Operation: Secret Santa Errand Finished

December 4-6

____The concept of a randomized gift giving ceremony had appealed immensely to Pericles. He was drawn by the thrill of chance, and by the excuse to do an unexpected kindness to an unsuspecting person. The only trouble was that he did not know a thing about the person picked for him. Selecting the perfect present was a standing tradition in his household. The object granted was typically meant to be an amalgamation of practicality, symbolism, and value. This time, he had neither the luxury of knowing his target, nor the convenience of simply selecting something from a store. He had to make the object all on his own.

Upon entering the designated crafting section, the lad took his time perusing the variety of materials. Ribbons were admired, scraps of fabric felt in passing, fingers pushed about beads before corking an unattended bottle of glitter. There were wires of various sizes, parchment in every color, and a plethora of tools to help the creative crafters on their way. Yet another trouble arose for the ponderous Ravenclaw: he did not necessarily possess any craft-based talents. While Pericles enjoyed arranging Rubes Goldberg Machines, he would not entertain the delusion of amusing some stranger with a weird setup of organized chaos. His father had enthusiastically provided him with model ships to arrange, though the boy had pretended to have an interest in those, arranging them more for the sake of seeing his parent's enthusiasm. It was difficult to imagine it would make a good gift, anyhow, and there was no chance he'd make something like that from scratch. For some moments of mulling, he found himself regrettably lacking in ideas. Bit this was a library. The light flickered on in his mind: there were hundreds upon thousands of ideas shelved all around him. All he had to do was find the right book.

Studying his recipient was the more troublesome task. After asking the librarian Miss Finley for help, he had learned a handful of information, namely: they were a Griffindor, and they enjoyed gobstones. In normal circumstances, this would have meant owling home for a playing set, ending on the simple note of wrapping the game and handing it over. Peri would have his work cut out for him this time. Making the stones himself was out of the question, so he would settle for something along the same lines, something still practical and aesthetic while appealing to the stranger's tastes. Hopefully. A book on the Simple Crafts for Restless Homebodies started him on his journey. Its contents included the instructions for a relatively simple drawstring sack, which seemed like just the thing one should have for carrying around a heap of exploding marbles.

The outer lining for the bag would be a bold red, something dashing and daring to suit a Gryffindor. The interior liner would be gold satin, where the drawstrings were formed by a long golden ribbon, its ends capped by shiny beads. The needle was threaded with a deep crimson to blend- more or less- into the bag itself. That book had provided him with instructions on backstitching, which was supposed to be a good strong stitch. His recipient would be able to keep gobstones in this, perhaps a snack, or even an assortment of baubles they happened to come across. Pericles made certain to stitch as tightly as possible. The narrower the gaps, the less likely something would fall from it, and his process was so painstaking that one might even fill the thing with rice. He didn't know of many people who walked around campus with bags of rice, but this person would have the liberty to do so, if they were into that sort of thing. He incorporated whip stitching into the seams, if with a bit of trial and error, and doubled up on some sections. Should a thread tear, its double would carry the slack. The boy thought he would be clever by folding the hem over the ribbons due to be drawstrings, ensuring he stitched them securely, though this attempt at cutting corners would cost him. He had stitched the ribbin into the lining, thus was forced to meticulously cut the many tiny threads, pulling them free and discarding them. Just over an hour had been spent sewing and reading. There was time, however, and it was better to do things right than to do them quickly (again). After tucking both book and work-in-progress into his book bag, Pericles departed.

Before, the boy had known the essentials of mending fabric. He had never created something such as this, though he knew how to fix a hole in his clothes, never mind the fact that he was now in possession of the Reparo spell. The project he had fixated on would serve as a useful lesson for another time, or at least, he imagined it could only come in handy. Pericles continued to cross-references information, learning two stitch types. He had eventually formed the bag itself, complete with intact drawstrings, and derived immense satisfaction from the fact that they actually worked. This second session was far shorter than the first, though it was undoubtedly rewarding. A small section of time had been devoted to the gift on Saturday and Sunday. The final touches would come Monday, when all if his classes were said and done, during the brief gap between the last class and dinner. Eager to see it done and have the project off of his mind, the Ravenclaw returned to the library to add his final touches. To embellish the theme of Gryffindor pride, he painstakingly stitched a pair of gleaming gold ribbons, parallel and stretching from top to bottom on both sides. The drawstrings were capped with metallic beads for good measure- these added a hint of regality to the object. What better way to say I'm about to royally smash you at gobstones than a fine, flashy, rich red and gold bag to carry them around in? While sewing the sack had taken Pericles far longer than it would have taken an expert, the final product was a durable, noble-looking bag which positively radiated Gryffindor flair.

