What is this?
Howdy! It's me, Mysie Pruitt, with an issue of What's Cooking? If this is your first time seeing my blog you might be wondering, What the heck is this? Well, let me explain. This blog will hold monthly updates that are happening all around the site. In this case, I'm posting a few days later on but all updates happened last month. The blog includes the following:• Resignations - All of the staff who resigned within the month, including the dates they held the position to and from.
• New Hires - All the staff who were hired within the month, including the dates they got the job.
• Whatcha Readin' - All of the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler articles that were posted within the month.
• Site Updates - Any updates around the site (plot related, new IG year, shops/items, features, etc.) can be found in this section.
• House Party - This will have all of the columns posted on each House notice board.
• Ads - If anyone (staff + non-staff) has anything they'd like mentioned, such as a topic or club feature, send an Owl my way to get it in next month's blog!
• Interview - Each month there will be an interview between myself and a staff member about their job or outlook on certain things. It's just fun to see the world through someone else's eyes, isn't it?
That's all that I'll be packing into each blog. You can find each section using the tabs to the left (those funny looking letter there) which each represent the first letter of the title I just listed with the exception of the star which leads to this page. Enjoy your time here with me and settle in for a flashback into last month!
Resignations
DADA Professor: Wade Ashworth23rd of November, 2020 - 2nd of June, 2021
Transfiguration AT: Benjamin Davies
1st of March, 2021 - 4th of June, 2021
SoAR AT: Ryder Seo
23rd of November, 2020 - 1st of June, 2021
Library Team: Madelynn Walker
23rd of November, 2020 - 8th of June, 2021
SoMe Team: Alistair Benson
15th of February, 2021 - 12th of June, 2021
SoAR Professor: Sanem Cyprus
21st of January, 2021 - 19th of June, 2021
New Hires
SoMe Team: Mysie Pruitt2nd of June, 2021
SoMe Team: Melody Marshall
4th of June, 2021
Male Hufflepuff Prefect: Nicholas Bellamy
13th of June, 2021
Transfiguration AT: Maia Sobiech
14th of June, 2021
Quibbler Journalist: Althaea Arkwright
18th of June, 2021
Library Team: Laurence Allwine
27th of June, 2021
Herbology AT: Sophie Shimmer
28th of June, 2021
Whatcha Readin'
The Daily Prophet: A Very Hogwarts Musical
The Sunday Prophet: Living as a Muggle?
The Daily Prophet: But Will Your Debt Fly High?
The Daily Prophet: A Very Hogwarts Casting
The Sunday Prophet: The Office Dragon
The Daily Prophet: Huxtable Makes History
The Daily Prophet: No, Your Debt Won't Fly High
The Daily Prophet: A Very Hogwarts Cast List
The Daily Prophet: Stardom in Sight
The Monthly Prophet (Summer & Autumn Edition)
The Daily Prophet: A Seer at Court
MM#14.5 No More Hair Puns Cont'd
CotGL #7- The Most Beautiful Bird in the World
Q- SPECIAL EDITION: A New Era of Quibbling
Q- A Day in the Life: The Sanctuary
Q- Our Newspaper Neighbour is a VAMPIRE?! (You won't believe this theory!)
Site Updates
Site's Four Year AnniversaryHow often is it that you celebrate a site anniversary? Well, if you said once a year then you’d be correct! (I just hope that’s what you said.) WoP UK Had it’s four year anniversary/birthday on the 12 of June, 2021. While it may not seem like a big thing to some people, it’s truly incredible to think that this site has now been around for four whole years! Our Minister of Magic and Headmistress had their own words to say and little challenges to throw out there for the event which was so much fun to partake in!
Start of the New IG YearThis month we got to say goodbye to year 19 and hello to year 20! Can you believe that we’re already 20 IG years in? It seems crazy just to think about it! If you’re a student who didn’t pass six exams, there’s always next year; if you did pass them, congrats on moving closer to the end of your education! (I’m just messing) As always, there were some fun announcements to make in the event of moving forward and you can read all of that here!
Flying PlotRemember those lovely lilac people we see occasionally running around? Or the bunch run by the lady whose last name reminds me of “limousine”? (Yes, Dinah Louise) Well they put on another little show for us this month with their Fantastical Flying Games plot! Some many people look part in it and it was definitely an event to remember for this site. The challenges were so much fun - don’t be scared to go take a look at the starting and the ending articles!
Click here for the continuing article.
Click here for the ending article.
Quidditch Cup RevealQuidditch! That’s something we all love, right? Well, besides those of us who are scared of heights or watching people get thrown off their brooms. But that’s not the point. Hogwarts had another amazing year of Quidditch and it was super fun to watch each game! Now here’s the part you might be waiting for (had you not seen it already) and the part that caught my attention. The winners! Ravenclaw and Slytherin both tied for first place but the other two teams tagged closely behind. You can check out the final standings here and let us know what you think of the outcome!
New FeaturesDoes anyone else get excited over new features or is that just me? It’s so fun when the site gets little tweaks done to it (and perhaps that’s why I’m here 24/7) but I’m here now to summarize the updates from this month. First off, the buttons in Gringotts! I’m sure most of you have already seen this and figured out how it works but essentially, the two new buttons (deposit all + withdraw all) are there for those of you who don’t like looking at the amount of money you have out when putting it back or the other half of you that like spending all your galleons at the Whispering Wizard. (I’m only joking, please spend them responsibly)
The next feature is that you can reorder your relations! This can be used for users without VIP, but you must have relations to reorder in the first place. Just click your profile picture up in the corner, find the “Your Relations” button, click that, then you’ll be able to drag your relations into whatever order you want!
