Win a Registration for The Witching Hour

[Heidi]

FictionAlley is one of the sponsors of The Witching Hour, the October
conference in Salem that's all about Harry Potter - the books, the
movies, the fandom and the impact it's had on literature, particuarly
YA (young adult) literature. ( More information is at
http://www.hp2005.org )

As a sponsor, we have the opportunity to offer one registration to TWH
(current value US$180.00) to the winner of a writing contest hosted by
FictionAlley.org.

Here's the challenge: write up to 5000 words from a paper, essay or
answer to an O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. question from the perspective of any
character in the HP books - what would Dumbledore have written about
in his fifth year History of Magic class? What essay did Sirius write
for Slughorn at the end of his fourth year, and what did Regulus focus
on in his upper-level Defense Against the Dark Arts class? What was
the theory behind Hermione's rune translations for her O.W.L.'s? Did
Bill Weasley ever write about werewolves in Kettleburn's Care of
Magical Creatures?

You might want to take a look at Sublimation & the Snitch by Samvimes
(http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/samvimes/SSBRJL.html), who'll join
two of the teachers on FA's mod squad as the judges for the challenge,
for an example of a term paper as written by an HP character; the
entirity of the fic is Remus's Freudian analysis of Quidditch, written
for his History of Magic term paper.

Essays, erm, we mean fics, are due by August 25, 2005 at 11:00 pm UK
time, and the winner will be notified by August 30, 2005. Every
entrant will see their Owl Box on FA double in size for a year,
effective on or before September 15, 2005.

To enter, post your fic in the forum located at
http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=217
by the deadline. Remember - this is supposed to be a school essay so
we ask that all submissions for this Challenge be rated PG-13 or less.

You must be past your 18th birthday as of October 6, 2005, or between
the ages of 14 and 17, and able to comply with The Witching Hour's
rules at http://www.witchinghour.org/registration/#restrict; you are
responsible for transportation to The Witching Hour, and all ancillary
expenses at and regarding the event. You will also have to provide
your real name during the TWH registration process, but not to FA.

If you win, and have already registered for TWH, you can sell your
registration pursuant to TWH's rules.

Any questions? Ask them in S&Q or send an email to help at ....