The Lions Den

Beasts: A creature that is magical but isn’t smart enough to understand laws that the magical world has, so it can’t help create these laws.   Favourite Beast: Centaur. They are strong and protective and are also really good at Divination. They’re very proud creatures too.. and very loyal to other centaurs. They also really value nature. I really identify with this idea of being proud of my family and willing to stand up and fight for them, so that’s why I chose them as my favourite creature.   Beings: A creature that is magical and that lives in the world of wizards and witches. They are smart enough to understand magical laws, and they try really hard to help create them.   Favourite Being: House Elves. These beings help to serve witches and wizards and they are also really loyal to the family that owns them. The whole slave thing is wrong, but they do their best at working hard and serving others. I chose this being because they’re super loyal and also I like that thei...

Ben sat in the third-floor classroom looking at the board. He had an uneasy feeling, for reasons he couldn’t explain, every time he came to this class. It was as if some dark secret was slowly being chiseled away in his mind. As if the room was trying to tell him something he didn’t know.  “Ben? You alright?” Chris, the Slytherin kid, asked.  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Ben lied. “Let’s just get to work. What are the Dark Arts?” He asked, reading the first question.  “Well, it’s important to point out that they’re not necessarily evil,” Chris observed from the textbook. “It’s about causing injury or destruction, sure, but it’s more about having control over something or someone. Sometimes that’s needed to protect somebody.”  “I’d never thought of it that way,” Ben replied. “I guess that’s why it’s important to learn about the Dark Arts. In case we have to protect ourselves pr others from things like curses, jinxes or dark creatures.”  “Yeah, I agree,” Chris nodded. “You k...

Ben walked into the classroom once it was unlocked, thinking it was rather an interesting way to begin class… to have the door locked! But once he heard what the spell was for the lesson today, he understood. He looked at the small box that was locked in front of him on the desk and took out his wand, taking a deep breath.  Ben held out his wand, made a movement that was a backwards-S shape, and said the incantation, “Alohomora!” He tried to pronounce it “ah-LOH-ho-MOR-ah”, like the book said, but it took a bit to get the pronunciation right. He knew that this would be the area he struggled most in with Charms.   One of these fifteen or so tries, he called out the spell so loud that it actually made a student beside him jump out of her skin. He apologized and continued to try. Another time, his wand actually hit her in the head… He did it so often that she finally said her name was Kelly, and that she could help him with his spell. He took her up on the offer to help and she s...

Dear Diary,   Today in class we walked in and immediately the professor told us we would have to write an essay about Harry Potter. I wasn’t sure if I should believe her because she really didn’t seem like the type to do that sort of thing to us. I was relieved when she told us about the game that we were going to play. When we heard that it involved candy, I was even more excited!   I got my five candies and decided to have one of each colour, just to have a broader understanding about everything there was to know. Being a Pure-blood, obviously I have heard all about Harry and the things that he did, but it was good to remind myself at the start of a new school year. Everything we did would kind of be in relation to that, I figured.   The red candy I gathered was to talk about a possession owned by Harry. The first thing that came to my mind was the Invisibility Cloak. I always thought this would be a pretty cool item to have! For um…. brave and protective reasons of cou...

Dear Professor Fenwick,   Today's lesson was somewhat difficult for me. My family is something of a tricky subject and I really struggle with talking about it… But we’ll start with the easy questions first, I guess.   I believe a muggle is someone that doesn’t have any magical abilities at all. As far as the theory of creation of magic, I haven’t really thought about it much. But now that I’m thinking about it more, I believe that there has always been magic in the world, but that it hasn’t always been known. Someone maybe preserved it for years and years and they hid in small areas, like the witches in Salem, and then maybe eventually they realized there were other people like them and that maybe they created their own world like places in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, then schools popped up all around the world.   My family tree is mostly pure-bloods. There are a few half-bloods and such but… mostly it is a bit complicated. There have been some people that have married Mu...

