||IN ESSENCE UNITED||
<b>01. Who is your favorite character in the Harry Potter series?</b>
This is an interesting question because I’ve gone through many different favorite characters over the course of the series. When I first started reading the books, my favorite character was Hermione. It wasn’t for any particularly deep reason other than the fact that she is a clever girl who likes to read. I identified with this because I’m a clever girl who likes to read. This was my ace reasoning at the time. I think that it can be forgiven considering that that I was ten years old. Needless to say, a lot has changed in eight years. Different phases in my adolescent life have lent themselves to different perspectives on the novels and the characters. 
When I was in middle school and early high school, I was fascinated by Draco Malfoy because I thought that he had a lot of potential as a character. It directly correlated with my repeated viewings of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and so in my idle time I drew parallels between him and Spike. I realize now that this is more than a little bit silly but at the time I thought it was nifty to explore the idea of what could be. However, now that the series has been completed I’ve reached a point where I’m very sure of whom it is that I like best. I have quite a few characters that I enjoy on a superficial level, such as the twins and Lee Jordan. They never fail to make me grin. I adore Luna for her quirky nature and her perspective on the world. On a much deeper level, I have a great love for Remus Lupin for his strength as a character. 
However, when it really comes down to answering this question, it’s all about Sirius Black. He has always been the most thought provoking character for me, all random musings on Draco aside. I like a character that sparks the kind of questions that Sirius raises for me. Outside of canon, I’m fascinated by what he was like before Hogwarts. Was he like the rest of his family before being sorted into Gryffindor? Or did he spend his entire childhood feeling out of place? How did he really feel about his brother?  Besides that, what actually happened to him in the afterlife?  As far as canon goes, I love his personality for all of his positive attributes as well as the negative ones. He’s brave, bold and passionate. In that scene on the train portrayed in DH, Snape says to James and Sirius that it’s better to have brains than brawn. Luckily, Sirius definitely had both. He was clearly extremely intelligent, if the flashback in Snape’s Worst Memory and the creation of the Marauder’s Map is anything to go by. Sirius’s fierce loyalty to his friends is very admirable to me. This line kills me every time: 
<i>"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"</i> 
At the same time, Sirius was also a very flawed character. He was rash, and his actions often hurt those around him, as was the case with the Prank. He was very clear on his beliefs when it came to equality, as was displayed through this line: "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." However, he contradicts himself in the way he treats people that he hates, again as exemplified by his bitter rivalry with Snape. Add it all up, and you have a very real, human character that I can love and appreciate for all that he is. I’m also a little bit in love with the tragedy of his life, which I’ll admit is more than a little bit macabre. Ah, well. 
<b>02. Who is your least favorite character in the series?</b>

If Sirius is my favorite character, than it isn’t any wonder that Peter Pettigrew is my least favorite.  I have run across many people who attempt to reason Peter’s actions by stating that we should put ourselves in his shoes. This argument will never sway me. My friends are my family. I love them more than life itself, period. I could never in a million years live with myself if I chose to save myself in exchange for their lives. It is this aspect of my personality which makes my view on Pettigrew absolutely unforgiving. I don’t care if he experienced a tiny bit of redemption in Deathly Hallows because honestly, he owed Harry in so many ways. He owed him for 17 years of birthdays, lost memories and lost opportunities. His life was a pittance in comparison. Betrayal and all around horridness aside, his character in Snape’s Worst Memory seemed pretty disgusting to me. I know that rationally he must not have been as pathetic as he was portrayed there all of the time, or he never would have been a Marauder. The truth of it is if all magical issues aside, if I met someone like Peter at my school, I would hate him. He was a poseur, a barnacle attaching himself to those far greater than him. Maybe he was overwhelmed by the strong personality of the other Marauders but he never asserted himself. He was passive when he was younger and it manifested into something altogether far uglier later on in his life. From beginning to end, I find him to be a despicable character.

<b>03. If you could spend a day as one of the Harry Potter characters, who would you choose?</b>
Oh, Luna Lovegood, hands down. I would love to, for just one day, view the world the way she did. I often have a tendency to get very bogged down in the mundane details of my life. I worry about school and probably often miss out on the greater things in life. Luna seems like the kind of girl who can find something interesting in just about every situation. While she may have proven herself to be brave and tough as nails when necessary, there was also something very innocent and naïve about Luna’s personality. I think that to experience that would be very freeing and would also give me a lot of perspective on my own life. 

