My Tribute to Fall

My tribute to fall this year, has been working on this adorable scarecrow and these pumpkins.  Both projects which I turned in as homework assignments for the HPKCHC class assignments on Ravelry.  The scarecrow was for my Herbology assignment.  The assignment was as follows:

This month’s project revolves around the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Garden Pests (and helpers). A garden does not exist in a vacuum and a good herbologist has learned how to keep unwanted visitors away from their precious gurdyroot, puffapods, and screechsnap. KNOW YOUR ENEMY!!! Your task is to create something that identifies a garden pest, demonstrates a way to prevent pests, or aid you in getting rid of said pests. Your post should contain what pest/helper you’re after, why it’s a pest/helper, and how your project relates to it. And of course - PICS!

The pumpkins were for my Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) assignment, which was as follows:

Welcome to our first class on Necromancy!

In honor of Halloween this month, let’s focus on the connection points between the worlds of the living and the dead. To complete this month’s assignment, make something that is inspired by: 1) an historical figure that is now deceased 2) an undead creature (zombie, vampire, skeleton, ghost, etc.), or 3) both (now would be the time to make that Zombie Abe Lincoln) Bonus points, as always, for house colors or making me laugh.
Note: Projects may be inspired by a deceased historical figure or undead creature. They don’t have to be actual representations of them.

And since I had such a good time putting together the research for this project I have to include it here as well :-)

sandyvern, 2nd year Hufflepuff, turning in my assignment.

My assignment is based on The Great pumpkin , who is an unseen character in the Muggle comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

The Great pumpkin is a holiday figure (comparable to Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny) that seems to exist only in the imagination of Linus van Pelt. Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch (apparently the same one every year, though one year he and Snoopy were caught on a privately owned pumpkin patch, and perceived by the owner’s daughter as crazy) on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to appear, and a humiliated but undefeated Linus vows to wait for him again the following Halloween.


According to Linus, on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch he deems the most “sincere”. The Great Pumpkin then flies through the air to deliver toys to all the good little children in the world. Apparently, one can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass him or her by merely saying “if he comes”, as opposed to “when he comes”. This could mean that the Great Pumpkin is likely to pass by anyone who doubts his existence.

The Difference Between The Great pumpkin and Santa Claus
According to Linus, when writing to the Great Pumpkin , you don’t ask him to bring you anything specific: you wait for whatever he brings you. In this way, Linus states a difference between the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus (children writing to Santa include in their letters lists of exactly what they want). Also, Linus states that Santa gives away toys because it’s his job and it’s expected of him, whereas the Great Pumpkin gives away toys because he feels he is fulfilling a moral obligation.

My research facts comes from Wikipedia, but my original inspiration was from my childhood memories of watching the animated special of It’s the Great Pumpkin , Charlie Brown every year during the Halloween season (way before you could buy copies of it on video or dvd to watch whenever you wanted)