The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (movie) - My thoughts

. There will be spoilers.

.. Sure you won't regret it?

... Are you absolutely sure?

.... Okay. And now,

For all fans of action (and perhaps pretty boy Legolas), you'll probably love the movie. It does contain most of the elements that are present in a hit blockbuster movie, loads of action, pretty people to look at, suspense, mystery, revelation, sexy kick ass girl, and even a little romance. Even the trailer makes it seem like an awesome epic movie.

How can one not feel excited after watching that?

I was and that might be my down fall. I could put it down to myself having a really high expectation for the second part of this series, perhaps too high to achieve and perhaps that is exactly it. I really do not know. I do not claim to be the expert in the happening of the story, I must admit that I have poor memory and one doesn't always remember little details of stories of old being told. That's right, this isn't an entry detailing how awesomely good the movie is, rather, it's about how disappointed I am with it.

I suppose, I can't really blame that muggle for filming it this way. He might have changed the stories of old to fit the modern conception and interests of the muggles of this generation. Well, I guess, that's considered the first spoiler. The movie is quite different from the book.

I shall, of course, not reveal what those parts are, it would be giving too much away and you'll probably be biased if you happen to read this and have not read the book. I really do not want to influence your opinions that much.

Anyway, I am disappointed at how they shorten the whole visit to Beorn and how they left out the talking animals who were his friends. I was quite looking forward to see, how a muggle would have portrayed that. Probably use some of that CGI thingy, I think that's what it's called.

Also, the whole part of Bilbo being resourceful and at the same time doubting himself, wasn't included much in the movie. The whole thing just felt rushed, substituting story for action. As mentioned above, there were quite a lot of action. The book does have some action, during the parts included in the movie but what I disagreed with, was the additional action scenes, that was never in the book in the first place. Instead of opting to be true to the story, the muggle decided to add in stuff that might appeal to other types of fans, like those fans of pretty boy legolas. I guess it's just a money making venture in the end.

Even the interaction with the dragon wasn't right but I shall not delve too much into it. I do however, liked that he added the scene, which wasn't in the book but was a part of the history, that side mission that Gandalf went to complete when he left the party of fourteen before the darkness of mirkwood. His fight with the necromancer, something that I was looking forward to, but alas, was such a disappointing fight.

I can only say that I'm looking forward to the third movie, that would complete the story. Why? It's the end of the so called series, it's the unsatisfied feeling from the second one and hoping that the third would make up for it, it's the hope that the muggle would follow the book and end it in it's epic awesomeness. It's all those and more. It's the hope of spreading the stories of old, sharing them with muggles, wizarding folk, creatures that would be interested in the realm of middle earth.

To be honest, I have delayed writing this entry, for the fear of being too violent, vulgar and perhaps distasteful for the public and I think, I might have succeed in keeping those at bay. I hope that I've not swayed any of your opinions about the movie and you are very welcomed to have your own. If you loved the movie, then, good. If you don't, then, also good. I would like to know though, well, if you're inclined to leave your opinions down. I'm just curious about the muggle reaction to this movie and whether I'm looking at it too harshly from a one-who-has-knowledge-of-the-actual-events-that-took-place-person.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

White Christmas

Hello again.

So it's the month of Christmas, the decorations are being prepared, Hagrid has been out choosing the perfect trees, the students are preparing to go home over the holidays, and I am feeling pretty good. I've got quite a lot of things planned up for the holidays. Visiting a couple of muggle friends, perhaps making a few more muggle friends, might be planning a short trip to middle earth, perhaps a little Christmas shopping in the muggle world, those faces on the wizards receiving muggle items would be quite interesting to watch. Well, busy busy busy.

With that done, a little update on what I have been up to. I've been busy with students' papers, organizing a couple of muggle understanding workshops at the ministry, for those who are interested of course, well, it's a step in the right direction, and I've been doing my own research for a book I'm thinking of writing. It's just a thought, nothing too concrete yet but I think it might be quite popular in middle earth, about another world with strange mechanical stuff moving on its own. -laughs-

All right, I'm not planning to spend much time penning down my thoughts right now, and I might not be around to wish you a merry Christmas on the day itself so, happy wishes, delicious dishes, joyful kisses, and a merry Christmas to everyone of you.

Hope you get a white Christmas. -winks-

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Ragnarok Online (game) - My thoughts

The muggle game that I'm going to talk about today is Ragnarok Online. It was recently released as a free to play game on Steam (a muggle application that allows you to play many different types of games, purchase games from there and test out games) and I decided that I should give it a go.

First off, the world you're in, is called Rune Midgard. There was peace for a thousand years among the gods, humans and demons, resulting in the birth of legends about how the peace was formed. A truce was formed between the three groups due to a long and weary war with each other.

Your adventure starts at a time when unrest has once again fallen upon the lands of Rune Midgard, individuals who have forgotten how the peace came about and decided to act for one's own greed.

Anyway, the first thing you'll see when you attempt this game is this.

Once you pressed the "PLAY" button, you'll see a terms and conditions contract where you'll have to agree to proceed. 

First thoughts on the game, the graphics are cute. Little anime looking characters moving around the screen. Well, you should have guessed, from the images of the game before you're even in the game. Maybe it's because I've not had much exposure to muggle games, it took me a while to get used to the controls of this. Apparently, you click on an empty space, a few steps away from the character, in the direction you want him or her to go and it'll follow. You're allowed to create three characters, using a free account and if you're someone who has three different types of jobs that you'll want to try out, that's good. Also, if you want to try out all the different jobs, you could spend money to be a VIP player and you'll get nine slots.