<b>04. What would you change about the series?</b>
I’m sure that this is a common answer but the epilogue. I just found it entirely unnecessary and rather forced. Aside from that, I loved Deathly Hallows and I think that it ruined the impact of the novel for me. Stylistically speaking, I thought that that last line just before the epilogue: “I think that I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime” would have been a perfect ending. However, I think that this just has a lot to do with personal preference for me. I like it when books are open to interpretation, I like to let my imagination wander and the epilogue cheated me out of that a bit. It just felt like too much of a cliché with the happy ending, and not at all in keeping with the other six novels. However, I do understand why she had to do that. I just wish that it hadn’t been so. 
There is also a large part of me that just wishes JKR could have cut Remus a break. Despite the fact that she’s stated many times that he’s her favorite of all her characters, she definitely treated him pretty roughly. Even though I don’t like the Remus/Tonks ship, I just felt like he needed to be happy and it just never happened. 

<b>05. What traits and characteristics do you think define the true qualities of each of the four houses?</b>

<i>Ravenclaw</i>: There is a stereotype that the Ravenclaws are the smart ones, plain and simple. However, there are obviously intelligent students in all of the houses and that’s just an oversimplification of the house traits. What defines a Claw is not just an incredible intellect, but also a thirst for all knowledge of all kinds. They’re the students who love learning for learning’s sake. They are the students who don’t work solely for grades but because it’s what they want to do. They’re the creative ones, the ones who enjoy research and who can most likely actively engage you in a conversation on just about any topic, whether it’s on Nargles or Locke’s theory of Tabula Rasa(okay, it’s completely bizarre that that’s the first thing that popped into my head. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how that happened).  
<i>Slytherin</i>: Oh, they’re an ambitious bunch, those Slytherins. They want what they want and they make it happen. That does not make them evil by any means. It all depends on the personality of each individual and how they choose to utilize their ambition and determination. It just so happens that ruthlessness is a trait which commonly accompanies the type of ambition we saw portrayed in canon Slytherin. However, I still stand by the fact that Slytherin wasn’t nearly developed enough in the novels and that there was so much more there than future Death Eaters. 
<i>Hufflepuff</i>: Whether it be for good or bad, the Hufflepuffs are the most honest of all of the houses. We saw this both positively with Cedric Diggory and negatively with Ernie McMillan. They won’t hide behind subtle jokes, cunning masks or all-out brashness. They are who they are and they have their opinions. If the truth need be told, ask a Badger. 
<i>Gryffindor</i>:  I think of Gryffindor and the very first word which comes to mind is intrepid. Actually, that’s not quite the right word.  Intrepid implies a certain fearlessness. It’s not that the Gryffindors are fearless, it’s that they realize that there are things in life which are worth far more than succumbing to your fears. It’s as Sirius said in Order of the Phoenix, there are things worth dying for. What defines a Gryffindor is their resolute view on what’s right and the way things should be, and the fact that that’s something worth fighting for.  Maybe they’re a bit rash when acting on said beliefs, but their hearts are in the right place. 
<b>06. Describe the canon house qualities that you feel accurately reflect you. Please try to include traits from each of the four houses.</b>
<i>Ravenclaw</i>: I’m clever. I know that I mentioned above that there’s intelligence in all houses, but I found it worth mentioning here. Yes, I’m smart. Beyond that, I <i>love</i> learning. I adore being a student. It’s not all the petty little course work that I’m forced to do for the International Baccalaureate program that I love because well, no one loves that. It’s the acquiring of knowledge, it’s having debates with my classmates, it’s reading books that take me to a completely different world. I definitely embody the thirst for knowledge which the ‘Claws have. The difference being that I don’t have a love for all knowledge. Math and science, I could do without. European culture through the ages? Yes, please. 
<i>Slytherin</i>: I’m ambitious about my academic goals. I’m applying to top colleges at the moment, I want to attend grad school afterwards, I want to do internships and at the end of the road I desperately want to be a journalist. I’m very determined about these goals and I damn well plan on making them happen. I think that that’s a very Slytherin attitude. 
<i>Hufflepuff</i>: I mentioned above that honesty is a classic Hufflepuff trait and I’m definitely honest. In fact, one might say that I’m brutally honest. I just don’t think that there’s anything to be gained from withholding the truth. I’m also fiercely loyal to my friends because I love them immensely and would most likely do anything for them. 
<i>Gryffindor</i>: I’m very outspoken and have a bold personality. It’s not just that I despise bigotry, it’s that I will actively argue against it. I am James Potter, standing there with my face red with anger demanding that you never say that word again or else there will be hell to pay. I’m very confrontational and I stand behind my beliefs firmly. Yes, I have tendency to be more than a little bit impulsive. I’m stubborn, almost to a fault. Maybe that doesn’t improve the situation at all. Maybe I just don’t care. 

