HP4GU Contest #11

[joym999 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23968

I am happy to report that we have many logical people on this list.  
Twenty-three people, if I counted right, correctly solved the logic 
puzzle posted last week.  They are:

Jen Faulkner; Cheryl Dimof; Media Phen; lady.nymphaea (Meril); 
Incitatus/Catriona; Laura; Elena Maestri; Natalie; AGgirl1; old_wych 
(Anne); - Joy -; Nethilia De Lobo; *Vicki Granger the Charmed One*; 
Gaynor Thomas; Pippin; Kelly the Yarn Junkie; Catherine Coleman; Luce 
(DrivesLucy); Julia Steinberg; Brandon; Florence; Sherrie 
Wollenhaupt; Kathy (kcbenzin).

Note that Jen Faulkner, the first to submit her answer, sent in her 
entry less than an hour after it was posted!  Do we need a new Harry 
Potter book to read or what?

Here is the solution:

Amy 	Gryffindor	3rd year   maple     unicorn hair	9"
Penny 	Gryffindor	7th year   beech     dragon heartstring	15"
Neil 	Hufflepuff	1st year   oak       phoenix feather	7"
John 	Ravenclaw	4th year   walnut    veela hair	        8 ½"
Amanda 	Slytherin	5th year   mahogany  troll skin	       11 ½"

(that is a one-half symbol after the 8 and the 11 for John and 
Amandas wands, for those of you whose email systems like to gobble 
symbols.)

The five wand lengths are 7"(clue 7), 8½" (clue 8), 9" (clue 13), 
11½"(clue 8), and 15"(clue 4).

The five students are Penny (clue 1), John (clue 1), Neil (clue 1), 
Amanda (clue 2) and Amy (clue 12).

The five students are each in a different year – there is a 1st year 
(clue 4), a 3rd year (clue 1), a 4th year (clue 8), a 5th year (clue 
1), and a 7th year (clue 6, since the Head Girl is a 7th year and yes 
I know that is never explicitly stated in the books).

The five wands are each made of a different type of wood – oak (clue 
2), beech (clue 2), mahogany (clue 5), oak (clue 10), and walnut 
(clue 13).

The five wands each contain a different magical substance – unicorn 
hair (clue 2), dragon heartstring (clue 4), phoenix feather (clue 10, 
and if you didn't know that Harry's wand has a phoenix feather in it 
you are banned from this list), veela hair (clue 11), and troll skin 
(clue 12, and yeech!).

Penny is the 7th year (clue 6), and is in Gryffindor (clue 6), owns 
the longest (clue therefore the 15") wand (clue 6) which contains a 
dragon heartstring (clue 4) and is made of beech (clue 2).  Since 
Penny owns the beech wand, clue 9 tells us that there must be 2 
students from Gryffindor, both girls.  Since the five students are 3 
girls and 2 boys (clue 3), the Slytherin 5th year must be a girl 
(clue 1).  Since Penny is in her 7th year, the other Gryffindor girl 
must be the 3rd year girl.  Therefore Neil and John must be the 1st 
and 4th years and one must be in Ravenclaw and the other in 
Hufflepuff.  We know from clues 7 and 4 that Neil is a 1st year [and 
that his wand is made of oak (clue 2) and has a phoenix feather (clue 
10)], so John must be the 4th year Ravenclaw mentioned in clue 8 and 
Neil must be in Hufflepuff.  The 3rd year Gryffindor girl can not be 
Amanda, who has played Quidditch for 4 years (clue 5), and so must be 
Amy, which means that Amanda must be the Slytherin 5th year, with a 
mahogany (clue 5), 11½" wand (clue 2 and 8).  Amy's wand is made of 
maple (clue 9).  Since we now know what 4 of the wands are made of, 
John's must be walnut, and since he is the Ravenclaw his wand must 
have a veela hair (clue 11).  The 9" wand has a unicorn hair (clue 
2), so Amanda's wand must contain troll skin (clue 12).