[Announcement] The Daily Prophet -- July 2004 Edition

Volume 29: July 2004

PAGE 1: CURRENT EVENTS AND MINI PLOTS

international summer school The International Summer School (ISS) program is back with an exciting new twist! This year, students have the opportunity to make waves (literally) through the Mediterranean aboard a cruise ship, courtesy of Courtois Cruises. Students will be assigned to cabins by age in groups of 2-4, and these cabins have been magically-enlarged to the size of small apartments to accommodate. The ship will stop at several different ports for day-trips, and there are plenty of activities on-deck as well such as swimming pools, karaoke, games, and varied dining options. Seminars and guest lecturers will also be featured, with a similar customizable curriculum as in years past. The opportunity is open to rising First Years (Class of 2011) through recent graduates (Class of 2004). There will be two separate sessions: Session I for two weeks (Monday, July 19th - Friday, July 30th), and Session II for three weeks (Monday, August 2nd - Friday, August 20th). Students may attend one or both sessions, and students may return home for the weekend between sessions if they wish. International Summer School 2004 - information and sign up thread artistic flying camp Meanwhile, the artistic flying school in Rybinsk is inviting students from all over the world for intensive training at the artistic flying school. While there has always been a summer camp for junior athletes from around the world, this year even beginners can choose to come to Rybinsk to learn more about this beautiful sport. Students will stay at the magical hotel in Rybinsk, and be able to enjoy the sights in the city in between their busy schedules: aside from training on the broom, there will be ballet classes, training in the beam room, and general workouts. Finally, students will be able to watch the top artistic flyers in a few open practices. Students can stay for two weeks or up to the entire summer break depending on their ambition and their financial means. Artistic Flying Summer Camp - information and sign up thread

world Courtois Cruises offers several Mediterranean cruises this summer. While some voyages are common Mediterranean cruises like they have already been offered in the past, there are also tickets available for the Neptune, the ship that hosts the international summer school this year. Tickets for these cruises are discounted as the Courtois family expects that less people will want to share the ship with a huge group of students and wants to give families a chance to join their children on this special journey. While adults will have their cabins on a different deck, they share the lido deck as well as the dining room with the students.

PAGE 2: SPORTS

national artistic flying championships With the world championships coming up next month, the national artistic flying federations are hosting their championships to determine their representatives who can fight for the world title in Guerlesquin, France from the 18th to 22nd of August. Special attention is, as every year, on the Russian championships. Experts are especially interested in the senior men's event as Rodion Shishkin and Nikon Zima, two promising young athletes, move up to the senior ranks and challenge the defending Champion Anatoliy Tikhomirov. In the ladies' field it seems to come down to the duel of multiple time World Champion Aglaya Tikhomirova and Svetlana Tikhomirova. Among the junior ladies the competition is strong. In the junior men's field we will definitely see a new Champion this year, given that the defending Champion will be competing among the seniors now.

OPINION: THE GOBSTONERS’ GRIPE As a giant is felled by a single warlock with a wicked rock-hurling charm, so falls the overrated Quidditch season to its stony successor, Gobstones. Though we “stoners” must abide months’ worth of chatter and Quaffle from the obsessed sons-of-bludgers that make up the vast majority of British and Irish sportswizards, at last the broomsticks have been retired for the summer, and it is Gobstones’ turn. However, can we expect nearly the funding or fanfare from the highly biased Magical Games and Sports department? Don’t make me laugh. Every year, we are forced to watch as wizards the world over pour Galleons into stadiums and practice pitches, citing “Muggle-repellant” and “Public relations” and “Security” for the extravagant prices. Maybe it’s time our governments changed their priorities; maybe it’s time Gobstoners had their day. And, Gobstoners, don’t forget to come to the inaugural match of the International Gobstones Championship tournament and sporting convention, where – it is rumoured – world-renowned Gobstoner Jacques “Spitting Jack” Hubert will be demonstrating how to coax a 1981 Cobra Crockery Gobstone into spurting mucus in an opponent’s eye.