<b>07. Which house do you feel the least affinity towards?</b>
Hufflepuff. When I think about Hufflepuff in the context of canon, I always got the sense that the Hufflepuffs were all put there because they were an even balance of all of the other houses. They lack the exclusivity of the other houses because for them, there’s no need for it. They’re more or less all well-rounded individuals with balanced helpings of all of the other traits as characterized by the other houses. While we didn’t learn much of Hufflepuff, this notion of mine seemed to manifest itself very much within Cedric Diggory. He was smart, very talented, brave, proud and yes, ambitious. He did want to win, although he was nice about it. He showed the Hufflepuffs to be the steady ones. I don’t feel that I’d fit in there simply because my personality can be more than a little bit over the top at times. I run from hot to cold and I just think that I’d feel awkward and out of place with the steady Badgers. 

||MIRROR OF ERISED||
<b>08. What do you wish to accomplish in life?</b>
I have some very specific goals in life and some very abstract ones. I’ll deal with the specific ones first. 
I am thrilled by the prospect of college. I want to attend a good university for both undergrad and grad work. I’m an aspiring journalist and I desperately want to the opportunity for a brilliant internship. Ultimately, I want to become involved in political communications. The idea of journalism popped into my head almost four years ago and since then it’s just <i>stuck</i>. In tenth grade, I took an elective global issues class and it sparked a passion for politics. There is so much ignorance in this world and it’s just so needless. People are sticking their heads in the proverbial sand and it’s ridiculous. I want very much to be a part of that solution, to have the knowledge that I accomplished in informing people about what’s important going on out there.  I actually just had a conversation regarding my future with my Theory of Knowledge teacher earlier today and he mentioned a doctorate degree. That sounds like something that I want to accomplish as well, although I’ll get there when I get there. It is very heartening to hear that he thinks me capable of it. 
In more abstract terms, I just want to feel like at the end of my life, that I tried the hardest that I could to make things happen. I want to be safe in the knowledge that I made an effort, no matter how small. 

<b>09. Describe exactly what you would see in the Mirror of Erised. (This is not the same question as #08.) </b>
I would see myself surrounded by my closest friends. We’d just be together and we’d be happy. Simple, right? Not so much for me. I attended the same school for five years and I loved it. I made amazing friends. I met my best friend at eleven, we bonded in a scary close way, and I still love her. We have a close knit group and we all adore each other. We have a lot of fun together, doing inordinately stupid things as well as some things which we probably never should have done(what do you meant the master key to the school lockers went missing? I had <i>nothing</i> to do with it). However, at the end of tenth grade, my parents picked me up and moved me to a completely different country across the ocean. The past year and a half has been difficult for us because the separation hurts. I miss them all of the time. Yes, I have all of those personal academic and career-related goals that I want to accomplish in my life. However, those are matters of the mind and this is a matter of the heart. 

<b>10. What makes a person deserving of your respect?</b>
First and foremost, you have to be smart. I’m not saying that you need to be a genius or anything like that. However, I don’t think that a reasonable amount of intelligence is too much to ask for. If you say 2 + 2=5 and you’re <i>not</i> making a reference to 1984, we have a problem. 
You have to have a strong personality. You have to be assertive. I’m a bold, independent person and I value these traits in others. If you’re passive and don’t make an effort to take a stand on anything, we’re not going to get along well. I admire passion in an individual. I admire a willingness to try and make the best of a situation instead of just sitting there and hating it. That never helps. Trust me, I speak from experience. I guess that I truly just have an appreciation for people who make the best of their life and their situation. 

<B>11. Do you believe in fate or free will?</B> Interesting that I made a random reference to John Locke above before ever having read this question. <b>Free will.</b> I have control over my own life. I believe that life is what you make of it and you can always change your own destiny. I’d absolutely hate the idea of not being in control of my own life. I already have enough problems with authority figures, I can’t even fathom the idea of my life being predetermined by fate. No, absolutely not. I live my life, I determine which course it takes, and this is only ever influenced by the people who I meet along the way who contribute to it. 
<b>12. Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower? Please provide examples if applicable.</b>
I’d say that I’m more of a leader. I’ve mentioned a few times over the course of this application that I’m a bold and assertive person. This is true and yes, those personality traits are good for someone who is a leader. Truthfully, I’m more of a co-commander. Not a second-in-command but a co-commander. I’m going to try and make sense of this. I like taking leadership roles and I’m fairly comfortable with them. However, I don’t feel that you can ever truly be efficient with just one person running the show. It’s better to have two equals who feed off of each other and both contribute. I went to a Model United Nations conference back in November and was working on a resolution with a whole group of fellow students. However, it became rapidly clear that most of them didn’t know what they were doing. Essentially, my friend Liz and I took over the entire situation. We worked better that way and we got things done. In the end, the resolution passed <i>twice</i> as a result of our combined efforts. Yes, co-commander it is. 