Pewter Cauldron Description: This is the cauldron that is the best cauldron to be used by a new student. It can brew a lot of different potions and can even carry your textbooks to class! It is made of a material called pewter, which is basically tin, mostly. The cauldron in size two is what is needed for new students at Hogwarts.   Manufacturer: Potage’s Cauldron Shop Brewing Speed: Slow Price: Fifteen Galleons Copper Cauldron Description: This cauldron is made from a metal called copper. The copper cauldron can often brew better than the other two cauldrons.   Manufacturer: Potage’s Cauldron Shop Brewing Speed: Fast Price: Twenty-five Galleons Brass Cauldron Description: This cauldron is made from a material that is like made of zinc and copper. It is a much more efficient cauldron to brew and make potions.   Manufacturer: Potage’s Cauldron Shop Brewing Speed: Medium Speed Price: Twenty-One Galleons

Dear Diary,     Today we had flying class… my first one ever! I was so excited to finally be out on the Quidditch Pitch. It was absolutely beautiful, and I couldn’t believe I was finally there in person. I had to answer what the word ‘flying’ meant to me. For me, it simply means being able to raise up off the air and move around without your feet touching the ground.   I’ve not really flown much before… I wasn’t allowed to, with the whole underage magic rule and everything… but I definitely got to go watch the Quidditch World Cup last year, and it was pretty amazing! I watched them play and really couldn’t wait to being on a broom… They were so fast and it was so cool to see… I think flying will be amazing. It’ll be like riding a bicycle with feeling so free and fast moving along… but you don’t have to be down on the ground waiting for people to walk out of the way so you can bike through… I really am looking forward to it because my goal is to become a Quidditch player m...

Ben stood from his desk, getting used to this by now. He had already introduced himself to his classmates a few times this week, but what was once more right? He took a deep breath and looked around. “Well, my name is Ben Coletti, as the professor said. I was sorted into Gryffindor House and my father is an Auror. My mother works as a healer at St. Mungo’s. I like to watch Quidditch and really hope to be on the team sometime throughout being at Hogwarts. It’s a really cool sport and I can’t wait to actually play it! Though, I can’t wait to actually fly my broom too… so there's that…" he cleared his throat. “My favourite creature… That’s pretty easy. I love the Phoenix bird. The way that it is reborn from the ashes after it dies is just so cool… the bird is so resilient and strong, like I want to be. Also it comes to whoever its owner is whenever they need help, and that’s kind of like me. So I guess I would compare myself to that creature as well. It’s really important for me ...

Ben looked around the greenhouse, fascinated by the glass walls and all of the desks lined up on the sides of the greenhouse. When it was his turn, he stood up and went to the front of the class and said, “Hey everyone, my name is Ben Coletti. I’m in Gryffindor House and well... I just became a big brother! My parents just had a baby girl named Hannah!”   He thought about the next question and said, “I don't really know a whole lot about Herbology. To be honest the only things I know are the healing herbs and I only know that because my mom works at St. Mungo’s. She uses Dittany a lot… ‘cause it helps to make skin grow over a wound or injury that might have happened. Episkey is something else she’s used a lot ‘cause it heals small, painful injuries… Even something like Bubotuber pus is really good for healing.”   “I’m really excited to learn more plants like the ones that my mom uses so that I can help her more, especially when my baby sister gets hurt or sick or something… Al...

Duelling has some very important rules that one must follow in order to do it properly and fairly. Most families that are born into magical families are taught these rules since they are young. First of all there is a challenge, where one wizard has to challenge the other wizard. If the other person accepts the duel, they meet in a place that’s agreed on and at the time that’s decided. Opponents then would bow to each other before fighting.   With every duel there is a “second”, which is someone that is a trusted friend or partner that would be a replacement if the person duelling wasn’t able to continue.   The man rule was that they couldn’t physically touch each other. There are also other limits that both wizards or witches can agree to. For example, they could agree not to use the Unforgivable Curses.   One of the most famous, and influential, duels happened between Albus and his brother Aberforth Dumbledore against Gellert Grindelwald. It happened in Godric’s Hollow ...

Ben waited for his turn to stand up in front of the class to introduce himself. When his name was called he confidently went forward and began.   "Hey everyone. My name is Ben Coletti. I am a pure-blood and my father is an Auror. My mom is a healer over at St. Mungo's. An interesting fact about me is that my parents just had a baby girl! Her name is Hannah. So I just became a big brother!"   The class cheered excitedly and he looked at the black board to see what the next questions were. "I think Charms are things like curses and jinxes that you use your wand for, that you call incantations and move your wand a certain way. Then, the wand creates something or makes it do something different than it usually does. But with Transfiguration, it actually changes something into something else..."   He looked at the board then and continued. "I am most looking forward to charms that will protect people. I really wanna be able to protect my baby sister and make sur...

