Week Four

Moderators: Prof. Alexander Brighton, Vanessa Tilley, Shadow Gaunt

Week Four

Postby Vanessa Tilley » Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:36 pm

Hello all you lovely little Pranksters!

We are so sad that it is already the last week of Prank Wars because you have all been very impressive with your creativity and amazing puzzling skills. The good news is that all our shiny awards will be given out next week!

Creative Tasks for Week Four:
For this creative task, we would like one partner to write a story about how you were able to get your joke shop up and running. It could be about how you got the funding for the shop, what it was like designing your shop, whatever you would like to share about what it was like opening up your joke shop.

We would like the other partner to write a story about how your opening day of your joke shop went. Did you have any disasters? How did sales go that day? Did you have any fun promotions for opening day? Let your imagination run wild.

As always, be as creative as possible to help improve your team's chances of winning one of those shiny awards. It is such a close race!

Puzzle Tasks for Week Four:
You have all been doing such an amazing job with all the puzzles that we decided to give you all a little bit of a break and let you watch a movie. We would have liked to do a single viewing for everyone but we know that life can get busy so for our puzzle tasks this week, we would like you all to watch one of the following films: Le Maitre de la Mort (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=406OZJ4YQHI&t=1293s), Life after Fred (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuF3zEhcWVs) and then discuss your thoughts on the film of your choosing in the discussion thread. Partners do not have to watch the same film.

Galleons:
5 galleons will be awarded if both partners participate in the discussion thread.
4 galleons will be awarded if only one partner participates in the discusion thread.

Due to the delay in this post since someone thought it would be funny to perform a prank on Alex, Shadow, and myself, these tasks will be due on April 29 at 11:59 pm HOL time. You may send in the tasks after that time, but there will be a 3 galleon penalty.
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Re: Week Four

Postby Arianna Stonewater » Sun Apr 22, 2018 10:25 pm

Prof. Tarma and I have spent quite a lot of fun time together during my student years, so it was only natural for us to go into business together!

After surprisingly very little debate, it was decided to open a joke shop in honor of two of our favorite wizards, Fred and George Weasley! While George and his brother Ron's joke shop is doing well (and Zonko's hasn't lost any business either) we did give some thought about where we could have a shop that would not detract from theirs. After some research, we found a nice place in London where we could do business with Muggles and Wizards alike! Luckily for us the storefront, which used to be a flower shop, belonged to one of Tarma's cousins. Her cousin agreed to give it to us for a very modest fee and a lifetime 10% discount, so we of course agreed to her terms!

The design itself also wasn't very hard, well, in a way. We had so many ideas, it was hard to choose just one! So we settled on an overarching theme, movies! This way we could include our love for Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings and many more! Tarma set about designing the space and designing/procuring products (wall paint and flooring, Captain Jack surprise action figures, etc). I spent my time creating advertising (for both Muggles and Wizards) and acquiring the necessary business items (cash registers, Muggle and Wizarding change, locks, anti-theft charms, display cases, etc.) To say we were busy was an understatement! Finally, only six months from the day Tarma's cousin handed over the keys, we were ready to open!
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Re: Week Four

Postby Prof. Tarma Amelia Black » Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:12 pm

I was there a little early -- about 5 am. Okay, I was a couple of hours early ... and wandered through the store, making sure (for the 5th time) that everything was in place and balanced well and not liable to topple over in case of stray charms and hexes going off. (Yes, I knew we'd have a range of persons coming in, both Muggle and Wizard, so we had to be ready for anything.)

Fortunately for us, George and Ron approved of our venture and had promised to send folks our way. Out of nerves, I apparated to their joke shop and found out that they were true to their word. A huge sign floated over their store, with exploding fireworks and the words flashing "watch out for dragons at Film Farce and Foolery" and with directions of where to find our shop.

Arianna showed up after I had apparated back. She looked great. Arianna looked cool and calm and all dressed up spiffy in her green and silver heavy silk dress (or was that a pants dress?) Whatever, she looked great. My stomach was all quivery and I had admittedly not slept much last night, so I, on the other hand, had had a hard time deciding whether to be a pirate or a ranger when we opened, and my garb reflected it. I had finally decided to go for comfort (and figured we'd have some disasters so whatever I wore had better be easily cleaned and/or repaired). So, basic black boots, black pants, poofy deep red pirate shirt, black vest and deep red handkerchief head scarf for me. Then, it was time to open the doors.

I didn't know this but George and Ron had decided to help publicize our shop in person. They (somehow) were in the front of the line (YES, there was a LINE) (OMG A LINE) and they were smiling and telling everyone how great our stuff was. Then when they entered, they let off a couple of firecrackers which floated high in the air by the second floor ceiling and perfume of the salt air of the sea wafted down. (They knew that Muggles would come to our shop, so kept the magic part low-key and something that perhaps a Muggle might think was just regular stuff.)

That was about my last clear thought of the day. From then to closing time, we had people coming into the shop all the time, buying stuff, going out and telling their friends about our shop and coming back to buy more! It was totally amazing. I grabbed a couple of friends to PLEASE HELP with a quick lesson of how to handle the Muggle till (we had an old-fashioned one, with levers and stuff, since computers simply won't work around us) and so, with the help, Arianna and I survived our first day.