<b>13. What's one thing you would do if you knew you would suffer no consequences from it?</b>
Take an extended vacation. At least that’s what it would be right now. I am very stressed right now, as I’m in the midst of the college application process all the while balancing the International Baccalaureate program and all of the responsibilities which accompany that. I don’t get time for myself. If I could just take some time off to clear my head and get some perspective on my life and come back to resume my studies, that would be brilliant. I’ve actually made myself sick I’m so stressed. It’s unpleasant. 
Although on a much more fun note, I’d really quite like to prank my senior school principal. Hell, I might do that anyways. It’d be completely worth it. 

<b>14. What would you do if you had a time turner?</b>
I’m sure that there are much more important things in the grand scheme of things than what I’m about to say but it’s the first that popped into my mind, so I’m going to run with it. I would go back to this past Saturday and re-do my A1 English Higher Oral Commentary. The gist of the entire scenario was that you pick a random piece from a work that you studied from an envelope, have 20 minutes to prepare and then give a 15 minute commentary on it. I selected Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath and it was an academic disaster. It took me half-way through the presentation to really get into it and even then, I was not nearly as good as I could have been. If I could use a time turner, I would go back to that moment and pick out a different paper from the envelope. Any other paper would do. It would preferably be a passage from The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot. If I had picked something from the Wasteland, I would have walked into that classroom confident and well, a little arrogant. Instead I was a shivering, nervous mess. 

<b>15. What do you think are your top 5 positive characteristics?</b>
<i> Intelligent:</i> I am not, and I will be the first to admit it, the kind of smart that most people think of when they think of classically book smart. My math skills are weak and my science skills are limited to setting things on fire(seriously, light an almond on fire, it’s amusing). However, I’m very good at interpretation and understanding certain subtleties that a lot of other people don’t get at first. I have an adabtable mind and I’m good at learning. 
<i>Open-minded:</i> I am a very accepting person and I despise bigotry. I will be accepting of someone regardless of race, sexuality, etc. I just don’t care, because we’re all people. Furthermore, I will argue against anyone who states otherwise because I feel very strongly on this subject. 
<i>Boldly inquisitive</i>: That, right there, is my fancy way of saying that I don’t trust authority figures so instead I choose to question everything about them. There’s nothing more dangerous than accepting the truth at face value and sticking your head in the sand. There is so much wrong with this world that people ignore and I’m proud of the fact that I refuse to just accept it. I’m very outspoken and I’ll argue with someone about this if I think that they’re being a blind moron. 
<i>Passionate:</i> If I care about something, really care about something, I’m very passionate about it. I’ll throw my all into it. I’m the same way about friendships. If you’re someone that I care about, then I’m in it for everything and I’ll always stick up for you. 
<i>Funny:</i> I tend to be able to make people laugh when they’re feeling down on themselves. I can be self-deprecating, I can be sardonic and I can be outright crude. It all really depends on my mood. However, I’m a funny person. Well, in any case, I crack myself up. 

<b>16. What do you think are your top 5 negative characteristics?</b>
<i>Quick temper:</i> I have a quick temper, especially with people that I don’t like or people that I think are stupid. My history teacher has this incredibly annoying tendency towards putting me in groups with people that she knows that I don’t like. Apparently she thinks that it’s character building and it will make me more tolerant. Not a chance. You’d think that she’d learn after the millionth time she’s had to walk over and reprimand me because I’m yelling at my group mates. I don’t suffer fools and my temper gets set off by them pretty damn easily. The people who know me well know that I’m genuinely a nice person but people who know me from a distance tend to think that I’m a horrible person or something because I tend to give off a hostile vibe. 
<i>Stubborn:</b> I have the unfortunate habit of refusing to back down even if I’m wrong because I just don’t like being wrong. This has a slight tendency to make matters worse rather than better. Oops.
<i>Absent minded and disorganized:</i> Last year, a friend of mine looked into my locker, looked at me and said: “How the hell do you get the grades you get when you are such a mess?” Valid question. I am so disorganized that it’s ridiculous. My school locker is a disaster zone. I have 4 notebooks which I can never distinguish from the other stuffed full of papers which I can never identify. I always forget things. I have a DVD that I borrowed ages ago that I still haven’t given back. It’s a wonder that I don’t walk off a cliff on accident, actually. 
<i>Pessimistic:</i> For me, the glass is almost always half-empty. People just seem to let me down in general, so I tend to have a pretty bleak outlook on humanity. I really should be more optimistic because I’d probably be a lot happier. 
<i>Moody:</i> This kind of goes with above, but I tend to have mercurial moods. In addition,  I can’t hide how I’m feeling for the life of me, and when I’m angry everyone around me knows it. When I’m hyper, everyone around me wants to lob heavy objects at my head to get me to shut up.  

||HOGWARTS EXPRESS||
<b>17. Name:</b> Samantha
<b>18.</b> Age: 17(but only for another week)
<b>19.</b> How did you find out about Hogwarts Elite? I found it just by wandering around the internet.