The Question Market

On the 1st day of Summer Term (one week from today!) all new students at Fiddleheart Academy will visit The Question Market, a wandering bazaar of sorts where they may purchase notebooks, quills, a refreshing butterbeer, and the most essential piece of wizarding equipment... a wand. Every wand at Fiddleheart is one-of-a-kind and handcrafted. Which wand will choose you? The Question Market awaits you at Fiddleheart, one week from today!

Fiddleheart Wands

The Monster Book of Monsters

Although it is the quintessential published work on the subject, The Monster Book of Monsters by Edwardus Lima, will no longer be required for students at Fiddleheart Academy.  After countless lost fingers and numerous complaints from very angry parents we have decided to focus less on... physically challenging textbooks, and more on... practical experience.  Care of Magical Creatures class is going to be very special this summer.  We only have a few spaces left.  - Register today!

Professor Drakossa's bedside table.

Meet Headmistress Hobbliknob

In addition to being the Headmistress of Fiddleheart Academy of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Professor Hobbliknob is also one of the most well known and sought after wandmakers in the Americas.  On her way to becoming a master wandmaker she studied the wand artistry of Garrick Ollivander, known for making the wands of both Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.  Soon however, Hobbliknob began to develop her own wandmaking techniques that have won her a firm place in the rich history of master wandmakers.

Mr. Ollivander was a great innovator. He placed great importance on wand cores is recognized for favoring the use of phoenix feather, unicorn tail hair and dragon heartstring. He also put great stock in the type of wood used in wandmaking as has been the tradition for thousands of years.

Headmistress Hobbliknob has created a method of making wands that differs greatly from the esteemed Ollivander but offers additional benefits such as added longevity and stability of spellcasting. Although traditionally, the type of wood was considered to strongly determine the "personality" of the wand, Hobbliknob discovered that the location of the tree from which the wandwood is procured is of equal, if not more, importance in this regard.  For instance, wood from a maple tree growing near a river is going to have measurably different qualities than a maple tree growing at the foot of a mountain. 

Additionally, her wands are not hollowed out to create a receptacle for the core.  She has found that maintaining the integrity of the solid wood protects the wand from breakage and allows for the magical energy of spells to be more consistent and stable.  This does not mean that there are no additional magical components added to the wandwood. Hobbliknob wands are embellished with various stones which focus the power of the wand and make the qualities of each wand unique.  When making a wand, Hobbliknob "listens" to the wandwood to determine the type and quantity of stone that will harmonize with the raw wand. The stones are affixed and finally the wands are painted in varying shades of color mixed with crushed fairy wings (certain fairies shed their wings annually) to add to their power and artistic flare.

Fiddleheart students will learn many of these wandmaking skills in Beginning Wand Making.  Additionally, all new students receive a wand that has been made by Headmistress Hobbliknob with the help of her apprentices.

About Kirstin Hara

Kirstin Hara, MA, CHHC, is otherwise known as Headmistress Hobbliknob of Fiddleheart Academy.  Kirstin started working with chidlren and teens after graduating from Northwestern University. 

Originally a professional dancer, dance educator and choreographer, Kirstin spear-headed a modern dance program for young dancers at Dance Center Evanston where she worked for almost a decade.  For 6 years, she worked as the Assistant Director of the dance department of the National High School Institute's "Cherubs" program at Northwestern University. At this highly regarded pre-collegiate program, she taught a wide variety of classes including dance improvisation, choreography, whole foods nutrition and shiatsu massage.

She has since transitioned from dancing to life coaching and counseling.  Though she works primary with adults in her private practice, she continues to be involved in the lives of young people through her MoonGirl monthly girls' groups and REALgirl empowerment workshops. 

She is also the mother of two fantastic witches, ages 7 and 11, who bring magic to her life on a daily basis. 

In her role as Headmistress, she intends to infuse her Defense Against the Dark Arts classes with skills from her life coaching practice and to share her love of the creative arts in Beginning Wandmaking.

If you wish to learn more about Kirstin andher life coaching and counseling work, you can go to http://www.kirstinhara.com

Owls Away!

Acceptance letters for the Summer Term are on their way! Please keep a window or a chimney flue open to give our owls swift access to your home. The entire Fiddleheart owlry will be on the job! Postal Owls are generally swift and efficient creatures but they each have their own personality and temperament. As a result, some letters may arrive more promptly than others. Tips are not necessary, but if you happen to have some sardines or a freshly killed mouse in your pantry you will make a hard working owl very happy.

Which witch will win which wand?

"The wand chooses the wizard. ... It is not always clear why" - Garrick Ollivander

On their first day at Fiddleheart, each witch and wizard will come to possess their very own hand crafted wand.  How will this happen?  Where will they get these powerful instruments?  And, when the time comes... which wand will choose them? 

The work of master wandmaker Kirstin Hobbliknob, Headmistress of Fiddleheart Academy.

Merfolk Fact or Fiction

True or False:

According to the scholarship of Newt Scamander as found in his book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, merpeople are a sapient species that fully qualify for Being status in the wizarding world but, as a race, have refused this classification, preferring instead to be considered Beasts.

Artist's rendition of a mermaid who lives in the Black Lake at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The answer is: TRUE.

Merpeople, along with centaurs, rejected Being status in 1811 due to their objection that Dark creatures, such as hags and vampires, also claimed Being status.

Learn more in Care of Magical Creatures at Fiddleheart Academy this summer!

Possible Dragons

"Your mind is the egg. Your school is the nest. Your ideas, your songs, your inventions... these are your dragons!!!"

-Bi Drakossa,  Internationally renowned expert on the biology and behavior of magical creatures, Professor at Fiddleheart Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Egg of the Northern Blue-Bellied Possible

Wand Wood

"You see ordinary sticks. I see extraordinary power."

- Professor Kirstin Hobbliknob, Master Wandmaker and Headmistress of Fiddleheart Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Wand wood at the Fiddleheart Academy wand workshop.