SNITCHSEEKER, A HISTORY

Still suffering in the aftermath of the previous school year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry began the new term without any sort of disaster or untimely deaths. With the unfortunate events of last term behind the prestigious school, but certainly not forgotten, Headmistress Truebridge began the year with a speech highlighting things to come. But this would merely serve as the calm before the storm as it took little time for strange things to beginning happening at Hogwarts once more.

Budding ghostly romance and flattering howlers aside, Hogwarts continued to provide with new secret passageways and undiscovered rooms. Or perhaps the better word would be forgotten, as the more unique of these revealings came in the form of a forgotten bathroom on the sixth floor that served as a secret entrance into the Gryffindor common room, as well as provided a bit of Potter-era Hogwarts history.

If only Hogwarts new groundskeeper could practice constant vigilance with as much attentiveness as he gave his hair, there could have been something done about the mysterious scurrying of creatures unknown about the grounds. But alas, little came from the shrill screaming of Scott Maclaren when something went by one of the windows of his hut early on in the term. Was whatever that had terrified the man connected to the unusual increase of cobwebs about the castle? As students and staff would find out later, the answer was most definitely YES.

As Hogwarts house elves struggled to keep the castle clean, even prompting a meeting by Professor Abraham Botros to perform their cleaning duties with more diligence, cobwebs began cluttering up Hogsmeade as well. Even more unnerving was the appearance of a muggle camera and hat found in the back alley by several students and staff. With these items turned in to Hogsmeade authorities, it would be some time before anyone saw it fit to contact the Ministry of Magic about a potential breach in the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Before officials from the Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes arrived on scene, a group of muggles entered Hogsmeade village looking for their missing travel companion. With the owner of the previously discovered items revealed and their fate still under investigation, A&C personnel quickly went to work repairing the missing barrier around Hogsmeade meant to keep muggles out as well as wiping the memories of those muggles who did happen to find themselves in the village. Department head Aron Ashburry-Hawthorne later revealed that the magic surrounding Hogsmeade had been siphoned by Hogwarts to help sustain its sudden surge in magical power. While some had theorized that perhaps Hogwarts was getting old, a rumor based on the increase of cobwebs, this new information indicated that Hogwarts was, in fact, becoming stronger and arguably going through a metamorphosis.

As cobwebs continued to cover the castle in all their skin-crawling glory, pets and creatures began disappearing. Students in the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms began experiencing strange bites that caused various symptoms including swelling, red dots around the bite, fevers, and nausea. The mysterious movements about the grounds became menacing enough to spook the hippogriffs in Hogwarts care. Finding the hippogriffs fleeing towards the forest, Maclaren went after the creatures only to be scooped up by Henry the Hippogriff when something stalked them in the snow. It would not be until the Taste of the Caribbean end of term event that the Groundskeeper would be seen again, after hiding out in the Forbidden Forest and living off berries and bugs while avoiding the foes dwelling within.

These foes captured Gryffindor Cinnamon Bayless and Hufflepuff Lux Carrington who wandered down into the Chamber of Secrets after Ravenclaw Evangeline Shacklebolt and Gryffindor Damien Anderson-Belfort, the latter two receiving small injuries after the incident. With two students missing, these predators finally revealed themselves a little over a week later and launched a full out attack on the castle.

Crawling up from their temporary lair in the Chamber, acromantulas bred for the sole purpose of revenge for tresspassings by the school against their kind and the death of their mother s mate began herding all the humans in one place while searching for a specific target: Headmistress Truebridge. Finding the woman teaching in the greenhouses, the acromantulas took her and two more students, Hufflepuff Noel Wallace and Slytherin Freya Valke, into the Forbidden Forest where the Mother revealed her plans to take Hogwarts as her own and have her children feast upon all those dwelling within the castle.

But Hogwarts was never one to fall so easily.

With reinforcements called in from both the Ministry and Hogsmeade, plans for a rescue mission into the Forest and to push the acromantulas back were hatched and effectively executed. Under the guidance of Professor Maddox Quigley, students helped cast an impressive Daydream Charm on the Great Hall to create the illusion that there was a basilisk under their command. To add to the effect, others began transfiguring a series of tablecloths into snake skin that were then worn by a small team lead by Hogsmeade shopkeeper Harold Lagerty. The sight of two basilisks was enough to throw the acromantulas in the castle into a panicked frenzy, and made them easy pickings for any steady wand.

