The HP Alliance used to go through potential web designers like they were Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts. I mean seriously. The first was this nervous talking timid guy who wore a turban that was protecting Voldemort, the second was a megalomaniac, the third had some problems with his being a werewolf, the fourth would have been awesome but he was a psychopath, the fifth was a fascist, the sixth ended up killing the head master, and the seventh were two Death Eaters. Geez. It was nutz. I mean, all we wanted was a web site, right!

In all siriusness: while I am grateful for the work of some of these people in the beginning, try as I might, I just couldn’t find any one who would volunteer to design the web site and would also stick around. And then ONE YEAR AGO I got an email from someone named Acacia. Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters and I were stunned by her work. By her creativity. By her personality. In the last year, Acacia has done wonders for the HP Alliance. She is a brilliant artist and a brilliant human being and a brilliant friend. I am so grateful that she is in my life and in the life of our community.

So HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ACACIA!!!!! Tonight, her and her awesome band are playing in NEW YORK CITY so send them positive vibes (incidentally, Acacia used to sing back up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers…no way!!! But she did!!!!). At Wrock For Darfur I got to meet Acacia in person, her incredible son, and her amazing mom who is also an amazing artist.

So yeah. ACACIA WROCKS!!!! And everything that the HP Alliance has done in the last year, we’ve got Acacia to thank for so much of it. She has put so much heart, so much creativity, heart, humor, and love, so much patience in dealing with my ADD, and sooooo much time in doing what we do. So thank you Acacia! Fifty thousand points to Gryffindor!

Looking for the perfect holiday gifts for you Harry Potter friends? Or are you just looking for something fun to get yourself? Look no further! The amazing folks at the PwnCast of WRock have come up with a way to help raise funds for the Harry Potter Alliance while answering your need for creative gifts: they have put together a 2009 Wizard Rock Calendar featuring many popular Wizard Rockers including the Remus Lupins, Harry and the Potters, and Catchlove.

Calendars sell for $15 within the US and $16.50 internationally, all proceeds going to benefit the HP Alliance. You can get a sneak peek at the calendar at the website, where it can be ordered. More information can be found at the PwnCast of WRock blog or the Facebook group for the calendar, which can also be ordered using the PayPal button on the PwnCast myspace page.

A huge THANKS to Cody, Julia, and Dan of the PwnCast of WRock for making this holiday season something we can approach with love and fun in our hearts! You guys are amazing!

Erik Morrison is a Chapter Organizer of Amelia’s Army, The George Washington High School chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance.

Today we celebrate the 16th birthday and the memory of a true member of Dumbledore’s Army if there ever was one. Amelia Bates left us on the 22nd of October after being hit by a car near the school on the 20th. She was a leader of the George Washington High School chapter of the HPA, and an inspiration to all she met.

Amelia’s infectious smile, quick wit, and easy laugh made for a bright spirit that brought the sunshine inside the halls of the school. She possessed all the characteristics of a perfect Hogwarts student, regardless of house. The Sorting Hat would have been stumped, had it been placed on her head, although the Sorting Quiz administered to her last year put her in Slytherin. She was a great Slytherin – full of wily wit and ambition – but she could have been in any house. She was extremely brave, as the best of Gryffindors. Her wisdom was beyond her years, and she was tremendously smart, making her a great Ravenclaw. And finally, she was an unswerving, diligent, and loyal worker for any cause she put her mind to - she could have belonged in Hufflepuff just as well.

Most importantly, however, Amelia was full of love. Love for her family, her friends, even people she had never met had her love. To her close friends and family, and even to everyone reading this post, this can be a comfort. As Dumbledore so sagely said, even though she is gone, we will always have some protection from the evils of the world knowing that we were loved so deeply by this wonderful, bright soul. So the next time you wear yellow, think of that bright golden sunshine that is Amelia touching you.

Both Amelia and Dumbledore had a sparkle and a wisdom that cannot be easily forgotten, besides their tendency for cracking wry jokes when least expected.

They should be getting along famously.

Happy birthday, AB.

Erik’s chapter, Amelia’s Army, has requested that donations be made to STANDfast in memory of Amelia.
Donations can also be made to the Amelia Bates Memorial Fund:

Amelia Bates Memorial Fund
1st Bank of Cherry Creek
P.O. Box 461050
Denver, CO 80246-9924

If you want to write Amelia’s family, Erik has offered to forward cards:
Erik Morrison
984 S. Ivy St.
Denver, CO 80224

The HP Alliance is a Dumbledore’s Army for the real world, made up of civilians like you and I who, through the magic of our creativity and love, are standing up for civilians worldwide. Last year our collective efforts managed to raise over 8,000 dollars for Civilian Protection in Darfur!

