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Reading Groups' Contest, Rediscover the Magic |
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 May 2 2008, 05:42 PM
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Diagon Alley Watchwizard
Posts: 2,297
Joined: 1:49pm October 25, 2005
Location: Monterey, CA
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Can you remember what it was like the first time you discovered the magic of Harry Potter? In honor of the Lily and Stag Inn reading groups' return to our first love, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we'd like to invite you to "rediscover the magic" with us!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: write a "vignette" describing the sights, sounds, smells and feelings Harry encounters as he enters Diagon Alley for the first time.
What's a vignette? A vignette is like a literary "snapshot" -- it's a quick glimpse of a scene that doesn't necessarily tell the full story. Vignettes tend to be rich in descriptive details.
The 411:
- Your vignette should be no fewer than 300 and no longer than 650 words long and does not have to be strictly canon (e.g. can include smells, stores, items, etc that are not specifically mentioned in the book).
- There is a limit of one entry per person.
- All entries MUST be of an exemplary quality; they must be creative, organized, focused, coherent and not contain net speak. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation will be taken into consideration when judging.
- There is a strict PG-13 limit for all entries.
- All decisions by the judges are final.
- Anyone over the age of 13 can enter the contest, including staff members who are not involved in the judging process.
- Please e-mail your submissions to lilyandstaginn@gmail.com by 11:59 pm ET on May 21, 2008 and place in the e-mail header "Rediscover the magic." Please copy-paste the vignettes into the body of the e-mail and include a name to be used for authorship (real name or Leaky Lounge).
- Please refer to the Contest's FAQ if you are not sure of something.
- If you have any questions not answered on the FAQ, or would like to discuss this Contest, please come to the Contest Corner forum of The Leaky Lounge.
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Jun 2 2008, 12:37 AM
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Diagon Alley Watchwizard
Posts: 2,297
Joined: 1:49pm October 25, 2005
Location: Monterey, CA
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And the winner is... Gwynog's Rabbit!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest and you can read the winning entry by Gwynog's Rabbit below.
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I was sleeping when the Boy Who Lived came through the archway. All I remember from that moment is a blaze of sunlight and the doorbell tinkling. The owl lady was being dragged out to the street by a lady with a pipe in her mouth, who was pointing towards the brick wall, closing behind my friend Hagrid. I was immediately alert and gazed at the boy walking up the cobblestones next to Hagrid. My heart started racing as it recognized, as only an owl's heart can, the person who was meant for me. I started hooting to him, but he was too distracted by everything else around him, and barely glanced my way. He seemed much more interested in such mundane things as the cauldrons sparkling at him from next door, the lunchtime aromas drifting out of the bakery, and even the barrel of beetle eyes roasting in the sun, than he was in his own destined owl. I knew I'd lost any hope of capturing his attention when he noticed the new broomstick in the window just across from me. The boy suddenly veered away from my direction, tripping over a loose cobblestone and pulling Hagrid's hand in the direction of the other boys who had been at that window all morning. Hagrid, though, had heard my hooting, and nodded to let me know he understood. This was the most wonderful moment of my life, so much so that I hooted and flapped with joy and received reproving looks from the other owls. So what? I was about to leave them.
I waited patiently for the rest of the afternoon, while wizards and witches walked by in the sunshine, eating dripping ice creams, picking up their children from where they'd left them at the broomstick window, and heading back to the Leaky Cauldron; one boy with white hair whined to his father in front of the broomstick shop until he was dragged off by his ear. In short, none of the humans did anything I cared about. My eyes were anchored on the far end of the street, where I knew Hagrid would reappear with the Boy Who Lived.
The Boy Who Lived! I couldn't remember if I had ever heard his name before! All I had ever heard in the conversations around me from the day I had hatched was "the Boy Who Lived" - never a name. My heart started to race again, but this time I managed to hide it from the other owls. For the rest of the afternoon I watched, and tried to remember.
The sun was getting low, reflecting off the white marble building at the end of the street and blinding my night-eyes to any details of the faces that I hoped was my new boy. Then a huge form came into my sight, haloed by the red glare, and I hooted in spite of myself. Hagrid pushed through the crowds with his bulky packages and led the Boy Who Lived into the owl shop, with a wink at me as he passed. A few moments later, the owl lady came out and coaxed me into a cage. Hagrid put an arm around the Boy Who Lived and said, "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Harry! My Harry.