Now, what are jobs? Jobs are basically categories of play style. What this means is, depending on the job you'll pick, the type of skills you'll get to advance, the type of weapons and armor that you'll be able to use is different. You'll start out as a Novice (your beginning job) and once you get to a certain level, you'll be able to choose a job that fits your play style. There are trainers available that will allow you to try out some of the abilities of the particular job, so don't feel pressured to choose one that quickly. The image below shows you the different jobs and what kind of jobs you'll be able to advance to.

It doesn't show you the abilities and such but it basically shows you what you'll most likely be called and how you'll look like in the future. I'm pretty sure there will better articles out there explaining all these, written by muggles too.

I noticed that there are two jobs that deal with the magical section of the world, which is interesting. The developers of the game seem to want to add that aspect into this world of theirs. It's that never ending fascination with magic again.

The objective of the game seems to be your standard, leveling of character, killing monsters and sometimes, other players, trading items for zenies (the name of the currency used in game), type of game. By completing quests and killing monsters, you get to level up your character.

There is a place where you go, to engage quests, gaining exp and sometimes items. The person you go to is called the "Eden Teleport Officer" and after going through the loading page, you'll see something like that picture on the right.

To be honest, every single time I try to maneuver my character through that mess, I'll be thinking in my head, "excuse me, coming through, watch out". That just seems to crack me up.

Anyway, it is a good place to get some quests to level up and at the same time get some equipment to start you off. Well, that's after you go to the academy and learn about some of the stuff in game. I may have just jumped the gun (I used a muggle phrase!) there. This is a good place to go after you've selected which job you want to take.

It does get rather repetitive after a while. Killing monsters, leveling, improving weapons, armor and such but the music, cute graphics and sometimes playing with a friend or two, makes it a rather enjoyable experience.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Optical Illusions

Hey all,

It was a busy week as usual but here I am, relaxing at my muggle residence. Did I mention that I've been given this by the Ministry? They loved my paper on muggles and would like for me to continue observing them. 

Anyway, here is something interesting that I've found on that website most muggles are familiar with called, YouTube.

I hope that you've watched it. Anyway, I just think that it's a really brilliant idea. This video is an advertisement for the car but the way that they have presented this appears to hint at the fascination of illusions. Perhaps, this is an extension of the magical fascination these muggles have. I haven't approached a muggle to ask about their thoughts on these fascinations with magic, mystery, illusions and such yet. I'm guessing I might need to phrase my questions right, after all, I can't expose the magical community. 

Anyway, what is shown in the video is called, optical illusions. The idea is that your eyes trick your brain into believing something that is real but in fact, in this case at least, is something just drawn on the pavement. It's a pretty neat idea, isn't it?

These muggles never fail to amaze me. The lack of magic, actually allows them to be creative and think of ways to surprise and make things seem impossible, just like those muggle magic tricks you get from the joke shop.

Anyway, enough of that, I was looking through some muggle slang and let me share with you, the muggle slang of the day, "Download Sabbath". 

What it means is simply a time in which a muggle is unable to do anything else on the computer because of certain critical updates that were required to be downloaded and implemented. It's usually a bulk update. Good thing I have not experience anything like that before. Well, I could always ask Hermione for help. She's a genius. 

I'm not sure if it's a common muggle slang though. I've yet to hear any muggle saying that, well, that's probably because I've not had the chance to visit a muggle workplace. That could be my next project. I'm pretty sure the Ministry would love to have some information with regards to how muggles work. 

We'll see.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

A new feeling.

Sitting in an arm chair by the fire, surrounded by the dark and silent common room, gazing at the flames dancing upon the firewood, listening to the sound of crackling fire, the serenity of being alone. He loved being in the common room when there wasn't anyone around. It was one of his guilty pleasures. The enjoyment of being alone, surrounded by the magnificence of the common room, the transition from a dark room into a room filled with dancing prisms of light reflecting of the window panes as the sun begins to rise, illuminating the black lake. At times, the giant squid can be spotted swimming up to the glass, as if to acknowledge that he was there.

He never minded if the giant squid was swimming around, at times, he would watch as it gracefully moves from one window, to the next, thinking that it must have felt free. He felt that the giant squid understood him and gave him, his space. It was always that little gesture that seemed to bond them and he felt accepted.

It was yet another peaceful, quiet early morning when a muffled sound could be heard behind him.

There shouldn't be anyone moving about during this time, he thought.

As he was beginning to think that he must have imagined the sound, that same muffled sound was heard again. This time, it was a little closer. Thinking that it was one of those prank pulling kids, he slowly drew out his wand and readied himself for a confrontation. The adrenaline rushed through his body, keeping his wand arm steady, he slowly turned his head to look at his approaching enemy.

What he saw, shocked him. It wasn't an enemy. What he saw was a beautiful girl with bright red hair that's down to her waist, pajamas with little jack o'lanterns patterns, warm furry slippers that were probably the ones making that muffled sound whenever she took a step, her wand arm out and pointed towards him with her deer in headlights look. She was as shocked to see him as he was her.

Opening his palm, facing towards her, slowly and carefully, he lowered his hands while standing up to face her, laying his wand on the arm of the chair. Taking a slow and steady step back, she decided that it was safe to approach. Her pajamas ruffled as she took a step forward, exhibiting the grace that she has.

He gestured to the vacant couch beside the fire, his eyes never leaving hers. He was mesmerized. He had seen her around the common room once or twice but it was always from afar. The firelight enhanced some of her features and brought to his attention, how beautiful her eyes were.

"What are you doing down here so early?" She asked.

"I'm usually here, this time. It's. Peaceful." He said without thinking.

