“Human” Rights Activist, Sirius Black.

        How would you feel if everyone thought you were a mass murderer, if you were convicted of something you didn’t do, if your friends were shunned, if even your family hated you .... Would you believe this describes the life of Sirius Black, the “human” rights activist of the wizarding world? Let’s dig a little deeper into the story of J.K. Rowling’s forsaken hero.
        Sirius Black was not like his family;  they believed in racist “traditions.” They believed you had to come from a long line of wizards to  be of importance. Sirius knew that his family was wrong to think that only pure-bloods should rule the world. He knew that even if you didn’t come from a long line of wizarding lineage, that didn’t make you any less important than pure-bloods. He often tried to annoy his parents, by putting pictures of bikini-clad muggle girls, and pictures of motorcycles in his room with a sticking charm, so that his parents couldn’t take the pictures down. He was chosen for Gryffindor, the house of the brave in the famous wizarding school, Hogwarts. This made his family upset and shamed because his family had a long history of being in the house of Slytherin, house of the cunning. As a result, Black’s mother and father started showing more love to his younger brother, Regulas. Especially, when his younger brother was chosen for Slytherin. Most people didn’t like werewolves, but one of Sirius’s first friends was a werewolf, Remus Lupin. Having a werewolf for a friend didn’t exactly make his parents proud, but he was still very loyal to his friends. In his fifth year at Hogwarts, Sirius and some others did a very difficult and dangerous spell that could’ve caused their deaths simply to accompany their friend, Remus, during his werewolf transformations.
        In his older years, Sirius attended the potters’ wedding; this could’ve been a form of civil disobedience, he was supporting a muggle and wizard wedding. He also protected their son Harry who was not a pure-blood, but a half-blood. Sirius also joined the Order of the Phoenix. Then he was accused of killing sixteen people and he was sent to the wizarding prison, Azkaban. Everybody thought that he was an insane murderer, nobody trusted him. When he broke out of prison, he started looking out for Harry. The first time he saw Harry he scared the living daylights out of him. Black wanted to see Harry just once before he started off on his long journey to Hogwarts, so that he could kill Peter Pettigrew, and his name would be cleared. He was hoping that Harry would want to come home with him. Even the werewolf, Lupin thought that his best friend had gone insane. When he finally broke put of prison, after twelve years, he was still trying to help Harry. He was constantly watching out for Harry. He was constantly risking his life for Harry’s well-being. Even if Harry did think that he killed his parents. Even if Harry thought that he was a mass murderer.
        The truth is that Sirius Black was a true hero and he fought for what was right. He sets a good example for us all, and he shows us that ALL living creature’s should be treated equally and fairly. Even though his parents disagreed with him he knew what he had to do. And that is what makes him a “human” rights activist.




                            By: Lola Louise

Excerpt from: The Girl Who Drank the Moon By: Kelly Barnhill

It was one of his favorites. The baby gazed as he walked, studying  his protruding  eyeballs, his conical ears,  his thick lips on wide jaws. She examined each wart, each divot, each slimy lump on his large flat face, a look  of wonder in her eyes. She reached up one finger and stuck it curiously  into a nostril. Glerk sneezed and Luna laughed.

Excerpt from: The Girl Who Drank the Moon   By: Kelly Barnhill

Excerpt from, The Girl Who Drank The Moon. By: Kelly Barnhill

‘Glerk lumbered toward the Witch, who laid her hand on his great cheek. Though he was able to walk upright, he often preferred to move on all sixes—or on all sevens, with the use of his tail as an occasional limb, or all fives, if he happened to be using one of his hands to pluck a particularly fragrant flower and bring it to his nose, or to collect rocks, or to play a haunting tune on a hand-carved flute. He pressed his massive forehead to Xan’s tiny brow.’

It was one of his favorites. The baby gazed as he walked, studying  his protruding  eyeballs, his conical ears,  his thick lips on wide jaws. She examined each wart, each divot, each slimy lump on his large flat face, a look  of wonder in her eyes. She reached up one finger and stuck it curiously  into a nostril. Glerk sneezed and Luna laughed.

Excerpt from: The Girl Who Drank the Moon   By: Kelly Barnhill.                                                                
             

    Easy to carry around in a scabbard and unsheathed quicker than you can say, pumpershnickle  (said in an English accent); a sax knife is the best weapon during an attack or during trial by combat. It was normally called a sea ax then the two words “slid together” to form the shortened name sax. I personally call it a sax sword or Sax knife. It was used as either a knife or sword having a bone or wooden handle. Bone handles would be better because it would take longer for it to deteriorate. The sax knife was about 2 or 3 feet long and 6 inches wide.  The sax knife is strapped to your belt in a horizontal scabbard. Fun fact, the Germanic tribe, Saxons,  got their name from this popular knife they used.  Let’s say my knife got battered or bruised from war scars. Would I throw it away? No, it would be returned to  the blacksmith and made into different tools ; metal was rare and hard to find back then. So, if I ever find myself being attacked hopefully I have a trusty sax knife on me!

Brennan

Rangers Apprentice Trial by Combat Remade


     Walking towards Halt, seeing his proud smile, Will felt his heart filled with joy.  The rare smile on Halt’s face reassured him that he had truly made him proud by winning the trial by combat. But the flames of pride were quickly extinguished when Will saw the assassin preparing to shoot the only person who was like a father to him ! He started running but it seemed as though Halt was miles away and he was running through quicksand . Hearing the sickening crunch of bone being crushed, Will knew Halt was dead. The sorrow and guilt of being too late was almost as painful as the crossbow bolt that pierced his OWN skull. Nobody saw Tennyson, the false preacher of Aliyah, smiling grimly  in the podium. “Now that Holt and will are dead there’s nothing preventing me from taking over Clonimel and stealing all their riches,” he thought happily.  Watching their bodies being dragged into the forest, he scoffed, “ Now there will be no evidence they were ever here!”



By    
             Samuel

Poems by: Lola

Alice Walker
I got shot in the eye,
My brothers told me to lie.
I looked disfigured,
Everybody else just snickered.
I hated this earth.
I hated my birth.
So I began to write,
Through my pain and my fright.
       -Lola Davidson