Dear Seventh Year Benjamin Alexander Coletti,   Wow, time has flown hasn't it? It's hard to believe that you wrote this when you had just arrived at Hogwarts, and this was your first class ever! You were only eleven years old and you had just been sorted into Gryffindor House. Not that anyone in your family was surprised by this! Your dad was one too!   It's great that you were so excited to learn history! You really worked hard on it and you understood it was important to learn about the past, and not just because your dad always said that the past will always repeat itself. It was important because we can always learn from the mistakes and achievements of others. There's a lesson everywhere, right? But I guess you already know that now...   Do you remember when you went to the Quidditch World Cup when you were nine? It was there that you realized you wanted to be a famous Quidditch player. You were so impressed by their skill on the broom and you wanted to be fast, li...

Dear Professor Fenwick,   Today’s class was somewhat intimidating for me. I am not the most uh… artistic person… and don’t have a lot of talent in this area. But I tried, I guess?   The finger painting I did today was pretty basic. I attempted to draw a cartoon lion… with the mane in orange and the body in brown and the long tail and everything. The lion represents the house that I was sorted into - Gryffindor - and it really suits me as a person too I think. I guess the hat knows what its talking about. I can be pretty daring and will try anything once, as long as it’s not illegal or dangerous, and I am super protective… I don’t like seeing anyone hurt or bullied and will stop anyone from doing it to other people. That’s basically what a lion does; it’ll protect anyone in its pride and it’s not afraid to go into scary situations.   After today’s class, I’m excited to learn about Muggle Studies. It will be really interesting to learn how Muggles live, and to see how their...

Write a Letter to Professor Bennet...  Dear Professor Bennett, My name is Ben Coletti. I am eleven years old and have been sorted into Gryffindor House. My father is an Auror at the Ministry of Magic and my mother is a Healer at St. Mungo’s. My parents also just had a baby girl three months ago and her name is Hannah. I’m really protective of her!   I am both nervous and excited about taking Potions. I have heard a lot about the healing potions from my mother, as she uses them a lot of course, and my father has used some for his work as well. But I myself have never made any of course. I have just watched them working and been curious as to where they get the ingredients and how they make them. That is really all that I know about Potions. I just hope I don’t blow things up or make a mess… I have a tendency to um… cause accidents.   This year I hope to learn the basics of the subject, including where and how to get ingredients. I want to learn healing potions so that mayb...

B ackstory Ben was born in Hogsmeade to Marcus and Tanya Coletti. Both were magical and taught their son all about the wizarding world as he grew up, preparing him for Hogwarts. Ben became very interested in potions and charms at this age already, watching his father work as an Auror and his mother worked as a healer. His first showing of magic was when he was six years old. He had been at a park with some friends and his best friend was being bullied by some older kids. Ben became very angry and upset and all of a sudden dirt and leaves flew up from the ground and covered the bully so that he was messy all over. It didn't hurt him, but it definitely annoyed him! Everyone was stunned and realized that Ben had the potential to be a great wizard.   Ben was about 9 when his father killed his mother. They had always been fighting throughout his childhood and his father was quite an evil wizard. His mother was a clerk at the Flourish and Blotts and Joe didn't like it because it mean...

Thunder crashed outside of the small two-bedroom cottage in the heart of Hogsmeade, England. Ben Coletti sat at his window, on the little nook that he often read or looked out at the night sky when he couldn’t sleep. Storms, weather, the stars in the sky… it all fascinated him. When he thought about the night sky and all of the weather patterns that existed, it made his own problems seem insignificant. It made him feel like he was part of something bigger, and that maybe someday everything would be okay again.  It wasn’t even that his life was terrible. Ben had a good home now, two parents that loved him more than anything in the world and a baby sister that he loved and could protect as she grew up. They even had thousands of animals running around the yard, including but not limited to chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, and even an alligator. He was still surprised that his mother had convinced his father that an alligator in the back creek was a good idea, but she had. Usually anythin...