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☆ Secret Santa ☆

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Reducio The owl had arrived that morning, bearing a beautifully decorated letter. Heavy, expensive parchment paper which had become a golden color after years of not being put to proper use. On the envelope, his name was written in a careful curling script Earl had seen once or twice before. Robyn had a gift for penmanship. A tiny smile had fluttered on our young boy's face as he crawled in his bed, having to duck as to not hit himself on the top bunk. He was half dressed, hair still pointing in all directions, sleep clinging to his tiny form the way fog clings to a weary traveler. Clothes were scattered all over his bed, sweaters he still hadn't decided whether he should wear, scarves, jeans; anything but the hideous school uniform could be found there. And amidst the clothing, there was the pink puff, carefully opening his letter, careful not to rip the paper least he'd ruin something beautiful. 'Secret Santa' the letter proclaimed, and underneath the fold of the paper, away from prying eyes, the name of his partner had been written in a beautiful curling script, filling nearly the entire page. For a moment, Earl's gaze stayed on the paper incredulously, the small smile growing into a brilliant grin, which light up the room in a way no lamp or candle ever would. And as he laid back on the bed, his partner's face slowly floated before his eyes. Messy chestnut brown hair which made you want to run your hands through it, mostly to fix it up, but also because it looked really soft. Eyes the color of storms and sea glass, a wild sort of joy shining through. It was the kind of joy and love which made you calm down instantly, drew people in like a magnet. Earl's partner was a good person. That was what had the boy smiling like that. Seaglass was good at heart. Good down to the bone. -----21st of December Slipping on a sweater and nearly getting lost inside it, Earl made quick work of his hair and was out of bed a moment later, slipping outside the Hufflepuff dorms with one clear destination in mind. The kitchens. Now, it is very important for the reader to know that while Earl may not have been good at a lot of things, he had cooking in the bag. Quite literally. Because as he was heading down to the kitchen, he’d pulled out an enormous cook book from somewhere inside the tiny drawstring bag he carried around, flipping through it absentmindedly and nearly falling down the steps a couple times, gray eyes lowered to the beautifully illustrated deserts. Upon reaching the painting, Earl looked up, sliding his fingers between the pages of his book as a makeshift bookmark, and gave the pear across from him a little tickle. Hysterical giggles filled the empty hallways as the painting slowly shifted away, to reveal the kitchens. Kitchens, which at seven in the morning on a Saturday, were still very much bustling with activity. Everywhere you turned, elves, elves, and more elves. Some were carrying platters full off food, other chopping up fruits and veggies in a flurry. There was a whole bread buttering station set up in the corner of the kitchens. A heavenly sweet smell had filled the kitchens, heavy, seeming to cling to the inside of Earl’s throat and slowly slide down, into his stomach, into his heart, warming every bit of his body. The moment he’d stepped inside, all the house elves turned towards him, a few even moving to block his path on instinct. One too many students had come in, stolen a plate full of sandwiches and left without as much as a ‘good day’ or ‘thank you’. A collective blink was given as the elves set their sights on the tiny pink haired boy. “Hiiiiiii” he beamed, setting the cook book on a counter and grabbing a much too small apron from a hook near the door. A little bit of squinting, biting of lips, and a couple seconds spent looking as if he was trying to remember something particularly, important, then Earl had shrunk by a couple inches. Not enough to make the apron fit perfectly, but at least he no longer looked like an elephant in a china shop. “What are we making?” he asked, rolling up the sleeves to his sweater. It took a few minutes of begging, groveling, and convincing from him to wear down the elves, but soon enough there he was, covered in flour and laughing alongside the elves, a spoon behind his ear as he mixed chocolate and sliced up strawberries. A few had gathered around the tiny boy, giving him pointers on how to hold his hand while stirring and for how long to let the fudge cool before cutting it up. Two hours later, and he’d ended up with a box of beautifully frosted cupcakes, and fudge so good he had to make a second batch for the house elves, as they’d started nabbing it away with giggles and laughs. He’d been just about to leave when a few of the elves toddled up to him with a bunch of wrapping paper and red string, helping him wrap the present and tie it off with a bow. ------A few hours later------ It came as no surprise that Earl wasn’t good at a lot of things which didn’t include clocks, cows or makeup. So making the journal was quite the project. He’d traded some jewelry for a fountain pen, cut up a pair of old jeans, and managed to slice the leather strip off of a necklace, reuse it as something to tie the journal closed. The pink puff had borrowed some thin black markers from one of the Hufflepuff girls in the common room, and after three hours’ worth of sitting hunched over the jeans, sharpies in hand, eyes narrowed in concentration, Earl came up with a Mandela pattern of sorts. Swirls and loops spread out over the bluish-white canvas, overlapping and dipping underneath one another, fighting for attention. A muggleborn girl had lent him a pair of scissors but he didn’t trust himself to actually cut the jeans, nor to handle scissors. Could he cook with knives and pans hot enough to give him hospital-worthy burns? Yes. Could he clean horses while in constant danger of getting kicked and flying halfway across the barn? Yes. Could he cut a square out of a pair of old jeans? No. So another hour passed, where he’d lined up the journal with the material, traced a square of sharpie around it, traced it again so he could fold the jeans over the original cover twice, agonized about what he’d do if he messed it up, picked up the pair of scissors twice and then setting them down again as he debated whether his hands were steady enough to get the job done. You would have though he was preparing for a heart surgery. Finally, one of the older Hufflepuffs took pity on him, cutting the material in four clean movements, and helping him stick it to the cover of the journal with some sort of gluing spell. Next came the part he knew would go well. Calligraphy. Dipping the fountain pen in ink, Earl set it against the cream coloured pages, drawing the letters of his partner’s name in steady, well practiced movements. Ripping out a strip of parchment from his history homework and a piece of pink sewist’s tape he inked in a message and taped it to the inside cover of his partner’s journal. It was small, but Earl didn’t have a lot of money nor a lot of imagination. On the inside of the notebook, Earl tied a sea glass bracelet to the bookmark. He kept around a small jar of trinkets, and odd bits of stone and shells filled it nearly to the brim, from when his father had taken him to see the dead sea. A bit of work with strips of leather and drilling two holes in the glass with the help of a fifth year had produced a simple yet beautiful bracelet. Earl smiled as he looked upon the gifts. It wasn’t fancy or expensive, but he sincerely hoped his partner would like them.