Meanwhile, a rescue team lead by Professor Sabel Dakest and Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures employee Cole Knight ventured into the Forbidden Forest and successfully returned all the captured students and Headmistress back to the castle.

With the last of the acromantulas stunned (one who was paying more attention to a roast turkey than the actual invasion), Truebridge exasperatedly announced her resignation as Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - much to the surprise of all the weary faces in the Great Hall.

Once all the bodies of the fallen acromantula were disposed with dignity, and those that survived the attack were returned to the Forbidden Forest under careful watch by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, students and staff were somehow able to enjoy - even moderately so - the Taste of the Caribbean event put on by the school s prefects. While some found it easier to unwind than others, the event was a success and Truebridge revealed that her words in the Great Hall were not just those said in the heat of the moment. Farewell, dear Headmistress, and thank you for your nine years of service!

Hopefully from now on Hogwarts will only need to follow the butterflies?

Before any of these camps could take place, however, Hogwarts faculty began implementing unusual rules about the castle that were meant to both bring some lighthearted flare and unify the school. From a live long and prosper zone in the Astronomy Tower, to flower giving compliments, to shoe switching outside the Headmaster s office, to the enforcement of trying a new food at every Thursday s dinner...there was plenty to keep up with as the term went on.

The first camp was administered by none other than the Headmaster himself and came in the form of a picnic breakfast out on the Hogwarts grounds accompanied by a topiary race that pitted house against house. After being served everything from sausage to pancakes, prepared by the Headmaster himself, students and faculty alike were presented with a large bush that they were to then form into the shape of their house s mascot. Once things had taken shape, the topiary were then raced around a racetrack circumnavigating the Black Lake. Slytherin house were the victors of the race, followed by Ravenclaw, then Gryffindor, and rounding out with Hufflepuff. Stomachs full and with some new additions to the Tower Patch s decor, everyone called it a day and returned to the castle with a bit more spring to their steps.

To keep the cheer going, Hogwarts staff organized a very special Christmas party and sleepover in the Great Hall on Christmas Eve. The festivities did not stop at a grand feast, but also included tree and cookie decorating along with Secret Santa deliveries where students wrote letters to one another praising one another s outstanding qualities and offered words of encouragement and empowerment. Board of Governor's president, Cassandra Rae-Braxton, made a very special announcement in which it was revealed that the grand prize of all this spirit raising would be either the chance to participate in a Ministry internship or a Quidditch stadium tour and game depending on the age of the recipient. As glittery snow - where had that come from? - rained down on everyone, everyone tucked in for the night and awoke the next morning to a lot more than just Christmas cheer!

The New Year rang in more surprises at Hogwarts, the first being a camp based around creativity amply titled License to Chill. With giant igloos on the grounds to house the fun activities within, students were able to experience firsthand ice skating, snow-man building, and hot cocoa! Slytherin skated into a win with the ice art challenge, and a snowball fight broke out where the students were supposed to be making snow creations (we see you cause trouble too, professors!). With not even the brisk January weather dampening spirits, the day was deemed another success - but then again, the cold never bothered Hogwarts, anyway. While spirits were rising within the castle walls, efforts were also made to repair previous tresspassings with those residing in the Forbidden Forest. After months of private discussion, the centaur Thereos agreed to host a special seminar on his kind for students and staff to participate in with the hope being that both human and onlooking centaur would see that their two species were not so different from one another. Participating in a sacred ceremony of a centaur receiving their first bow, synonymous with a wizard receiving their first wand, students experienced first hand what it felt like to be a centaur. Even a few from Thereos herd emerged to witness the spectacle, although the impact of this lesson has yet to be seen.

To top of a year of spirit, the prefects hosted the first annual Hogwarts Spirit Festival on the grounds. Among the bouncy castle and delicious food, students especially enjoyed blowing off some steam by affectionately dunking professors in dunk tanks. Enthusiasm was on the rise and just as things reached their peak the ground began to shake and rumble and .CANDY CANES APPEARED?! The rumbling persisted and while some faculty and prefects remained at the event to ensure everyone s safety, a few professors made their way towards the direction of the epicenter of all the shaking to find that the quidditch pitch had mysteriously repaired itself. What could this mean? How could a pitch fix itself? With investigations still underway by the Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes, those will have to remain answered another day.

