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Photo by Rej Layug
Congrats to Hogwarts Philippines for winning the challenge, 1145-1067! We also won the playoffs of the top 5 players of each team.

ATTENDANCE:
Faculty
Prof. Sky
CEO Beej
Monsieur Malkin
HagridBot
Gryffindor
severusa_snape
babytonks
dark_knightz14
u_know_hu
lianne
Hufflepuff
buttered_toast
Targrod
pensieve
wron
Ravenclaw
hermgranger
ajmalfoy
Hector
erikatan
Slytherin
haidokun
Stompbox
starshuffler

Witches/Wizards who played for the Heroes side:
icheb (Ravenclaw)
Slvrdlphn (Ravenclaw)
dwinchester (Gryffindor)

Congrats to HagridBot and Targs and Edwin for being the best PHP Bowlers!

At congrats din kay CEO Beej na nag-set ng new New Worlds record of 206 points plus 6 straight strikes… kaya lang, sa practice. Hehehehe.

Thanks to everyone who attended. Thanks to CEO Beej and the people who helped him put the challenge together. Thanks to Heroes Philippines for a great game!

The scores have been posted in our Official Multiply Account. CLICK HERE!

Please post links to your photo albums/videos in the Comments. If you can, post them here in our own albums as well for House Points.

Prefects are requested to update their Points Database based on the Attendance List above (30 points per student). Witches/Wizards who played for the Heroes side get half-credits (15 points). Additional 5 points each for Targs (Best student score) and Lianne (who was awarded Best Wizard in Costume).

The Forums are back online!  You can now start discussing the latest news about the Deathly Hallows film.  Warner Bros. has issued the official press release.  Click here.

Also, don’t forget that tomorrow is the Heroes vs Wizards Bowling Challenge (Hogwarts Philippines vs Heroes Philippines).  The game starts 3pm at Paeng’s Skybowl in Robinson’s Galleria Ortigas.   See you there!

We apologize, but the Forums are offline again. There seems to be a setting that automatically takes the board offline after a certain parameter is reached. Rest assured, our web people will work on restoring the message board service as soon as we can.

Meanwhile, the biggest news in the fandom today:

—

Voldemort Splits Up His Soul, Warner Bros. Splits Up “Deathly Hallows”

Warner Bros. is expected to make an announcement that will once again rock the Harry Potter fandom.

The Los Angeles Times reports that WB plans to release the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film in two installments. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is set for a November 2010 release, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is set to hit theaters six months later, May 2011. Screenwriter Steve Kloves is reportedly now hard at work on the two films, which will be shot concurrently.

Anticipating the inevitable fan and critic backlash that will be brought about by such a move, Producer David Heyman told the Los Angeles Times in an exclusive interview: “I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons. Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can’t be done.” He also added that he consulted J.K. Rowling regarding the split, and she was “cool with it”.

Heyman adds: “The question will be, where do you break it? And how do you make them one but two separate and distinct stories? Do you break it with a moment of suspense or one of resolution? These are the interesting challenges. But each book has presented its challenges.”

David Yates, director of the 5th and 6th film, has signed on to direct both sequels.

Warner Bros. is expected to officially announce the plans for Deathly Hallows during the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas on March 13th.

Read more about the story here.

While the Forums are offline, you can discuss this story in our Multiply blog:
Click HERE. Registered and Sorted Students are reminded to send us a PM on Multiply to be sent an invite to the group account.

The forums are down as of today, 11am.  Don’t worry, there’s just a setting that needs to be fixed.  We will be back online once HMC can go online to fix the problem. 

In the meantime, if you’re a registered and sorted PHP member, you can join our Multiply group as well:  http://hogwartsphilofficial.multiply.com 

For security purposes, and as is the custom when a new term starts, we will be changing the passwords for the Common Rooms and the Witches’/Wizards’ Lounges. All new password changes will take effect on Monday, 7 January, at 9:00AM. Prefects will start sending PMs to their Housemates informing them of the new passwords as early as Sunday, 6 January. If you don’t receive a PM from your Prefect, you may request for a password from them by sending them a PM (see roster of Student Leaders in the previous post).