[font=Copperplate Gothic Light]bracelet[/font]

[font=Copperplate Gothic Light]journal[/font]

[font=Copperplate Gothic Light]food[/font]

Date: 4-20th December 2020 Location: The Library Word Count: 1121/1000 In which Martyna makes clumsy use of hand sewing to create a gift for her Secret Santa! Shhh... it's a secret!
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Martyna had never done a Secret Santa before, but it was wholly obvious to her that Robyn Finley, the slightly old-fashioned, awkward and yet incredibly dedicated school librarian, had done the absolute best job she could to ensure that this anonymous, Christmas gift-giving experience would be one to be enjoyed by all! Not only did the fact that it was mandatory to make a gift yourself instead of buy one give her immense comfort when it came to weighing up whether or not she should sign up (her parents could hardly afford to buy her and her siblings gifts at Christmas, let alone someone they'd never met) but also a fresh, enticing burst of inspiration. Amongst all the chaos of magic and stress of studying - only to fail anyway, in her case - it was easy for Tina to lose sight of her creative hobbies like sewing and drawing and writing, but now she had an opportunity to delve back into them. It was more than fantastic!

When she'd received her slip of paper indicating who she'd be preparing her present for, Tina couldn't have been more pleased. Immediately, she settled on making a garment, and whilst she couldn't write home to her mother or father for them to send exactly what she wanted, she was sure that in the newly formed 'corner of crafts' in what was essentially Robyn Finley's home away from home - the Library - would have everything she'd need. She did her research too, looking into the girl and her background and talking to her sister about what kind of clothing she might appreciate.