PAGE 3: OTHER NEWS

Festival du theatre Arles is hosting the magical equivalent to the Festival de Avignon. The French Ministry of Magic has secured the amphitheatre of Arles from the 8th and 11th of July. Witches and wizards from around the world are invited to experience a special theatre festival. The topic of this year is deus ex machina. Old plays are performed in a modern and magical way. Theatre groups from eighteen different countries from all continents are showing their interpretations. The organisers are particularly proud to present the ensemble coração de fogo from Brazil that is well known for their colourful and spectacular performances. The Brazilian group will terminate the festival on Sunday night. Tickets for the weekend were sold out a day after the sales started and are now sold expensively on the black market. a shock to your stock The goblin-run stock exchange took quite the hit this week, plummeting to all-time session lows, and this Friday marked the worst seven day decline since late April of 1998. Traders are already referring to the dip as a Horklump Slump. wedding announcement Madam Charlotte Mulligan would like to announce the wedding of her daughter Louise Ellington to Mr Samuel Dickinson. The service will take place in the grounds of The Warlock's Nook, Notting Hill, London on Friday 13th August 2004 at 2pm. Maid of honour will be Nazreen Ajay, accompanied by bridesmaids Enitan Reed-Dickinson, Jennifer Tozer and Malaika Montgomery-Dickinson. The Best Man is Filius Flitwick and the ringbearers will be Jonathan Tozer and Jack Dickinson-Montgomery.

Danger in Transylvania! -- Rolf Scamander Less than two weeks ago the Prophet received the first alarming reports of trouble within the Romanian Dragon Reserve. The females have become more than usually aggressive, fighting over their food to the point of drawing blood and needing to be separated whereas the males are too skittish to ride. Dragonologists set out to explore the furthest reaches of the reserve but it was the team of experienced dragonologist and writer Serban Ilionescu together with first-year trainee Edyta Ciesynska who first discovered the disturbing cause of the dragons' anxiety. Close to the edge of the sanctuary range a manticore had taken up residence. The bones of a yearling dragon attested to the danger posed to the sanctuary and its inhabitants, though thankfully Ilionescu, with assistance from Miss Ciesynska were able to both mark the area and contain the manticore. As many readers may already be aware, manticore hide repels almost all spells and thus removing the creature was impossible at that time. Following their return to the sanctuary headquarters, two more teams returned to report they too had discovered manticores at the edges of the dragons' range. Why these creatures have moved north of their natural habitat and why they appear to be attracted to the dragons or their territory is unknown. However, the Romanian Ministry for Magic is calling for assistance from trained magizoologists and skilled witches and wizards with a specialism in magical creatures or transfiguration in moving these creatures back to their home range, and devising wards that will ensure they do not threaten the safety of not just other creatures, but humans as well.

PAGE 5: CREDITS AND NOTICES

information We have revamped The Daily Prophet based on member feedback and welcome any comments or suggestions in an effort to further improve the Prophet. credits This issue was created by the Administration team, with additional submissions and ideas from Carys. We would like to thank Christine for the super easy to use coding, and Samm for the amazing header. how to contribute We would love to include more member-led stories and submissions. This can be in the form of in-character letters to the editors, rumours and gossip, or character-driven plots. You can submit your ideas to any member of the team, however if you have something in mind for a specific geographical area of the board please try to contact the admin for that area: Olivia for Hogwarts & Britain, Inga for Beauxbatons & Western Europe, Dylan for Durmstrang & Eastern Europe, and Lianne for Ilvermorny & North America.

Is the Mini plots treasure badge still available? I seem to remember it was 5 MP threads in a playtime month either by a driver OR by a single char, is that right? Because I definitely am not stupid enough to want to try and get it for one of my chars this month, ohh no.  

…. I’ll join you in this mad quest. ❤️

summer school information is up now!

I hope everybody will enjoy the IC summer.

Is the Mini plots treasure badge still available? I seem to remember it was 5 MP threads in a playtime month either by a driver OR by a single char, is that right? Because I definitely am not stupid enough to want to try and get it for one of my chars this month, ohh no.  

please see the badges and awards topic