He had never been so upfront about his feelings before and it was slightly disconcerting. He quickly regained his composure as he realized that she has been looking at him in silence.

"You're welcomed to join me if you wish. Unfortunately, I'm not good company this morning. I've got the Monday Blues." He said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Well, I was actually trying to see if I could catch a house elf in action. I'll be going now." She spoke, smiled sweetly and continued.

"Happy blue monday."

Zombie-fied

Hey all,

As the title of the entry suggests, I've been "zombie-fied". No, not like a real zombie but it's a new muggle term I've learnt. It seems that muggles use this word, "zombie" often to describe being sleep deprived. I guess, the idea behind it is the lack of thought, the dead feeling, the rage and irritability that one often feels with the lack of sleep is similar to a zombie.

So, I had the experience of feeling zombie-fied even though I've taken a couple of pepper-ups to help me through the night. It was a report that I had to rush out for the ministry. Sometimes I do wonder if they do this on purpose. I don't think it's the first time reports are due within a short period of time, well, except during the times of the Second Wizarding War.

What report was I writing? Well, I can't tell you that. It's purely on a need to know basis. There are secrets, even in the magical community you know?

Anyway, these muggles do fascinate me. Perhaps I'll make it a point to introduce new muggle words that I've learnt. Or rather, muggle slang. -chuckles- I like that term. A good thing about this zombie-fied experience is that, I'm having a few days off work. Perhaps I'll make a trip down to Middle Earth for a visit.

Well, after I've caught up on my winks that is.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Haunted Memories (game) - My thoughts

Hunted Memories, an Indie game released by MadMan Theory Games on Steam recently (2013), is a free to play game, in it's early access and isn't a completed game. What that means is, these muggles are letting other muggles get this game onto their laptop (portable) or desktop (grounded) to get a sense of what this game is about.

First thoughts of the game, dark. Literally. You start in the middle of what looks like the middle of no where with nothing on you. The slight distortion of the images gives off the appearance of you just waking up and feeling disoriented. Quite an interesting way of doing it too. It could be a rather slow computer too. It seems that an old system of this stuff affects some of the ability of the game to perform well. I suppose it's the same as getting updated versions like the Nimbus 2000 and then the Nimbus 2001.

Anyway, so you start off disoriented with no memory of what has occurred before this, and you're walking around with limp hands. The thunder, lightening and rain sounds add on to the atmosphere of being lost and having no clue with the only option of moving forward.

It won't be long until you come across an abandoned car with it's headlights still on. Is the car yours? Does it belong to someone else? Will there be help?

The only help comes from receiving a folder which contains messages, a map, showing where you are and an inventory list. Also found in the same area is a flashlight, a few steps down from the car, a gas canister and some batteries (you're welcome).

Looking at the map, you'll realize that you're stranded in a park. Cold, wet, hungry (I'm just guessing) and absolutely disoriented. The game seems to be really different from what I'm used to play. It doesn't really help that I have been reading the horror stories written by Stephen King. Also, the game is supposed to be a slenderman type game. I have no idea what that means. I'm hoping Hermione would shed some light on this.

Anyway, there is this thing called a 'save' in a game. It records your progress and allows you to return to the exact same point and the manner of saving defers with every game. For the Haunted Memories, you save by using a device called a typewriter (I looked it up). That's what it looks like and is apparently an older version of this laptop I'm using. It's like a technological improvement as that only types but this allows you to do so much more.

Went off on another tangent there again. What I'm going to say is, my thoughts on this game is that it isn't really exciting. What do I mean by that? Well, take away the fact that it's not a finished game and it's on early release, also take away the aesthetics of the game, I just felt really bored playing it. It is supposed to be a game that scares the living lights out of a muggle (maybe it's because I'm a wizard), and I've played through some of the scare parts, but I wasn't afraid at all. I yawned a couple of times too.

I suppose, some muggles do like to be scared by such gimmicks. Well, a trip into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night would do the trick but sadly, no muggles allowed. I would recommend getting this game for those who like that slenderman stuff or who like being scared by those jump scare type of thing because it's an interesting concept and I would expect muggles to like it, since it's made for them.

I would love to know what happened though. Maybe one day I'll find out.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Rowdy students

Hello again,

It's been a while and I've decided to steal a little free time for myself. I'm honestly feeling rather overwhelmed by the new students this year. I don't really understand why these first years are required to be in this class. I suppose, it's a good idea to introduce to them the temptation of the dark arts and guide them to a better path, early on while they are still impressionable. -shrugs-

Anyway, before I start whining about those students, which is all I feel like doing right now, I'm going to include a few little updates on my life. Or what's left of it (narrows eyes at fireplace, the gateway to "hell"). My typing speed has relatively improved from 20 to about 40, considering that I've not spent much time on this muggle thingy for a while, I'll say it's going pretty good. Let's see, what else, I've been reading a few muggle books lately. I have to say, some of their imagination is brilliant.

I have been reading the works of the author Stephen King, and the whole horror, supernatural theme that is quite evident in his writing is intriguing. Perhaps without the knowledge that magic exists, allows a muggle to further create works that had no limitation.

I think that's about it, so, time for some whining and ranting. These first years are so different from past students. It's really quite weird. Gone are the days when students are thirsty for knowledge, gone are the days where these kids are at least slightly respectful to professors, with the occasionally rebellion, but students these days seem to really love being bad for the sake of being bad. It does seem like they do not understand the reasoning behind being evil but just loves being as bad as they can be. Perhaps it's a cry for attention, like what they say about negative attention still being some form of attention.

