Inform Yourself!

Chapter 7

Hogwarts Welcoming Feast

The Start-of-Term Feast, also known as the Welcoming Feast [or the Great Feast], is the traditional feast of the first night at Hogwarts, welcoming the start of a new school year. It is held in the Great Hall on the night of 1 September following the arrival of the students on the Hogwarts Express. The feast is notable for including the Sorting of all new first year students into their Houses. The Start-of-Term Feast is also used to introduce new members of the teaching staff to the student body, and to pass out important announcements and messages concerning the new school year. This is usually done in the form of a speech by the Headmaster or Headmistress. They may also choose to say a few words during this time, such as in 1991, when Albus Dumbledore told the students, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!",[1] or in 1994, when he said "Tuck in!" [5] Hereby, depending on the mood of the Head, the School Song may be sung, to no particular melody other than the individual's choosing. Sometimes, there is a musical presentation by pupils during the feast, for example in 1993, the school choir led a presentation of Something Wicked This Way Comes before the announcements.[6]

Divination professor Sybill Trelawney usually chose not to attend such functions. At the beginning of the 1995–1996 school year, the Ministry-implanted teacher, Dolores Umbridge, interrupted Dumbledore's welcoming speech at the end of the feast, which no other new teachers had ever done before, something the students found amusing, while the staff seemed offended. Umbridge went on to insult the students by speaking down on them as though they were five-year-old children and then began a very dull speech that most students simply wandered off into chatter (some Prefects pretended to listen to live up to their duties), with Umbridge continuing ignorantly. The other teachers and Hermione Granger knew the very meaning of the speech: "the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts". During the Feast, hundreds of plates are set on each of the four House tables and are filled with food magically appearing on the empty plates, prepared by house-elves working in the kitchens below. Likewise, it is emptied by vanishing before their eyes when the Feast is complete. 

By Princess Isabelle JPotter

Chocolate Frogs

Chocolate Frogs are a popular frog-shaped sweet in the Wizarding World. They are made with 70% of Croakoa, which allows them to jump around like actual frogs. Each box of this wonderful sweet contains a collectible card of a famous Witch or Wizard through the ages. Collectibles include Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, Albus Dumbledore, Gilderoy Lockhart and so many more! So, get out your money and start collecting! 

By Hermione Black