As it turned out, sewing machines weren't exactly the norm at Hogwarts, and Tina could admit that it would be a bit unfair on the school owls if she sent a delivery request home so that she could use her mother's. They were expensive, Robyn said when she asked her, and also a bit confusing for the magical staff. Although generally perceived as quite dim and not at all textbook smart by her peers, they would have been surprised to see the ease and precision with which she was able to thread up a machine, string looping in and around the mechanical parts. Alas, it would be back to the traditional way of doing things this time. Thankfully, everything else that she could possibly want was already available.

On the fourth of December, when everything was finally in place, and she had all the fabric and the thread she needed, Tina was ready to get to work. She was aware that the entire process was going to take quite some time, especially since she was going to have to do it all by hand, but if she was careful and dedicated with the hours she spent on it, she was sure everything would be ready before the due date. Such focus was rare of the usual laid-back, air-headed Hufflepuff, but it definitely wasn't a negative thing. Moreover, the librarian had been kind enough to offer help where she wanted it, which gave her solace considering the rigid deadline. She really was eager to ensure that everyone a good present.

Staring down at all the needles, fabric, scissors and thread sat expectantly on the table in front of her, waiting to be used, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Overall, she was going to be creating a sleeveless dress with an elasticated waist - shin-length, ruffled at the very bottom - with a poncho-type overcoat sewn over the top. She started by cutting the sections of the dress that she'd need: the back and front of the top half of the dress, facings for the sleeves and neck, a sweeping cut of red fabric for the bottom, with stripes of green, white and yellow running along it already, and the panel for the top, which draped down and was embroidered with beautiful flower and leaf patterns. The sizes were a rough guess based on the other girls perceived height (Martyna had asked Robyn for some more accurate measurements, although really all they could to avoid suspicion do was make estimations by eye - it could probably be fixed with magic if necessary) and the fabric was cut using stencils. All this was managed quite in her first session, leaving her glowing with pride.

The next day was reserved for fraying prevention - essentially going around every piece of fabric for the dress with an overlock stitch. It was tricky at first, but she after a short while took to it, sitting quite happily in the crafts corner and chatting to whoever happened to be nearby. It didn't require nearly as much concentration after half an hour of practice. If anyone had passed her during this time frame, they might have thought of her as being uncharacteristically quiet: she was usually so quick to distract, mind wandering, and yet the process of dress-making demanded a lot of her energy, which she was more than happy to give, pouring her heart into it throughout.

Soon enough, she was able to start assembling. The torso was first: sewn delicately together using a basting stitch on both sides whilst leaving a large amount of room for the sleeves and neckline, before she hemmed the shoulders. The loose, flowing style of the dress required that she give plenty of space, especially with the embroidered garment eventually being sewn on top. Attaching the facings was a fiddly, but necessary process, as her mother always told her. Held in place with pins, Tina was unable to focus on anything else as she poked the needle in and out, undulating through the fabric like waves. She wiped her brow. Her Secret Santa had better love this...

What she missed most about the sewing machine wasn't actually the speed (not that she didn't miss this), but actually the way in which it helped when it came to putting in elastic. Having hemmed the bottom piece and attached it to the top, she was ready for the inevitable. Robyn really had to help her when it came to this, stretching the stretchy strip out whilst Tina got stuck into the crafting. She elected to attach the ruffle panel last, but when the dress was finally complete, and she was able to turn it inside out and see the final product, nothing felt better.

She wasn't done yet. Last but not least was attaching the poncho. It was laced at the edges, and hung gracefully over the top of the dress as it was attached to the top, disguising any potential errors she'd made whilst sewing. On December the 20th, she was finally done.

Tina was positively glimmering with Christmas spirit.

Date: December 10th X X Word Count: 1009/1000 COMPLETE

Callista had visited the library several times after it was set up for the Secret Santa Event. She was a regular, after all. She had watched as other students crafted their gifts - she suspected some even baked theirs, as she spotted a Hufflepuff coming from the kitchen with a batch of cupcakes. But she didn't know how to bake, and she didn't know anything about her Secret Santa. She had struggled with an idea for her own gift, and watched fascinated as some seemed to know exactly what to make - perhaps their Secret Santa was a friend?

Every time she visited the library, the place she felt the most at home in Hogwarts - including the Hufflepuff common room - she was distracted by the people crafting, admiring their gifts and talents. She could tell that some, like her, struggled with the gift, and it definitely wasn't going to be a batch of perfect gifts. But that was part of the charm, wasn't it? Receiving a homemade gift, in Callista's opinion, was always nicer than a store-bought one.