I'm not sure why the trend seems to be that way now. Could be some psychological after effect of the Second Wizarding War. I honestly do not know but if this is the way things are going, I might be forced to retire early. -chuckles- Might be why this class is required as a first year class now.

Now that I've ranted a little, I should take this chance to walk around the muggle world a little. That does take my mind of things. Perhaps I might need to review my teaching methods. -shrugs- Better make use of what's left of my little free time. Got to head back to Hogwarts in a couple of hours.

This blogging stuff does work wonders.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Choices.

As the moon revealed itself among the cloudy sky, a pale ray of light descents from the night sky, softly illuminating a clear patch of ground, in the middle of a forest. Laying down on the grass, a lone figure can be seen staring into the night sky. It was not a good night for star gazing but that was not the only thing this lone figure is interested in.

He loves coming out here in the middle of the night. The rustling leaves, the sweet and slightly woody scent riding on the winds, the crunch of twigs, the scuttling of creatures, the feeling of being one with nature. The peace and the calm makes it an ideal place for thinking. All worldly distractions casts aside, the only way the inner voice can be heard.

His thoughts went back into the past and flew out into the future. What he was, what he is, and what he will be. The many possibilities that may have happened that would change him, for the good or the worse. He pondered deeply, as he has always done, in this circular clearing, deep within the forest, the consequences of certain decisions. It is funny how one would realize the results of actions that were taken so many years ago. The turning point, the crossroads, the decisions.

The choices.

The start of another school year

Hello everyone,

It has been a long time since I've updated on my life in general. As most of you are aware (or perhaps not), Hogwarts doesn't allow electronics to work. This is also one of the reasons why I'm unable to update that frequently. I often have to use the floo network to get to my home office in the muggle world to be able to update this.

Anyway, It has been a long time since I've the time to relax, with all the assignments to get through. It's a wonder how I'm able to move around. I've got a few hours before I have to head back to school. It's the first day of the school year now and all professors have to be present, besides, the feast would be brilliant.

I have to say that I've enjoyed my summer, even though I was spending most of it in Hogwarts. Professors really can't slack off. -chuckles- I'm sort of looking forward to the feast and the first years sorting ceremony. I love watching the expressions of those children when they first enter the Great Hall. It's such a delight with their roaming eyes, their excited expression, their eagerness to start learning (I might be kidding myself with this), these children always manages to remind me that the future is bright and there are many opportunities out there, waiting for those who dare to take the step. Reminds me of all the good in the world and the glimmering hope. All of that, just by looking at the faces of these first years. Kind of like how I was during my first year.

Well, I would love to write more but alas, my house elf has just reminded me that I need to be at school in an hour. Thank Merlin that there is the floo network. I would have missed the train.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Pottermore, the muggle Hogwarts

I came across this muggle game the other day. It's called Pottermore. Apparently, the muggles have created some form of a virtual Hogwarts using the source that is written by that genius witch or a relative of a family in the magical community.

As they say, curiosity killed the cat but the cat was extremely satisfied so, I had to create an account there. Just to compare with the real Hogwarts, no harm done right?

Anyway, so I've registered for an account and selected an username (which I am not going to reveal) and there I was, at the beginning of the story. Privet Drive. I suppose, muggles love a good story and Harry's story is magical (even by magical standards).

The way the story is being told to the muggles is very similar to how we tell the kids at home, how we managed to defeat one of the biggest threats in our magical community, the second wizarding war. Some have feedback to that it's one of the most interesting history lessons that Professor Cuthbert Binns could have taught. To be honest, I'm glad he finally has a story interesting enough for students to pay attention in class. Don't tell him I said that.

Anyway, I was following the story line and have gotten to the sorting ceremony. This certainly brings back memories of my sorting ceremony but I have to say, I was hesitant. Mainly because I didn't know if the muggle version of the sorting ceremony would be accurate. Turns out, the muggles uses a quiz to sort the individual. Quite interesting I must say and thankfully, I am being sorted into my own house. Cheers to Slytherin (We are not as evil as the rumors say).

It's interesting watching the muggles, what's that called, role play as students in Hogwarts and interact with other muggles. Role playing is something like pretending as a character, kind of like acting I suppose, only, these muggles act as students from Hogwarts and I have to say, the color scheme in the common room is quite similar to the actual common room. A great job to the designer of this muggle game.

There is also a great hall where students can interact with other students from the other houses, it also shows the progress of the current house cup. It seems that Slytherin still needs quite a bit to catch up to the rest. That's rather different from the real situation at Hogwarts, I can tell you that much.

But, it's rather assuring that we've won the cup the previous year (or however long the muggle house cup equivalent runs for). There is a potions class and a dueling club where students are able to brew potions and duel with spells. It's quite an accurate representation actually. I'm really impressed but there isn't the potion smells one has to deal with, the minute and minuscule details of potion making plus the smoke and recoil of spell casting. No sense in giving away our magic secrets to the muggles anyway. We've got to hold some things back.

I have to say though, overall, it is done pretty well. A close representation but I'll always prefer the real Hogwarts over this. -winks-

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Fallen Earth (game) - My thoughts

This is what I have been up to. Was hooked onto this muggle game for quite a while although it was released a while ago (okay, a really long while ago). Am still hooked to it actually.

What is it about? This game is set in an apocalyptic world in the future. We have progressed and regressed at the same time. Technology is advanced and yet it is primitive (to a certain extend at least). You go about your way as a clone. Once dead, the clone technology called LifeNet will reproduce another clone, downloading your memories from the collar into the new "body". The collar stores all your memories and is thereby the major indicator of clones.