My heart stopped racing, and I tucked my beak back under my wing, knowing I was with the wizard I would be with for the rest of my life.
This post has been edited by mjk: Jun 2 2008, 12:37 AM
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Jun 5 2008, 03:27 PM
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Just Through the Brick Wall
Posts: 11
Joined: 1:10pm April 14, 2006
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Yeah, please can we read some other entries? I think the winning entry is far superior to my effort, but none-the-less, a lot of time and effort went into my writing, so I'm sure others did the same, and it would be great to read some of the other entries even if they weren't good enough to win  they deserve to be read!
I also was waiting for an announcement on the main news page!
Ax
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Jun 6 2008, 04:40 PM
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Exploding Snap Champion
Posts: 1,747
Joined: 8:46am August 30, 2005
Location: Reading while hiding behind the Invisible Books of Invisibility
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Awww thanks guys for the congratulations!!! 
And thanks, Leaky judges! 
I really would like to read more entries too - and was surprised that there weren't second and third place winners! Plus, there must have been a lot of entries that would be fun to read whether they won or not - could we read them?
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Jun 10 2008, 04:07 PM
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Teaching Professor Longbottom the language of Typonese
Posts: 7,965
Joined: 8:51am January 28, 2006
Location: Planting the Holy Grain with Professor Longbottom
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That's a really great entry, and it really deserved to win. Well done Gwenog'srabbit  
This post has been edited by JaneMarple9: Jun 10 2008, 04:07 PM
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Jun 12 2008, 09:27 AM
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Flesh-Eating-Slug Catcher
Posts: 182
Joined: 10:54am May 18, 2005
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Ok, Well, it doesn't look like any other entries are going to be posted by staff and I'd really like to read more, so I'm posting mine in hopes that others will do the same so we can share. We all spent a lot of time working on our entries and they deserve to be read! So get posting people!
Stepping into Diagon alley for the first time felt like being immersed in a large bowl of jello. Everything seemed to move slowly, as if inhibited by an invisible jiggly substance. Harry wondered if anyone else could feel it, but seeing no reaction from the other people, he decided they could not and this feeling was perhaps just because there was so much to see and he was so enthralled by everything that he viewed it in slow motion. The air was thick with excitement and though Harry felt as if his feet were rooted to the spot, he longed to plunge into the sea of people. The warm sun glowed overhead while a cool breeze felt fresh on Harry’s face. Harry could no longer smell the yeasty scent from the tavern, but that was immediately replaced with a mix of fresh air, a sugary smell Harry was sure came from the ice cream parlor, and what he could only describe as opportunity. Harry breathed in deeply, savoring its sweetness. Ahead, a stark white building glistened in the sunshine with its sparkling bronze doors. Its imposing structure shadowed the surrounding shops, towering high above, its top kissing the sun above it. He didn’t know where to look first, but tried to take it all in as his gaze fell on window after window stuffed with inviting displays of books, cauldrons, potions ingredients, robes, and silvery instruments that he didn’t recognize. His eyes finally rested on the large window with a group of boys in front of it talking animatedly about the broomstick hanging there, clearly the envy of every boy standing there. He listened carefully and caught just a few words of what the boys were saying. “Fastest ever…” The boys’ voices trailed off as the rustling of cloaks and the shuffling of shoes on the cobblestone street reached his ears. Hundreds of witches and wizards entered shops all along the way, bells tinkling as the doors opened and then closed behind the shoppers. Harry grinned up at Hagrid (noticing Hagrid had a bit of peppermint humbug stuck to the tight curls of his unkempt beard) and had to force himself not to dive into the crowd of shoppers in all his excitement of seeing a new world before him. If only he had a “record” button so he could remember it all! Maybe it wasn’t necessary…he doubted that he would ever forget it.
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Jun 13 2008, 12:50 PM
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Diagon Alley Watchwizard
Posts: 2,297
Joined: 1:49pm October 25, 2005
Location: Monterey, CA
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I profusely apologize. I thought I had posted here and I didn't!
We were going to see about posting more entries, but I like this better. If you care to post the entry you wrote for the contest, please feel free to post it here for others to read.
While posting your entry is okay, please remember your entry must adhere to the Contest's rules and Forum's rules. Thanks!
This post has been edited by mjk: Jun 13 2008, 01:00 PM
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