Week 10 Lab: The Black Family

For my next storybook story, I will be writing about Walburga and her sons, Regulus and Sirius. I will be using an astra as my object.

Harry Potter stuff:

• Article about the Black house
• Article about Walburga Black
• Article about 12 Grimmauld Place

Object stuff:

• I'm thinking of using the Brahmastra
• "Would destroy entire hosts at once and could also counter most other astras. In the epic Mahabharata, it is said that the weapon manifests with the single head of Lord Brahma as, its tip."
• OR the Nagapasha (can't find a good resource for this but it's mentioned here and here)
• "Upon impact, this weapon would bind the target in coils of living venomous snakes. In the Ramayana, it was used against Rama and Lakshmana by Indrajit." 
• could be good because Walburga might want something related to Slytherin 

"Borgin & Burkes" by HarshLight is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Learning Challenge: The Importance of Sleep

The sleep-related article I read was Yes, Your Sleep Schedule Is Making You Sick. For me, this article confirmed the importance of sleep. I personally have to get 9 hours of sleep to feel perfectly healthy, and when I don't get that I feel like trash and my mood is all over the place. The article mentions that a study was done on a group of depressed patients, and a "night of complete sleep deprivation produced an immediate, significant improvement in mood in about 60 percent of the group." It really is incredible what a lack of sleep can make you feel, and for my friends who think sleep deprivation doesn't affect them, I always wonder how long it has been since they've gotten enough sleep to actually realize they don't feel normal.

One new thing I learned that I did not know before is that there is a treatment called chronotherapy to alter the circadian rhythm: "This involves exposure to bright lights at progressively earlier times in the morning, which should make it easier to fall asleep earlier." For those who just give up on sleep because they have tried over and over, this might be a good therapy to try.

One thing I am now curious to explore is avoiding my smartphone and laptop in the evening. Although this is my peak studying time when I seem to have the most energy to accomplish tasks, this article made me realize it might really be ruining sleep for me. I might try this for a week or so over a school break to see if I notice any positive effects.

Circadian Rhythm image from Icinori (from the article)

Week 10 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Book Five

[Warning: Spoilers below if you haven't read Harry Potter.]

The Veil

The fall gave Sirius a tranquility unlike any he had felt before. His life flashed before his eyes, but only the good bits: meeting James, smiling at Remus, playing Quidditch, laughing with Lily, hugging Regulus, successfully sneaking out of the castle, visiting the Potters at Christmas, holding Harry, meeting Harry all over again... He faintly heard screams and wanted to respond but the lack of air in his lungs wouldn't allow it. Don't worry. Sirius thought. All is well now. I will see you again someday. A feeling like light filled his entire body and he finally understood complete peace.

Loss

No matter how many objects Harry threw and broke, he could not relieve the incomprehensible pain of loss. How many more loved ones would he have to lose before his heart shattered completely?

_____

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling.

Author's Note: 

The Veil: I decided to write a 100-word story on Sirius falling through the veil. He was hit with the killing curse right before that so this takes place sometime in the instant before death. This heartbreaking moment is something that pains me every time I think of the fifth book, and I wanted to write something that made it a little easier to comprehend. I do not deal with death of loved ones well, but thinking of it in a way where the person feels complete peace really helps me. I wanted to write a 100 word story because it felt like the exact right amount of words to give justice to the last moments of a person's life.

Loss: For my second story, I wrote a dribble (no more than 50 words) about my absolute favorite scene in the entire series--when Harry is breaking objects in Dumbledore's office and screaming because he's in so much pain from losing his godfather. That whole scene is so emotional to me and just physically describes the pain of loss so well. I wanted to write a dribble about the actual emotions Harry experienced. Rowling definitely did a better job but I tried! Here is a beautiful and sad comic illustrating the scene (from one of my favorite artists).

Image information: The Veil from Harry Potter Fandom Wiki.