The format of the game is similar to the Godfather or Grand thief auto. There is a main story line that happens but you do not have to follow it if you don't want to. There are many side quests and missions to complete for items, knowledge, money. The currency in the game uses chips (as in poker chips), and you'll get a certain amount when you are first introduced into the world. Sell items you've salvaged or harvested around the area to earn chips.

There is a crafting system in which you craft items like armor, clothes, weapons, food,  and more. The knowledge that you gain from some missions or purchase through merchants will "unlock" the ability to craft the items. Besides that, you'll need to improve your skills in order to be able to craft those items. So, it's not as simple as it sounds and yet it isn't that difficult. As you can see in the picture, these are the cooking recipes. The cooking skill determines the skill level for example 36 in this case, allows you to craft the Grilled Chicken (if you have the correct ingredients, shown at the bottom) and the Grilled Goat. You are unable to craft the Grilled Rabbit and the Kingman Kebab (both does sound delicious to a certain extend, or maybe that's because I'm hungry now).

Muddling around the world for a while, and you'll be able to get help from the "help" chat and if you're lucky enough, you might be able to find some helpful players willing to help out those who are struggling. It does take a while to be familiar with all the controls and the shortcuts to certain interfaces but once you are pass that, this game can be quite fun.

There are also fractions and clans for one to take part in. It is after all a multiplayer game (a game where multi players are playing at the same time. So you're not only interacting with the computer players, you're interacting with real life players from around the world).

The picture illustrates the different fractions available in the world. There are many subfractions but we shall not touch on that. The top half of the circle are fractions supposedly wanting the world back in order, the "good" people. The bottom half of the circle, wants the world free, the "bad" people. The words on the red lines show the main goal or ideal that the fraction. For example, the enforcers believe in order while the Chota believes in chaos. The red lines also tell you which fractions are archenemies. The surrounding fractions are allies. An example is, the enforcers' allies are the light bearers and the techs, they are also arch enemies with the Chotas and so on.

The open world concept of allowing a player to chose whatever they want to do and living with those choices, among the world of enemies is challenging and yet enjoyable for those who love such games. It is an engaging game that sucks you into a world of fantasy where your skills and sociability are tested.

I can see why this game might be so popular to muggles. As a wizard, I sometimes find myself wondering about what it's like in other worlds. I guess this is a good indicator of the type of games I find fun. Perhaps some of you might want to check it out. Let me know and I might share my username.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

The taste of freedom.

As the rain lashed upon the windows of my room, the thunders bellowed in the sky and the winds howling and gnashing at all in it's path, I was suddenly taken back into time. Not literally, but my mind traveled back, to a time stored away, deep inside the depths of my memory. 

It was a painful childhood, that I could tell you. The many occasions of being forced to do things you never wanted to do, be with people you never liked, behave according to how society dictate. The feeling of oppression was ever present, like a shadow, lurking behind my every move. 

The hunger and taste for freedom was always there, beneath the exterior, bubbling within my soul. It was at this thought that I remembered the first time I tasted the sweet and lovely taste of freedom. 

There was supposed to be a black and white dinner party hosted at the manor. Needless to say, I was forced to attend and help. The house elves were busy cleaning and preparing the food for the guests, changing the decoration, using the finest silverware, pulling out all the stops. No stone was left unturned. No stone, except me.  

As the time for the party drew near, I let myself out onto the balcony overlooking the garden. I've always loved standing on the balcony in the evening. The peace and quiet, the silence, the breeze, going wherever it wants to go. The house elves knew that I will be on one of these balconies and one of them apparated beside me, informing that I was to be at the entrance, greeting guests as they arrive in a couple of minutes and offered me a glass of wine.

Dismissing the elf, I peered into the horizon, sipping wine as I await for the rest of guests to arrive. The muffled sound of conversation squeezed though the double doors, hell bent on interrupting my enjoyment of the evening breeze. Letting out a sigh. I thought to myself, "it won't be long now".

Defying my parents, I stood there on the balcony, willing time to slow, procrastinating the sound of a cracked whip, indicating a house elf being sent to retrieve me. I was beginning to despair as the sounds behind the double doors increased. I knew that it indicated the influx of guests, and while pondering the distaste for social interaction, the darkening skies tells me that it's about time to head down and mingle.

I was about to move from my stationary position, when the thought of going through yet another evening of mindless, superficial, pompous mingling felt suffocating. Loosening the bow tie I was wearing, a sudden brilliance flashed into the depths of my troubled mind. I could escape. There would be too many at this party to realize that I'm gone. 

"This is madness" I told myself, and yet the sudden adrenaline coursing through my veins, the alertness that I felt, the excitement of escaping from it all made me feel alive. The strange feeling of being so free is something that was extremely new to me. I laughed silently as I tore off my bow tie and laid it upon the barrier, the barrier to freedom. I smiled, closed my eyes and...

Apparated.

A flashback.

Listening to the racket outside the courtyard as I stood looking down into the faces of the first years laughing, screaming, talking, playing around and generally excited to be here at Hogwarts, I am brought back to the time when I was a first year.

The excitement of finally arriving at school and being away from parents, the feeling of making new friends that would not judge me by my background, the sense of starting a new journey.

It was the beginning of a new life, and I was feeling good.

Happy Birthday J.K Rowling

Today is the birthday of our wonderful author who created the world of Harry Potter (thereby exposing the magical world to the muggles, although they still think it's fiction).

It's also Harry's birthday. I'm pretty sure that he is celebrating it with his family. Lovely children they've got. Knowing Harry, I've just sent him an owl with his birthday card, and no, I'm not going to reveal what I wrote on it.

