Hogwarts

Around teatime on Monday, Jenna and Morgan asked me whether we could do an entire role play day - "tomorrow". More precisely, they asked for Hogwarts - letters, snack trolley, timetables, lessons, wands, dressing up, homework, text books, the lot. No small order, then! I ignored the niggly little part of me that wanted to talk them into waiting until we could "do it properly" and started planning how to deliver magic lessons that would feel real enough in our little rainbow coloured city terrace.


In fact, I stayed up until 1am setting up a potions lab, testing my potions lesson plan, and writing text book pages to insert into any suitably sized old-looking book. Yup, I don't even have a working printer, so I really did have to reinvent the wheel so to speak (advice to anyone thinking this looks like a good idea, pop over to DeviantArt and find text book covers... I will at some point make up printable versions of my text book pages and lesson plans - 'cause I love you). ;) Oh, and Martin (bless him) spent an hour toasting paper in the grill so that they would have "proper parchment" to write on.



The Hogwarts Express was our stair case, where they sat chatting until I came along with a tray of cauldron cakes and pumpkin juice, liqourice wands and every flavour beans (OK, that would be chocolate cupcakes, orange juice, and cheap supermarket sweets decanted into paper packets). First lesson was Ancient Runes.





Then Arithmancy (magical meanings of the number seven) and Herbology (a trip to the park to gather plantain).




(In the outer fringes of the Forbidden Forest.)


Healing Plantain salve:




And Potions class, where they had to work out what a potion was (well, it was indicator solution) by adding a series of ingredients to it and noting the results (an assortment of household ingredients labelled as potion ingredients, including vinegar, bicarb, and soda ash).




Divination and History of Magic followed, and then I declared it time for an extra Muggle Studies lesson (ie a film) to take us up to Martin getting home from work! After all that, the evening's Feast came from the local chip shop - I couldn't even think about what to cook and hadn't planned that far!

(Next time, I'll need a working printer, and more than a few hours notice! Yes, I'm sure there will be a next time...)