She reached out to Ms. Finley a couple of days ago, and she had dutifully provided Callista with some information. However, the problem was that she had too much information, and Callista wasn't sure which way to go with. Although games was an option, there was no way she was going to be able to create a game or anything to do with wood. So instead, she went with something she could actually make.

Whilst gathering the needed materials, Callista raised an eyebrow, not seeing any tape. They have a stapler but no tape? Seriously? But it was alright - she could make do with the glue. With a surprised but pleased smile, Callista discovered a smooth, thin black velvet that would do wonderfully. Some paper, that stapler, a bottle of glue, and then some sewing equipment.

Now, Callista had no idea how to sew. (Although her grandma tried teaching her once.) But she could embroider. Kind of. And she was quite good at drawing, so hopefully that meant she had an eye for design. And, lastly, her handwriting wasn't too messy - at least, it was quite legible.

Callista took her seat among some other people who were also working on their presents. Starting with the easiest part, she stacked the papers neatly and stapled them together. Once - twice - three times. The staplers should bind the papers together - she'd done this a million times before. One student asked if they could borrow it. "Sure," she replied.

Now a needle and some thread... Callista picked out a needle from the container, as well as a small spool of yellow and then white thread. For a second, she panicked as she couldn't find a dark blue thread. Then she spotted it under a stack colored paper and grabbed it. She struggled with getting the thread through the needle, but finally managed. Okay, now I can get started!

A careful threading of a dark blue wand with a yellow and white bee that looked vaguely like a wasp. The wasp was coming out of the wand, as if the owner had conjured it. There was a part of the wand where the embroidery was a little messy - she had been distracted and almost planted her elbow in ink - but it wasn't too shabby. For a second, she worried that the book was too yellow/black themed, and decided to add a blue ribbon on the side. Callista tied off the thread, fumbled, and somehow managed to not prick her finger.

"Ah, where did the glue go?" She spotted it on another table - how did it get there?. "Wingardium Leviosa," she muttered. The glue bottle was levitated over - oh, how simple tasks are so much easier with magic - and Callista picked it up.

The only dark blue ribbon was a bit torn, and she fussed over it before remembering she was a witch. "I'm so clueless! Reparo!" With satisfaction, Callista watched as the tear mended itself. She had another episode of slight panic earlier when the papers crumpled a little, but she had smoothed it out, so everything was fine now. She picked up the newly fixed ribbon and returned to her table.

Trying to balance the level of glue, she stuck the packet of papers from earlier onto the black velvet cover. While letting it dry, she cleaned up her workspace. The boy that had borrowed her stapler from earlier tried to return it, but Callista shook her head. "I don't need it anymore," she said with a smile.

When she returned to her table, the glue had dried. She attached the dark blue ribbon along the spine. After all the glue had completely dried, Callista picked up the book and flipped it as a test. To her delight, it worked pretty well. Now for the hard part.

She flipped open the book and took out a quill from her bag. Deciding to draft the writing on a piece of paper first, she took a scrap that someone else had left on a nearby table. Dipping her quill tip into the bottle, she wrote carefully on the paper in dark blue ink, Sketchbook of _________. It was a good thing she had decided to draft first, as she messed up the 'e'. Surprisingly, the blank was rather neat and straight. It must have been from drawing so much.

For the final, Callista was determined not to mess up. In her neat, almost cursive handwriting, she wrote the message again, leaving a small note this time. She noticed that it was starting to get dark, and she lit a candle next to her. The book was pretty much complete! Ah, the satisfaction of seeing a finished product - especially one that you had made yourself.

Callista picked up the finished product and made her way over to the depositing area. "Here," she said softly as she handed it to Ms. Finley. As she cast a final glance at the project, she smiled to herself. I hope they like it.

Lavinia signed up for the schools secret Santa without a second thought, she even signed up before she read the rules. This was because she loved spreading the Christmas cheer and always enjoyed doing secret Santa with some of her friends back home. But when she did it with friends she knew the person and what they might enjoy to have, also she normally bought something from diagon alley, making crafts was just not in Lavinia’s skills and she was a perfectionist so anything made had to be as close to perfect as it could be. After she signed up for this exciting event she read over the rules which said that she needed to make an original gift for whoever she got. It was at that moment that Lavinia knew this was not what she meant to do at all.