Now, with all the birthday wishes taken care of, I have to say that revealing the magical community to the muggles through fiction books, is a stroke of genius. I wished that I had thought of that. I'm pretty sure Jo is either a witch or has family that are witches and wizards. Now it makes me wonder if I know them.

Anyways, just thought I should send some blessings to these two amazing people. Harry did grow up to be quite a dashing young man.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Phantom of the Opera (musical) - My thoughts

Considered among one of the classics, the Phantom of the Opera is a long running musical. I recently had the opportunity to witness this form of muggle entertainment and I must say, I am utterly fascinated by it. From the tragic back story of the phantom, to the glitz and glamor of the parties thrown by the rich, to the underground river entrance, to the lair of the phantom. I was pleasantly enthralled by the beautiful sounding voices, belting out songs filled with emotion, hitting those notes with depth. It was truly an amazing experience.

The brilliant use of the stage, the genius usage of the props (it was as if these muggles knew magic), the bright, eye catching lights and colors that splashed across the set at the right times.

 

If you are someone who enjoys watching stories being performed live in front of you, often accompanied by an orchestra, this is one of them that you have to go to. The wonderfully composed music and lyrics draws you into the play, seamlessly engaging the audience and allows you to feel a part, investing your emotions and feeling as the characters feel. 

There really isn't much that I can say that I dislike about this musical. It has tragedy, romance, murder, suspense, and a brilliant ending. I love the ending the most (not because it's over) but because of the symbolic meaning behind the mask and the so called end of the phantom of the opera theatrics. 

All in all, I give this 4 out of 5 phantom masks.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

The Wolverine (movie) - My thoughts

The Wolverine, an apparent immortal guy (I know a certain dark wizard that would be very interested in this person) who has shiny long blades extending from the flesh between his knuckles whenever he balls his hands into fists. First off, the poster looks really good. Seems to promise death and destruction to all who crossed his path (this should be exciting for those death eater wannabes). It also seems to suggests that the whole show seemed to revolve around Japan and it's Samurai.

Now witches and wizards (who swings that way, you know who you are), please refrain from kissing your screen, repeating 'Oh my god' countless times and not paying attention to what I'm saying here. Alright, alright. I'll give you a ten seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Yeah, I actually counted).

Now that you've already ogled, I'll bring your attention to the camera crew, lurking in the background. I don't really have a comment, just that it's one of those production stills from the movie. One thing I'll say about this scene though, it's a pretty interesting fight scene. The shirtless guy is of course the immortal, wolverine and the shorter guy is, well, a samurai. The apparent stalemate of fighting styles between wolverine and the samurai seems to suggest a hint of limits. Although wolverine is an immortal with superhuman strength, with the ability to heal quickly (I'm pretty sure Poppy would love to harness that for healing) and possessing claws that were made of the toughest known metal, he is unable to win fights immediately. Sometimes he would over power weak enemies, sometimes he would not and would result in fending off the enemy till the enemy is too tired thereby allowing him to deal the final blow or for him to pass out, allowing the enemy to run away (although most enemies would probably be killed or fended off by others).

As shown above, wolverine can be captured, immobilized, and rendered absolutely powerless to defend himself. The lady in green can be correctly interpreted as the femme fatale, the villian in the movie and although she is dressed in Slytherin green and is essentially a viper, she is by no means a representation of us (she is pretty cunning though). 

I can see how this would entice a muggle and transport them into a different world, allowing their imagination to roam wild, providing pleasure from a hard day of work or school or life in general. The plot is somewhat predictable but the action and graphics, I feel, makes up for that.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5 shirtless wolverines.

I've attached the trailer below for your enjoyment. 

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

My apologies.

Hello again,

I must apologize for my lack of entries. I have been really busy these days with the students, an upcoming presentation at the Ministry and trying to make a muggle game work, things have been flying over my head quite a bit.

Anyway,  following my trend of checking out new animated movies, Turbo, seems to be about a snail, who has a dream of racing or at least being really fast.

Now, it might seem a little similar to Cars and perhaps contain the same family feel go type of scenarios but the whole point of it is that the underlying theme of the movie is about breaking out of your comfort zone and chasing your dreams. A very common theme among animated films but I do feel that some how, even in the magical world, society has been too harsh on people wanting to chase their dreams. Be it, financially, environmentally, different opportunities, number of openings, etc.

Honestly, it doesn't matter much in my opinion if it's a movie that is repeating the same type of family oriented plots. The excitement of going to watch a movie is to sit back and enjoy yourself, forgetting the day's work, indulge in laughter and fire up the old imagination, traveling to different worlds.

Here is another trailer and it provides a better understanding of how the movie will proceed and although it might have revealed the whole plot, I am still optimistic about this because in some ways, it kind of ties in neatly with what I've been feeling for the past few weeks.

It might be time for me to just sit back, relax, let work (magical or non-magical) hide in a corner while I go have some well-deserved fun. After all, it certainly does feel like I've been living on the fast lane for too long.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Animated movies.

Hello again,

A couple of entries ago, I mentioned a little about movies. Well, I was just watching videos on youTube randomly and I found this.

It is an animated movie called, "Escape from Planet Earth" that is coming out soon. I've seen negative comments surrounding this movie but I disagree. From a wizard's point of view, I look at it as a type of feel good movie catered to muggle families or muggles feeling a little under the weather.

 

It did come as a shock, finding out that there are muggles out there who would rate movies without looking at it or giving it a chance. Perhaps, this is another form of muggle interaction or thought process that I have yet to discover. Well, seems like there are some differences between magical and non-magical folk. Anyway, I am quite excited for this movie to premiere. Seems like a rather fun, feel good movie, that provides a little escape from the everyday stress of life. Hey, even Hogwarts professors are stressed. 