Next is a library feature. Have you ever seen someone on the map looking in a library book and wondered What exactly are they reading? Well now you can find out! If that’s ever the case, you’ll be able to click the library book from the map and it’ll take you right to it! It works the same as the topic and the Daily Prophet + Quibbler links, so don’t hesitate to give it a try next time you see someone in a book!
I think this is the final little update I’ve got for you here. Those without VIP, remember those ads that would cover the “Send” button in an owl? Or that would stop you from submitting a grading? This has been fixed and the ads shouldn’t cover any important content on the site.
Pinned "Refresher" TopicsYou might’ve seen our lovely Lynessa making all sorts of topics recently and most of you that looked into them probably know what they are. These topics have now been pinned at the top of every forum to explain the settings of the place, the NPCs that you might find there, and anything that might be getting confused with those specific forums. If you’re new to topics or would just like a refresher on the rules or places, I recommended taking some time to look through all of these!
LyngoSome people may remember this game, others might be new to it. Here’s my dictionary definition:
Backstory of the MonthWondering who won June’s backstory of the month? There’s so many incredible writers on this site so it’s no surprise that there’s just as many great backstories! The lovely smurfies (led by the lovely Stream… or Brooks, same thing) get the honor of searching around for each mentionable backstory for each month. There’s the Best Content, Best Code, and this month they brought back the Staff Spotlight! Go take a look at the most recent winners here!
Patrolling Precet Article (aka "PPA")I know that there’s loads of people who wait around all month for their catch up on all the gossip. Once again, the winery has presented us with some wonderful summaries on everything happening around us! It’s crazy to think that there’s so much activity out in the wizarding world. Sometimes you can also manage to get your name in the month’s issue. Wanna check it out? Find it here!
House Party
Hufflepuff
Badger Challenges #10- The Rewards
Hufflepuff awards Year 19! Save the Date
Badger of the Week, Year 19 week 10
Hufflepuff awards Year 19! The Results!!
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 1
Badgers- Morning Report #8 (With Special Competition)
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 2
Snake of the Week: Year 19, Week 10
Hisssssssss Welcome to Year 20!
The Slytherin Awards! - Part 4: The Results!
Snake of the Week: Year 20, Week 1
Snake of the Week: Year 20, Week 2
Ravenclaw
Eagle of the Week (Year 19, Week 9 and 10)!
Ravenclaw Awards Year 19: Eagle of the Year + Reminders!
Ravenclaw Eagle Awards Year 19: The Winners!
Welcome to Year 20, my dear Eagles!
20 Years of WoP UK: Memories - Week 1
Eagle of the Week (Year 20, Week 1)
20 Years of WoP UK: Memories - Week 2
The Dragon Diaries #1: Heading East
20 Years of WoP UK: Memories - Week 3
The Dragon Diaries #2: A Bag of Fun
Gryffindor
Lion of the Week - Year 19, Week 10
(HoTW) A New Year, a New Challenge!
Martino's Mixes: Kiss Her You Fool
Lion of the Week - Year 20, Week 1
Ads
Owl Liadain Viotto if you're wanting to start a chaotic book club!
Topic link: click here
Interview
SoMe: How are you liking your new position?
Maia Sobiech: I am absolutely loving being an Assistant Teacher! Grading has always been one of my favourite things to do on site, and probably what I spent the most time doing, so to have a job that literally requires me to grade homework is awesome. I have also made so many new friends, namely with my incredible 'boss?' Valkyrie Myres, but also just with other ATs, Professors and students too! And of course, the lovely flek colour is an added bonus...
SoMe: Is there anything that you wish you would’ve known before applying for the job? If so, what is it? If not, what’s your favorite aspect of the job?(The writing, the reading, meeting the different characters’ personalities, etc.)
Maia Sobiech: To be honest, I felt like I had a very good idea as to what the job would entail as the application had a very detailed description of the requirements. Once I got accepted, the AT club also had a very thorough list of the rules and guidelines, so I think all of my questions were answered from that!
I guess my favourite thing is getting to read everyone's incredible homework and ensuring that they get the grade they deserve and it gets graded as quickly as possible. It is obvious that all of these amazing students put so much effort into their work, so I feel very lucky that I get to play a role in this getting recognised. I also have graded work from the same people multiple times, and it is so fun getting to see their quirks and character traits! Just from grading their work I feel as if I get a really good idea as to who they are.
SoMe: What tip(s) would you give to other users who might be looking into applying for an Assistant Teacher spot?
Maia Sobiech: Well, I would 100% recommend becoming an Assistant Teacher, as it really is a great job, especially for younger students who could be interested in becoming a professor one day! A couple of tips I would give is to grade a lot of homework before applying. I believe that you need to have graded at least 20 pieces of work before applying, but don't fact check me on that! xD. As an AT you have to do a lot of grading and it is super important to have detailed and specific feedback, so I would totally encourage potential applicants to grade a lot of homework in a relatively short amount of time, because this will help you realise if it is something you're passionate about, or if it maybe isn't the job for you. Also just be active on site and try to be a good role model! Once you're accepted, the rest is really learnt on the job. But good luck to any and all applicants! It really is awesome!
Word of Wisdom from Maia Sobiech:
I absolutely love being on WoPUK, and I feel super happy that I found the site and all of the wonderful people on it. There are so many amazing features and things to do on site, so why not give them all a go!! Make new friends, topic, submit homework, grade homework, read articles, write articles even! There are so many opportunities and certainly (at least) one for everyone. WoP is amazing, so make the most of it!