Over the next few days Lavinia contemplated what the right thing to do was; It is going to be ok if I go up to Madame Finley and ask her to take me off the list or should I just try and do this gift swap thing. So if I go off the list then no one is going to make anything for me which doesn’t really matter that much but shouldn’t I give this a try. Even if the gift I give isn’t perfect would it still be ok and will the person like it or would I have to be ashamed of what I made. Oh this was such a bad idea but I’m gonna stick with it.

Later that day a letter arrived by a friendly owl named Artemis and it said on the front Open in secret Lavinia was already alone in her dormitory so she proceeded to open the letter inside it said Your person is: ...... she had no idea to who this person was but she had gotten over her insecurities about making a gift and started to look forward to giving this person a great gift for the holidays.

Lavinia took the next 3 days secretly researching more about her person and inconspicuously following them around the castle to get a sense of how they were like and what they might enjoy. Her person was a Gryffindor and liked to show it off, most of their regular clothing centered around those colors and this gave Lavinia a great idea of what to make. She was going to make them a Gryffindor ornament and a box that matched colors with it.

The next day right after breakfast Lavinia rushed down to the library to get her supplies before they ran out. She was already a few days behind everyone else but when she arrived she was shocked to see most of the supplies still there. Lavinia went up to Madame Finley no asked her if she had any blank ornaments, surprisingly she did have one and Lavinia took it while saying thank you to her. Lavinia took a look at some of the other materials and winded up grabbing a salty watercolor brush (sorry for the weird name, this was what I used on my app to make it) some Gryffindor colored watercolors, 2 fine tip red pens in different shades, a large paint brush and a variety of orange/red paints to finish the collection.

With her arms full of stuff Lavinia retreaded to a table and spread it all out, she felt bad for taking up a whole table but there was very few people there anyway so it didn’t make much of a difference. She first started but taking her watercolor brush, dipping it in the orange and brushed a thin layer on. Then she proceeded to bush on some red and more orange until she got the nice orangey red that she wanted. (I am so sorry to are people if I’m doing this wrong, I don’t do real art just digital art).

She set her ornament to dry and went back to the table to look for a box that she could decorate or something that the ornament would fit nicely in, by some miracle a perfect shaped white box was sitting there untouched. Lavinia lifted it up and took it to her table where she used the same salty watercolor brush to watercolor the bottom of the box light orange and the top light reddish pink. She waited 20 minutes for the watercolor to dry and she thought about using magic to make it go quicker but decided against it telling herself that using magic would ruin the fun she was having.

After the watercolor was dry she grabbed her paintbrushes and dipped them lightly in the paints, then she splatter painted the ornament by taking the tip of the brush and flicking it towards the ornament. Once the ornament looked nice she did the same thing with the box using orange and pink to match the colors. While these were drying Lavinia grabbed a piece of paper and scissors to cut out a little tag for the box. On the tag she wrote To: you, From: your SECRET SANTA in a orange and red pen.

Finally the box and ornament were dry so Lavinia took her tag attached a piece of string and taped it inside the box (to see how this looks check the pic below) and gathered her fine tip pens o writ on the ornament. She decided that she was going to draw a very fancy G on top of ornament and after looking through a few books she found the perfect one. Using both of the colors that she had laid out, she carefully drew the G to the best of her ability.

With a final drop of ink she finished her gift to her mystery person and left them out to dry for a bit longer. Lavinia did homework for about an hour before she placed the ornament carefully inside the box and walked over to Madame Finley. She handed the gift box to her and thanked her for all of the materials while being throughly impressed by her own work. Lavinia hoped that her person liked their gift and now they would have a new ornament to put up and a cool box to put it in during the other seasons. One more thing Lavinia was hoping for was that she would receive a great secret Santa gift and she was curious who would be giving it to her.

Word count: 1095

The ornament

Reducio

The box

Reducio

December 12th, 2020, 1 PM The Library

Growing up with siblings, Starlee had learned rather early on a few crafts she could do to make special and unique gifts for her family. Her mother was quite the avid crafter; she taught Starlee how to knit, sew on a sewing machine, and even a bit of embroidery, though Starlee wasn't quite as good at that last one. She always enjoyed sitting alongside her mother on the couch, helping her knit various items. They would always make a batch of scarves and hats to donate before Christmas and Starlee was sad to be missing out on that this year. Perhaps this gesture would make up for missing out on that moment.