This December 3, we ask that you give up a luxury item and with the money you save, donate it here at thehpalliance.org/civilianprotection. All proceeds from this page will go toward saving and improving lives by protecting the “Lily Potters” of Darfur and the “Potterwatch” of Burma. Just ten dollars can go a long way to protecting a whole family in Burma and a woman in Darfur. And think what you can do if you organize friends and family and members of your school and community to raise too! Think about the opportunity you and I have to make such a difference!

For creative ideas on how to be more involved, please email standfast@thehpalliance.org and to discuss how you plan on being involved, please go here.

And here’s more info:
The Lily Potters of Darfur
Harry Potter is a treatise on the power of love, and it all starts with the love of a mother for her child. And we wish to honor the love of mothers for their children in Darfur. As the surviving people in Darfur are forced into refugee camps, firewood near the camps grows increasingly scarce. Every day, women and girls are forced to wander further into the desert in search of firewood for cooking, exposing them to rape and attack from waiting militias. STAND and the Genocide Intervention Network have a unique Civilian Protection Program on the ground in Darfur to ensure that these women will not have to leave these camps. Instead, they can spend time with their children as someone else collects the firewood for them. Just three dollars allows one woman to not have to leave the camp and be exposed to rape and attack.

Potterwatch in Burma
Like Voldemort’s regime that attacked all “pure bloods,” the military junta dictatorship in Burma continues to attack ethnic minorities in Eastern Burma by burning their villages and killing everyone there.

Like Kingsley’s warning to everyone at the Weasley’s wedding: “The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming” and like Potterwatch’s ability to use radio to protect the truth, we are supplying villages with radios. When a village is attacked, they can radio a neighboring village to let them know that they are likely to be next. This will give the neighboring village enough time to hide and save their lives. While each radio costs 600 dollars, STAND and the Genocide Intervention Network have calculated that all it takes is 5 dollars to grant radio access to one family.

So once again, please join us this December 3 by giving something up and donating that money right here to this incredible cause! AND PLEASE get others to join us in this cause! If you’d like to take it a step further and find creative ways to raise money, please email standfast@thehpalliance.org and discuss here.

In honor of the character Lily Potter and all that she has taught us, in honor of the mothers of Darfur, in honor of all those in the Order and the DA that fought for freedom of Muggleborns, and in honor of those who share our humanity and are in dire need, your contribution will make a world of difference.

As we in the Jewish people would say, “Mazel Tov!” (congratulations). This is very exciting!

Today, November 11th, in Canada and in many other members of the Commonwealth, we celebrate Remembrance Day (much like the USA’s Memorial Day), where we mark the end of World War I and remember all those who have served our country. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we have a minute of silence, marking the exact time that the war formally ended. Around the country, we gather to pay honour to those who served, those who gave their life, and those who serve today. To me, it is much like the final battle in Harry Potter, during that one hour of truce to collect one’s dead and wounded. It was sombre, reflective, mournful. But from that came determination, hope, and the desire to end conflict and bring about peace. While we all might not agree with whether we should be involved in various wars and conflicts, we all do agree that peace is our ultimate goal, and we can also agree to support the people and their families who risk their lives for the good of others.

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On Tuesday November 4, 2008 you did a fantastic job of Wizard Rocking the Vote! In total we registered close to 900 voters and mobilized so many to make calls to ban Proposition 8 in California. And while the fight to legalize love in California continues as do so many other fights, we got the word out, we did everything we could, and we got people to vote. And you are all amazing.

This was a project that I helped in, but in truth was actually led by so many incredible individuals who are making the HP Alliance the incredible community that we are. I am bound to forget some people, so please forgive me and let me know at andrew@thehpalliance.org - and there is no way that I can do even a little justice to the amazing work that each of you has done with a little blog mention, but here goes. So a very special thank you go in no particular order to:

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After the US Wizard Rocked the Vote Massachusetts voted to ban greyhound dog racing that abuses dogs and causes the unneeded deaths of countless rabbits. California voted to make it mandatory that caged animals are given enough room not to live their lives under a situation of torture. They will now have enough room to move. This will improve the standard of their living and the safety of meat eaters.

In essence, this was a big week for Care of Magical Creatures!

Hagrid would be proud!

Turns out that teenage bullies actually experience atyptical levels of pleasure when watching others in pain. The brain scan study says it all. Ugh. Can this be fixed?

The countless people like Tita who worked to stop Prop 8 worked brilliantly. And the folks I talked with at the No On Prop 8 campaign were very nice. But besides all of the amazing volunteer work that occurred to protect same sex marriage, to protect keeping love legal, I think it’s important that we ask questions and wonder if there was more we could have done.

Andrew Sullivan who happens to be both gay as well as a prominent conservative blogged like crazy to stop Proposition 8. Sullivan criticizes the LGBT movement for being too top-down in it’s approach–not allowing volunteers to feel freedom and to feel like movement leaders. I have not much to say on what I think about his argument.

But here’s one suggestion I will add though: (click below the flap to find out what it is)
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