At the end of term feast, Hadleigh Lynch, Head Boy Zander Adair, Prefect Dot Wojack, Benjamin Atreyu, and David Truebridge were announced as the top five students in all of Hogwarts with the most school spirit and recipients of the special opportunities offered by the Board of Governors earlier on in the term. With merriment abound, Hogwartians celebrated into the night. For once, there really was a quiet term at Hogwarts!

While Ursula terrorized the school with her flamboyant predictions of doom and destruction (and giving Professor Draper a love potion), the doll began exhibiting unusual behavior as well. Falling without the influence of external forces and blinking were only the beginning and within a matter of weeks the doll was giggling, talking and walking on its own about the castle. The doll eventually met its own demise, blowing up in the presence of Ravenclaw prefect Thornton Baines with in the Forgotten Bathroom, an eerie smoke emitting from the bits of broken porcelain.

Meanwhile Ursula s tactics escalated, the alluring aroma of children becoming too tantalizing for her to resist and, under the guise of a proper lesson, lured students to her tent on the grounds where she had set up a large cauldron. Upon casting a spell that prohibited any of the students from escaping her tent, Ursula nearly served up a batch of Hufflepuff Bradson Somerhalder were it not for the appearance of Headmistress Moxley and Professor Draper - no longer under the influence of the love potion, thankfully - who managed to drive the hag into the forest where she was never heard from again.

With hag gone, one would have thought that the strange occurances around the castle would cease .but the opposite happened. Toilet paper vanished from all the loos, shoelaces suddenly tying themselves together and causing people to trip, students accidentally poisoning themselves in Potions class due to ingredients being switched, furniture stuck to the ceilings in all the common rooms, all of Professor Flamsteed s Star Trek action figures walking out of his office, and more. All this was blamed on Peeves, the school s poltergeist, ...eventually leading to the dramatic conclusion of a full blown blizzard in the Great Hall. With the finger still being pointed at Peeves, who denied any association with the prank but praising it instead, the Great Hall was filled with loud girlish giggling as a female poltergeist - poltergal - revealed herself to be the one behind all the pranks as well as being the doll.

As well as declared her undying love for Peeves and asked the Fat Friar to marry them at once - a request that was skillfully diverted much to Peeves relief.

Fifteen years ago, the poltergeist then known as Samea was playing hide-and-seek with Peeves to try and impress him with her sneakiness and hid herself in a porcelain doll belonging to a student - whose owner affectionately named the doll "Miffy" after her dearly departed grandmother. Peeves turned the poltergal's attempt at schoolyard flirtation on its head and just stopped looking for her after a while upon becoming disinterested and going about to prank and pester students and faculty instead. The poltergal thought she was just SO clever and had found the perfect hiding spot and remained hidden within the doll waiting for Peeves to find her and be impressed with her skill. It was just her luck that their little game of hide-and-seek was taking place the eve of the end of term feast and the doll belonged to a seventh year. The doll was packed up in a trunk - where she continued to wait for Peeves to find her - and taken from the school. Upon doing so she became trapped in the doll and weakened over time.

The doll was affectionately passed down from one child to another - although never brought back to Hogwarts until this term - as was tradition, and soon forgot her own name and previous identity - now knEW herself ONLY as Miffy due to being called so all this time. Seeing as each generation was Hogwarts children, she continued to hear stories of Peeves' antics and what was rivalry as Samea, turned into infatuation and schoolgirl crush as Miffy. She then longed to return to the castle to finish their game of hide-and-seek (the only memory that stuck with her over the years as it was the last thing they ever did) and show Peeves once and for all how deserving of his attention she is.

No children in the family, until this term, had had the desire to bring the doll with them to Hogwarts. Said child, a first year, lost possession of the doll after having an unfortunate run in with Ursula and dropped the doll because the hag scared them. Ursula then claimed the doll as her own before boarding the train and everything else evolved from there.

Reunited at least, Peeves and Miffy joined forces and covered everyone in raven feathers and glue to celebrate Ravenclaw s House Cup victory - purposefully selecting raven feathers over eagle ones to tease.

Just another year at Hogwarts but hey, at least no one died?!