When the announcement came around that there was to be a homemade gift Secret Santa, Starlee couldn't contain her excitement and she signed up immediately. There was so much she could do, so much she could make for her gift recipient. She had spent the week before she received her owl brainstorming various gift ideas. A scarf simply seemed too basic. There was no sewing machine she could use to make a garment, and hand sewing was certainly out of the question. A hat also seemed basic... she wanted something that her Secret Santa partner would never forget. She tossed and turned in her bed as she thought up a million different ideas.

Finally, the day came when the owl arrived carrying the letter with her partner's name inside it. Of course, like any other 11-year-old, she was hoping she would get someone she knew, but alas, when she tore open the letter, she stared blankly at the name on the parchment. She knew nothing about her Secret Santa Partner. Not even the name was familiar to her. This was going to make things a bit more difficult. Luckily, the letter did include the partner's house, so she at least had something to go off of in terms of something about them.

Her head raced through all the ideas for gifts that she had stored up in her mind, trying hard to think of something that she could make and ended up deciding... absolutely nothing. Perhaps the best thing to do would see what they even had in the library to craft with. There was supposed to be a whole crafting area set up, with various basic materials, so she figured it would be a good place to brainstorm.

She made her way up to the Library, hoping that she could find something there that would inspire her like it seemed all the great artists had. Perhaps she would see a color and be instantly enamored with it, causing a wave of creative energies? Who knew. What she knew is that she needed to find her muse.

As she entered the Library, she said hello to Robyn, and headed off to the corner of the library where the crafting supplies were supposed to be. She surveyed over the few tables, filled with various felts, threads, glue, scissors, and fabrics. She ran her hand over all of the items, considering what she should make. Her eye was quickly caught by some tubes of glitter. There was a whole rainbow collection of them sitting there, and she picked up two colors that would fit her Secret Santa partner's house: Bright red and glorious gold. She held them up to the light coming from the nearby windows and nodded to herself in approval. Whatever she made, glitter was certainly going to be involved. Who didn't love glitter?

She held the two bottles close to her chest as she went on surveying the rest of the materials, lost in thought while considering what she should make. Obviously, it was going to be some sort of house regalia; she knew how excited people got when it came to showing off their house pride, and she wanted this gift to be a big part of that showing off. People wore house buttons, scarves, and headbands to show off their house pride. Wait... something they could wear... what about... a bow???

Starlee ran back off toward one of the ends of the table where she had previously seen a large collection of ribbons. Again, she grabbed a pretty gold ribbon and a classic red ribbon. She grabbed a pair of scissors off the table and some glue and began to get to work. She created a flatter gold bow, with sharper pointed edges, slathered it in glue, and dumped a ton of glitter on top, enough to annoy any elementary school teacher who would have to clean up after the mess. She did the same to the red bow, but gave it more rounded edges so that the colors stood out. All that was left to do was the gold bow wrap around the two combined bows, and then a hair clip. She didn’t see any laid out on the table, so she asked Robyn if she might have any. She did, and she handed her one. Starlee ran back to the table and glued the bow onto the clip.

Done! She held the bow up to get a look as it dried. Hm… even though it was entirely drenched in glitter, it seemed there was still something missing about it... Aha! She ran back down the table to the glittery gold foam paper, took up her scissors again, and began to cut out the silhouette of the mighty lion of Gryffindor. While she certainly wasn’t an artist, the lion came out much better than she expected. She slathered more glue on the back of the little lion and placed it on one side of the bow. "Perfect!" she exclaimed out loud to no one in particular.

Now it was time for the box. She grabbed one of the excess gift boxes that were on the table, placed the bow inside it, and sealed the box up tight. All that was left was to drench the box in even more glitter. She took what was left of the gold tube, slathered up the box in glue, and dumped the glitter on top. You really just couldn’t get enough glitter when it came to a present, Starlee was certain. She wrote her partner's name on the little tag, stuck it onto the box, and handed it off to Robyn with a smile. She couldn’t wait to see her partner open it!