Which reminds me, there is another animated movie that will be coming out soon. It's called "Monsters University". It's apparently a prequel to the animated movie "Monsters Inc." but just by watching the trailer, it seems to indicate a rather accurate portrayal of college life for young muggles.

 

I have to admit, that prank, was pure genius and something Peeves would have thought of. I am so glad Peeves is not allowed into the muggle world. The improper use of magic office would have an immensely huge headache clearing up his mess. This seems like another one of those fun, feel good, forget the day's worries type of movie.

Also, I am aware that the characters in these movies are not actual muggles but a representation of a generic muggle. After all, muggles do not believe that there are monsters and aliens in this world right? I do find it rather intriguing that the muggles creating these stories are choosing to portray muggle behavior with unfamiliar species. Perhaps they are magical folk, trying to slowly integrate the communities! Wait, I would have heard of this if something like that is going on.

Oh wells, it's not really in my job scope. I am just here to observe, take notes and report my findings.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hello again,

I have just found out that it is Chinese New Year for muggles and magical folk alike, so I would like to wish all of you a Happy Chinese New Year, many blessings, abundance of health and happiness.

It is the year of the snake! Which means, this is Slytherin's year! I can't believe we have a whole year. The cherry on the cake would be for us to win the House Cup this year again. That would be amazing.

Anyway, this is a short entry filled with best wishes for everyone, muggles and magical folks alike.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Quite curious.

Hello again,

Some updates on the Hogwarts side of things, it's been going great. The students are much better ever since they have gotten into the rhythm of school. I've returned the first assignments and have collected the second one for marking. I am thinking of planning a few out of school trips as well although that would prove to be quite a handful considering the Slytherin students. Detention doesn't seem to be working for them.

Enough about boring school stuff. I have just downloaded a game called Governor of Poker. You choose whether you want to play as a lady or a gentleman and the goal of the game is to win at poker. I suppose you take over towns by winning a lot of money and you get to travel to other towns. I haven't started playing it yet. I am still reading up on the rules of the game but it seems like muggles love playing poker.

There are buildings called Casinos where muggles gamble. They play many different kinds of gambling games and poker is one of them. To avoid leaking the existence of the magical society, I felt that it was better for me to play a virtual game instead of going into a Casino, running the risk of getting too excited and using the summoning charm.

Anyway, I was talking to a fellow professor about muggles and the Twilight craze and she had some really interesting words to say. The character might be appealing to muggles because of the very fact that the character is so human, filled with flaws, unlike many other hero type characters. I do agree with this point and I am so glad I did have a chat with her about this. I'm not saying that I like the book now, I am just saying that I do see why some muggles might like it.

I would probably be getting a mobile phone the next time I visit the muggle world (which would be quite soon). Makes it easier to contact Hermione when I'm there too. I'm pretty excited though. It seems that I'm starting to get the hang of this technology stuff and my thirst for knowledge is ever growing. Absolutely thrilled to head into the muggle world. Can't wait!


As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Fallen sick.

Hello again,

Well, as you have just read, I have been sick for the past week. Poppy says it's just the flu and told me to rest. She was insistent that I spend the night at the hospital wing too but I told her that I had too much work to complete. Luckily, I managed to escape. Wouldn't want to be force fed pig-snout soup. She's been overly chummy with the Chinese witches ever since they had that exchange. Their methods of medicine just seems quite weird to me. I just hope Poppy doesn't bring back those methods from the voodoo witches when she goes on her exchange later this month. Gulp.

So, here I am, resting. Sort of.

Well, let's see, I have been reading up on the gaming community and it appears to me that muggles tend to lose themselves in games. What I mean by this is, spending that few minutes or that few hours playing games, seems to be a favorite form of escape from daily lives for the muggles. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's wrong. I am just pointing out my observations. If any anti-muggle magical folk here is reading this and wishes to quote me and take it out of context, you should be ashamed of yourselves, but then again, I doubt that any anti-muggle magical folk would know how to operate muggle technology. Here I am again, blabbering.

That seems to be a side effect of my illness. I hope it goes away when I'm given the all clear from Poppy. Anyway, I might start playing some of these games, just to get myself into a muggle's perspective and perhaps be able to understand their psychology better. It would be cool if the muggles reading this would respond as well. I would love to hear some of the reasons why some of you are attracted to games. I might consider playing a few games and recording them down. Might be fun. I have to learn how to use the recording thingy first. So many things to do, so little time. If only, they didn't destroy all the time turners.

On other news, as proclaimed on Twitter (which is why you should follow me *wink*),  a couple of days ago, I do dislike the character of Bella Swan from the Twilight series. And if any muggle could enlighten me, I would be really grateful. The thing that I do not understand is the portrayal of the lead female character in the book.

Are muggles loving such weak feminine portrayals? It is as if Bella is an exaggeration of the weakest female muggle that can be found. Perhaps the whole idea of a forbidden love between two different species is the key in the popularity of it. Please enlightenment me. I really am extremely curious about this.

By the way, real vampires aren't sparkly like that. Just look at Sanguini or Lorcan d'Eath, the famous part-vampire singer.

Okay, Poppy has been sending her owl to me for the past few minutes, pecking me to death. I should get some rest now.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

What a busy week!

Hello again,

So, I am almost done marking the first assignment and as mentioned in my tweets, there are some slytherins that have trouble understanding the concept. Also, it appears that my fascination with muggles have been circulating among the students in school and it seems to be detrimental to my reputation as a "normal" magical folk.

