what we were talking about that night.  Oh NO!  My memory had been wiped clean by those who inhabit the flying object which is unidentified. . .