WC: 1065/1000

Secrets were exciting, to say the very least. The thought of a secret gift excited Nell, for she hadn't done something like it before, even in the Muggle world as a child. She wish she had, for it would have been fun to do with family and the handful of friends she had. Now it was different, she was going to make gift for a fellow Hogwarts attendee. Once she had gotten the owl however, she was lost. She knew nothing about the person, but luckily, a bit of searching sparked her imagination and she was off to make the gift for them. It might take a lot bit of work, but she was determined to impress the unknown student with her handmade gift. Nell was positive that her gift would fit her designated receivers interest, so she was excited to begin.
The second year decided to stay farthest away from others, since this process may be slightly... loud. Nell had found some wood outside of the castle, and decided it would be perfect for her project. She had had a bit of trouble finding a small knife to carve the wood with, but managed in the end. As Nell sat in the library, she lay her wood pile on top of a cloth (so pieces of wood wouldn't get everywhere, of course) and begin her work. She had a reference photo of the object propped up against a bookshelf in front of her, since she would mess up if she didn't have something to go off of. With her area set up, she began.
Two blocks of wood would have to turn into the object pictured in front of her. That was her goal. She took the first block of wood a gave it a long look. She probably wouldn't need two wood blocks, she realized. Whatever, she would return the second block later on. Nell cut a 'slice' out of the wood. It was about a foot long and at a proportioned width. She had already decided that said object wouldn't be to scale, but a model instead. Nell then played around with the small slab of wood and curved the ends upward a bit, to make her creation a bit more accurate.
After that, she shaped the rectangle of wood. Nell curved the ends and made the edges straight. Then, Nell took a spare piece of sandpaper and smoothed everything out so they wouldn't get any splinters. Finally, the first part of the object was complete. It looked pretty good for someone who never carved a piece of wood in their 12 years of life. She smiled and got on to the next part of the object's creation.
Nell took the other part of the same block of wood a cut it into four good sized pieces. At first glance, the pieces seemed too big for what they would be used for. However, by shaping them they would be perfectly proportioned to the other piece of wood that sat directly next to her and the wood glue she would also use. Nell took the first square of wood and took out her handy - dandy pen. She drew a pretty decent circle on the piece of wood. Of course, the circle was only for cutting reference. It wouldn't show on the final product at all.
After Nell had cut all the way through the block using her circle as a guide, sat it on top of the next block of wood. Instead of drawing a reference, she would instead use her wooden circle to make sure every one was the same size as the last. If one were bigger than the other it might look a bit odd, and of course, disproportioned. That would bother Nell and likely the receiver of the gift as well.
With a flow going Nell continued cutting the wood. It took a bit of effort for the weak little 12 year old, but with a bit of motivation Nell was able to complete the task with ease. Now Nell had 4 circles and a piece of wood. Assembly, time, the easiest but most time consuming part of the whole entire gift making process.
She flipped over the singular piece of wood so that the bottom of it was pointed towards the ceiling. Before Nell continued she realized that she had missed a step. She had to detail the circles so that they seemed slightly more realistic. She did this by indenting a circle slightly inward from the outside of the circle of wood. Perfect. Nell did this each of the pieces of wood before sanding down the top of each circle so it was flat. When she was done, Nell grabbed her wood glue. Now it was time for the time consuming part.
This part would take place over the course of two days, according to the directions of the bottle of wood glue. She knew she had plenty of time however, so she wasn’t extremely worried in the aspect. Her only worry was that the pieces wouldn’t stick together. With a doubt in the back of her mind, she began the final step.
Nell took the first circle of wood and placed just enough glue on the flat part. She placed it on the previously marked spot on the main piece of wood. Holding it down for about a minute as the directions said, she released her hand a let it be. She knew if she tried to mess with it, it might ruin the process. Thankfully, the piece of wood was positioned correctly so there wasn’t a need to mess with it.
She continued to do this for the other three pieces until they were positioned perfectly. Now to wait. Nell hated waiting, she was so impatient. 24 hours would feel like 24 years, it always did. In the end, she had to wait right? With a sigh, she cleared up a bit and let her project dry for a long 24 hours.
When Nell came back the next day, she was worried. If it didn’t work she would be disappointed. She flipped the entire thing over and felt relief. Everything stuck together and it looked just like she wanted it to be. Nell wrapped the gift (she didn’t know if she had to, but she did) neatly and wrote the recipient’s name on the gift tag. She grinned and was satisfied with her work.