I do wonder if muggles have this trend of circulation.

Not to worry, the fear of the unknown is natural and forgivable, as long as it doesn't create another sad soul like Voldemort. Yes. I did say that. I do think that Voldemort is a rather sad being but that is probably best explained in another entry.

My initial report of the muggle world has been submitted to the Minster of Magic and the white council and it seems that I am receiving rather favorable reactions. I am waiting for the go ahead from the ministry to officially work with the muggle department and possibly produce a paper, paving the way for muggle enlightenment within the magical society. So that's that.

Let's see, I've told you about marking the first assignment, the circulations, the positive reactions for my report, oh! I am learning about this gaming industry in the muggle world.

Yes! It is actually quite amazing. I saw this one muggle in a café (when I was spending some time in the muggle world) engrossed with his laptop, seemingly playing some form of a game and proceeding to ask him some questions.

The game that he was playing is called "Final Fantasy VIII". He told me that this was a Playstation game but when I asked him what was a Playstation, he started going on about this whole community of gamers, the different consoles (machines that you can play these games on) and seemed quite happy that I was interested to know about it. Thankfully, he didn't suspect that I was not from there, which also hints at the possibility of the exclusion of some muggles being involved with this community. He added that he was just replaying the game, which suggests that he is pretty fond of it considering his engrossment and the point of him replaying the game.

Naturally, I went back wanting to find out more and I realized that there are different classifications of muggles within the community. I am still going through a ton of information (yes, I started when classes began and frankly speaking, just touched the tip of the iceberg) and perhaps would write on my thoughts about it in the future but as you can probably tell, this was such a busy week for me.

Well, I have to end here, there are a couple of students that need detention.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Compromise!

Hello again,


As you may have realized, my template has been changed! Yes, yes, I know that I have been posting more regularly this week but these are just tiny updates. I would be tweeting them in the future so be sure to follow me.

A compromise of simplicity and the addition of a couple of things on the side. The best part, I don't think that it's counting my page views anymore! Yes! This Google search that Harry recommended is awesome!

Unfortunately, all this editing and confusion has taken up quite a bit of my time so I'll just end here. Hope that all of you enjoy this new layout!

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Question!

Hello again,

I know this isn't my regular posting deadline but I've got a question for you readers and I do hope I get some feedback.

Would you prefer this layout without my Twitter feed or one that has it beside the entry?

Harry sent me an owl saying that I should have my Twitter feed there so that it would be convenient for people. I don't know, I do agree but I kind of like the simplicity of this design. I really do appreciate if I could get some feedback. Thanks!

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Short entry.

Hello again,

How is everyone? I have been pretty busy lately and I do apologize for the late entry. Learning about all these new muggle stuff is taking quite a bit of my time really. Also, there are a few "Hermione"s in my class. I asked for one roll of parchment for the first assignment and it was tripled. Imagine going through a couple of these.

Anyway, sorry for whining a bit there. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to brush up my typing. It's going pretty well actually. I am now able to type about twenty words a minute. I know, it's nothing much but hey, I'm new at this.

Just a little update, I've just gotten a Twitter account! Thanks to Hermione (yet again) for teaching me the ropes. She is just so helpful in orientating and understanding of these muggle stuff. Next up, she is going to teach me all about mobile phones. Apparently, one can Tweet (the term used when one sends a message on the Twitter account) there too! Still getting the hang of things and experimenting though. I have to say, it is rather disappointing that Twitter doesn't link up with Google+ (which is rather neglected I have to admit), but I suppose, it would be easier to communicate smaller updates to people on Twitter compared to Google+ or Blogger.

So feel free to follow me on Twitter, @LordSevOfficial!

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Back at Hogwarts

Hello again,

Well, there isn't much to say really. As the title suggest, I am back at Hogwarts. Things are great here, as usual. The halls are filled with students shuffling to the next classes, the pranks seem to be increasing and it's been driving poor Argus up the wall. I have a sneaking suspicion that peeves has been recruiting students into a secret class of prank-ing, mostly first years. It appears that the long peace has somehow created an age where these young students are craving for some "action" from hearing all the war stories being told by the elders (and those pictures).

The romance and glorifying of war, it is almost as if it is a game, the way these pictures tell the great story of the final battle.

I did notice this same trend among the muggles as well. The phenomenon of being desensitized to violence because of the influence of films and games (good thing the muggles have no idea about wizards chess).

That wouldn't be good.

Ah! I found out that muggles do have the kind of photographs that we are used to. It is called a .gif and an example is of the above .gif of wizards chess. The disadvantage is, you can only view it though a computer but it is pretty interesting that this technology thing has allowed muggles to perform magic even though it is in a virtual world (it is only a world that you can access through a computer but very much like an actual world).

Anyway, Hermione has been so nice to give me an iPad for a Christmas present and I discovered a pretty fun muggle game. It is called Flow Free, as you can see in the image. Basically, the goal of the game is to link the same colored dots. You are not allowed to cross paths and in order to get a perfect score, you have to fill the board. I have been playing that during class breaks or when I needed a break for grading papers. I would recommend this to those who find mental games fun. It does require some thinking and is definitely a different type of mental relaxation. You can find this game on the app store (it is like a shop, much like those you can see on Diagon Alley, only virtual).


I honestly am not entirely sure when is the next time I can post an entry but you might have realized that I do post once every week. I will try to keep to this as much as I can and you can expect a new post every Tuesday.

What will be the contents? Well, anything I suppose. News from the magical world, middle earth or maybe my observations of the muggle world. It is just an entry of randomness and I hope it provides some entertainment to magical and non magical folk alike.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus