We're very excited for our start-of-term Sorting Ceremony and Quiz on Thursday—see our Termcard page for details if you haven't already.  Later in the week we'll post last year's quiz so you can warm up for this year's, but, for now, here's the link to the form you'll need to fill in if you want to be Sorted.  Please note that you'll only find out your house on Thursday night, and that the form itself doesn't tell you your house; we're working on a fancy version that will do that, so if you can't make it on Thursday keep your eyes peeled for that.

Keep up the Quest!
Xeno

We're very sorry to announce that two veteran members, Alexander McCormick (our treasurer for the past two years) and Robert Selth (our secretary for the past year), are leaving Oxford and thus HPSoc at the end of this academic year. Alex will be working for a prominent software provider, and Rob will be working as a teacher. We wish them all the very best for the future.

So long, friends, and visit us as often as you can!
​Xeno

We'll be announcing the winners of the inaugural House Cup at the AGM tomorrow, but before then we have one last chance for you to earn points for your house.

In this challenge, you'll be asked five questions of Harry Potter trivia.  The first is below.  Once you think you know the answer, type it into your address bar in the following format: www.ouhpsoc.org/answer, putting the answer in lowercase.  For instance, if the question was "What is Harry's surname?", you'd go to www.ouhpsoc.org/potter.  In fact, you can try that very answer, and you'll see a page confirming you've done it right.

If you get the first question right, the page you'll arrive at will give you another question, which you type into the address bar in the same way.  It's the same for Questions 3 and 4, but for Question 5 you need to go to our webform, and submit the answer (and make sure to select your house from the drop-down box!).  The first person to send the correct answer to Q5 to the webform gets a whopping thirty points for their house; all other entrants will receive ten points.*

Your first question is:

All may enter: member or non-member, committee or non-committee.  The only restriction is that the Webmaster can't submit an answer, because he made up the questions.  Entries must be received by 4 pm tomorrow to count for points.

Now is also a good time for me to remind you that if you'd like to run for a committee position, particularly on the Exec, you should get in touch before the meeting.  Coincidentally, owls sent via the Hogsmeade Post Office already go to Alex, our Returning Officer, so if you send your nomination there it will be accepted.

Good luck, and...

Keep up the Quest!
Xeno

*Points indicated are prior to adjustment for house size.

Before last week's Sorting Ceremony, we had a few people asking us if the houses we Sorted people into meant anything; could you collect house points?  We replied not; the Sorting was just for fun.  But then we thought—why don't we have a House Cup?

So from today you'll notice a new link on the top of our website to a new House Points page.  We've started by assigning points to teams in the Sorting quiz (for those who were there, this is why we asked to know which houses the members of each team were in).  For those points, we've done a bit of numerical jiggery pokery, but it essentially boils down to giving each member of each team all the points that their team won, and then summing across a house.  For people who were unsorted, we've assigned their points to houses in the same ratio as the ratio of people belonging to each house.

There's a spreadsheet on the page showing what we've done, and if you look at that you might notice that the houses aren't particularly even; we have a lot of Ravenclaws, for instance, and not many Slytherins.  So we've also weighted the points by house, to give every house an even chance.

We'll have house points available at the Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, so make sure you come along to support your house!

We hope you like this new aspect of HPSoc life.  We're running it as a trial for this term, so if you have any thoughts on it send us an owl.

Keep up the Quest!
Xeno

To any freshers (or refreshers) visiting this site for the first time, welcome to the blog of the Oxford University Harry Potter Society, also known as The Quibbler.  In this special Muggle-facing version of the magazine, we have reluctantly forgone including many of our popular features—including this month's shocking exposé of Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt as a former member of the Mermish community—in order to focus on the goings-on of HPSoc.  We apologise to anyone disappointed by this decision, and invite them to subscribe to the wizarding version for the missing content (just send an owl to our office with your Gringotts vault number).

If you're new to our society, we hold lots of Harry-Potter-themed events, and other socials, throughout the term, starting with the Sorting Ceremony and Great Harry Potter Quiz in First Week.  You can see our full termcard on this site, in the Gryffindor Common Room.
​
​In the meantime, we'd like to let you know that we'll be at the OUSU Freshers' Fair in the Exam Schools on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.  Freshers should be given a slot to visit by their college; second-years and above are welcome to visit on Friday (bring your Bod Card to get in).

​If you can't make it to the fair and have questions you'd like to ask us about our society, or would like to request addition to our mailing list, please do get in touch via our webform at the Hogsmeade Post Office.  You can also join our Facebook group for more information—it's often updated more quickly than the website!

I hope you have an amazing Freshers' Week, and settle in quickly to your life at Oxford.  Our society prides itself on being welcoming to all, so do come along to one of our events if you're interested in what we do: you're sure to find a friendly face (or seven).

Keep up the Quest!
Xeno

Calling all Potterphiles,

Liked this year's Yule Ball but think you could have made it even better? We're now taking applications for members of the Yule Ball 2015 Exec committee (other positions will be advertised shortly).  Last year’s ball was a magical night, lauded for surpassing even the RAG ball that term – possibly because we had far more owls! Now we are looking for some new magical folk to keep the magic going for a fourth year and provide more exciting wizarding experiences to treasure through our years at Oxford.

For further information about the positions and their responsibilities please contact Catherine Wormald (catherine.wormald [at] worc.ox.ac.uk) or Emma Parkin (emma.parkin [at] new.ox.ac.uk) regarding the roles of President/Secretary, and Laurel Windsor (laurel.windsor [at] jesus.ox.ac.uk) regarding Treasurer. If you are interested in one of these positions for Yule Ball 2015 please email Emma Parkin AND Catherine Wormald by 5pm on Friday of 8th week (13th of March) with your name, the position you're running for and a short paragraph stating why you want to do it/why you think you'd be good at it. Once all applications have been considered we'll notify the lucky candidates! Good luck!

Luna

A round-up post for you today.  First, we'd like to share these photos of us taken after Formal Hall at University College.  (For those who may not know, a Formal Hall is a formal dinner served in a college.)  Thanks to everyone who came: as ever, it was a really good occasion.  One day we'll have got around all the colleges...

We'd also like to welcome two new members of our Wizengamot, who were appointed yesterday by the Exec as House-Elves.  They will now attend committee meetings and contribute to the planning of events (including exciting plans for Trinity Term: more soon!).
The two people we're welcoming are Anastasia (who you might know as last year's Social Sec) and Lauren.  Lauren has pointed out that, as a House-Elf, she is now pleased to be able to circumvent the restriction on Apparition within the Oxford Ring Road.
Thanks for joining the committee, Ana and Lauren—and for heaven's sake nobody give them any socks.
Finally, just a reminder that if you're interested in the Leavesden trip a week on Sunday (8th March), you need to get in touch with Sean (the President) as soon as possible.  His email address was on the email sent to the Society mailing list; you can also get in touch via the Hogsmeade Post Office.
Keep up the Quest!
Xeno

Welcome to our website, which is now live.  This is the place where we'll update members (and members-to-be!) on magical goings-on, and keep a record of our committee.
The main thing to look for is our Termcard (the Notice Board), which we'll keep updated with events when they're arranged.  This blog, The Quibbler, will give you the latest news on our society, the wider wizarding world, and the hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.
You can also see our newly-elected Committee on the Wizengamot page, and get in touch with us through the Hogsmeade Post Office.
Keep checking back for updates!
Xeno