I would like to remind everyone that ONLY PREFECTS ARE ALLOWED TO DISTRIBUTE PASSWORDS. On the off-chance that you can’t reach your Prefects, you can ask a Forum Administrator for the password. But since there are 3 Prefects for each House, I doubt that you won’t be able to reach at least one of them. If a Housemate asks you for the password, please tell your Housemate to send a PM to your Prefect. Please report breaches of this rule to your Prefects or to the Head Boy/Head Girl ASAP.

While we’re on the issue of security and confidentiality, I would also like to remind you all about the Sanctity of your House Common Room. Please keep anything that is discussed in your Common Room inside your Common Room. Do not discuss it with friends or siblings or relatives from other Houses. Again, please report breaches of this rule to your Prefects or to the Head Boy/Head Girl ASAP.

Welcome, welcome, to another term at Hogwarts Philippines! 2007 was a banner year for us, what with the release of the Order of the Phoenix film, and the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Being Potter fans doesn’t end with the last book of the series. There are still 2 more movies, and a lot of activities with your PHP family to look forward to. Since the Water Quidditch game proved to be a lot of fun, this year, we are planning to host a Quidditch tournament. More details will be revealed soon.

We would also like to announce the roster of this term’s student leaders. We hope that you will all accord them the same respect as you did our previous student leaders, and hope that you will all cooperate with them.

2008 STUDENT LEADERS

HEAD GIRL: Ana Ng (tazana gryffin)

HEAD BOY: Aze Chan (Aze)

GRYFFINDOR PREFECT: Joyce Millendez (swishflick)
ASSISTANT PREFECTS:
Lianne Simbul (Lianne)
Joan Candaza (severusa_snape)

SLYTHERIN PREFECT: Liz Jocano (haidokun)
ASSISTANT PREFECTS:
Jovan de Ocampo (starshuffler)
Karlo Payno (void)

RAVENCLAW PREFECT: Danes Lingat (danes)
ASSISTANT PREFECTS:
Penny Bunting (hermgranger)
Karen Kristie Sumortin (galenlondeien)

HUFFLEPUFF PREFECT: Argie Villajin (pensieve)
ASSISTANT PREFECTS:
Rona Angeles (wron)
Jay-R Trinidad (targrod)

Also, since it’s been a few months since the release of Deathly Hallows, this term, it’s open season for all Book 7-related information, and any other post-series revelations by J.K. Rowling (and believe me, she revealed a LOT). So on the off-chance that there are still any other people out there who haven’t read Deathly Hallows, please be informed that the Hogwarts Philippines Forums are now a Deathly Hallows Spoiler Zone.

Stay tuned for more announcements.

The annual Hogwarts tradition continues!

Hogwarts Philippines (Pinoy Harry Potter community) invites you to its 2007 End of Term Feast.

When:  Saturday, 29 December 2007

Time:  3:00pm - 8:00pm

Where:  The Penthouse, Sunrise Terrace Condominium.  100 Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Marauder’s Map:  http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v323/ginnyskywalker/php/eotf2007map.jpg

Contribution:  Students in the Muggle World will pay 17 Knuts (100 Philippine pesos), while adults and guests will pay 25 Knuts (150 Philippine pesos) to the Goblin in charge of Registration.  Leprechaun gold, rubies, and Muggle credit cards will not be accepted. Please don’t piss-off the Goblins, they will ruin the Christmas spirit.  Additional food to feed about 30 hungry witches and wizards, very much welcome!

Fun, magic, games, food, announcement of new student leaders, awarding of the House Cup, and several rounds of Water Quidditch!

Want to join the 1st ever Water Quidditch game?  Apply for a position on the teams here:
http://www.hogwartsphilippines.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=474

RSVP.  We need an accurate headcount for logistics reasons.  :)  Sign-up to join the Feast here:
http://www.hogwartsphilippines.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=468

Non-PHP members are welcome if they are accompanied by a Hogwarts Philippines student or staff member.

For more information, send an owl (no howlers!) to:
meann (at) hogwartsphilippines (dot) org

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling gave her first fan interview since 2005, when she agreed to be on Pottercast, the official podcast of Potter fansite, The Leaky Cauldron.

Click here to download the podcast.
Click here to find out what was revealed.

Click here for Time Magazine’s write-up about the author. She also answered ten questions, including a new tidbit about Draco Malfoy post-Hogwarts.