Unbeknownst to me, George and Ron stayed around, helping to defuse (sometimes literally) explosive situations. What I thought was a relatively uneventful day turned out, after we all got together the next evening, to have been a series of near-misses. But what the heck! It was a success!
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Re: Week Four

Postby Prof. Will Lestrange » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:07 am

Being a Lestrange, getting funding for the shop was straightforward. When I went into my family vault, it turned out there was a special trust fund specifically earmarked for "family members who wish to start a business during their school years". But finding the right location was much more challenging. Most of the prime locations in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were already taken. There was plenty of room in Knockturn Alley, but it did not seem to be the right location for the store at all. But then it came to us... why not place it in both Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley? No one had thought of locating a store at the corner between the two streets before, and having an entrance at both streets would double our clientele! Now, to find a name that fit in with both Knockturn and Diagon Alleys... "Naughty or Nice" was a bit cliche but it would do as a placeholder for the time being!
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Re: Week Four

Postby Prof. Maxim Trevelyan » Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:14 pm

I think the hardest part about opening your own store is getting the funds to do it. Well, no, the hardest part was the name, but funding was immediate second. We went to a lot of people, lot of banks, no one wanted to sponsor us. They said it was not innovative, repetitive, they probably threw every discouraging word at us. But Prof. Flores and I never gave up. But, after a couple of months of negative replies, we finally found a sponsor. A widow whose husband left her a lot of money. She heard about our plight from her granddaughter, who was my classmate back at Hogwarts. The widow said her husband always made her laugh, every day, so he would have loved to see his money go to a place which would make so many people laugh.

We were so lucky to get a place in Hogsmeade right at the end of High Street. Sure, barely anyone ever went so far, since most of the stores were on the other side, but we felt hopeful. We decorated our shop with bright, popping colors, ads for our items, Prof. Flores even hand painted most of the signs. We spread the word through our contacts in Hogwarts and we just could not wait for students and other people to come pouring in.

We felt a lot of excitement as the first Hogsmeade visit of the year drew nearer. Sure, there was already a joke shop in Hogsmeade, but we made sure most of our products were not even close to what they sold, so there was the variety.

Prof. Flores and I just finished levitating the last sign in its place when we heard excited laughter of the Hogwarts students coming in.

Welcome to Trick or Treats!
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Re: Week Four

Postby Shiloh Adlar » Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:19 am

The opening day of our joke shop at Naughty or Nice, Will and I both stood at our respective doors. He, of course, stood on the side that opened out to Knockturn Alley, being the naughty of the two of us, and I, being the sweet and nice one, stood to the door that opened out to Diagon Alley. He was right about us doubling our clientele. We got all sorts into our joke shop.

Before we knew it, jokes were flying around us like crazy from the naughty wizards and witches who had come through our door and even one hag who I had to shoo out. Will told me that we had a perfect opportunity to make a sale, but I told him that hags were dangerous and ate little children who we also wanted to keep our joke shop open to. While I try not to discriminate, as I'm simply not that sort of person, there are times where I have to draw the line. Vampires, okay. I can deal with that. Werewolves, sure. Remus Lupin was a nice guy, or so I've heard. But hags. Not happening. No skewering little children today.

Speaking of the little children, a few of them had found a ball pen where we placed hundreds of magical balls for them to play in, like a large ocean. The thing was, like I said, they were magical. When the children jumped into them, the balls giggled like they were alive and then burst into harmless sparks of joy. The children loved them so much that they started throwing them around the joke shop to watch them explode.

Not wanting to leave Will in charge of such a thing, I cast a spell that disenchanted the ball pit and the children let out a sad, "boo." Instead, I showed them our collection of miniature of nifflers, named after yours truly, the Queen Niffler. Although we called them nifflettes. While they wouldn't go off hunting large piles of treasure, they were very useful in finding those objects you once thought you lost and they would hand deliver them right to you. They are bred for such a thing, but please do not ask about our breeding guidelines and habits. I assure that they are all humane and ethical with approval from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

I decided to head from my pink, fluffy side of cheer and head to the ambitious, cunning, dark side where Will coiled with his new found snake friend. I kept my distance. Neither of us liked each other very well, but as long as Will kept her controlled, I was fine with her being in the store. "So, Will," I began, "it's starting off as an amazing opening day, isn't it?" He only smiled before he said, "I didn't even show you the best part yet!"

I raised an eyebrow, or two since I can't do the singular eyebrow thing, and asked, "Oh dear, what's that?"

Next thing I know, a loud pop that had everyone in the shop jumping with confusion, sounded in the middle between our two sides of naughty and nice. When I looked up, there was a sign, not really a sign, but magical symbols floating in the air. Taking a closer look at it, I smiled brightly. The symbols read, "With 2.9 from Naughty or Nice."
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Re: Week Four

Postby Prof. Gustavo Flores » Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:00 pm

Welcome to Trick or Treats!

Maxim and I were very excited for the opening of our shop. We felt very excited and proud. After all, having this idea materialized hadn’t been easy, and now seeing it coming alive made us feel extremely happy!

For our big opening, we decided to gift one of our special products to all of the costumers who participated in our very prank rally around Hogsmeade. Contestants had to choose one of our prank products and then plan a prank to anyone who was visiting Hogsmeade that day. Most of the visitors were Hogwarts students, so we sure they would be able to endure the pranks! This activity had three purposes, one to get people now our products by actually using them, two boost our sales on the first day, and three have a good laugh and make people enjoy themselves!The activity went incredibly well! Maxim and I were inspired by all the creative pranks our customers had come up with, and soon enough, we found ourselves busy, gifting our “Mida’s Delight” prank candy to all the contestants.

Things were running smoothl, except for one minor incident in which one little kid decide to try our Shocking Solution. We were sure our solution was harmless because we had tested it before with all kind of people, young, mature, male, female, and everyone had responded favorably. But this kind made our hearts skip many beats! After he drank the solution he became stiffed, gave a terrible scream and fell to the floor! Maxim and I ran to help him. The kid was breathing but he wasn’t responding to anything! We were scared, and just when we were about to take him to St. Mungo’s Hospital, the little kid opened his eyes and shouted TRICK OR TREAT!!

We couldn’t believe it! That small kid had pranked us!! Maxim and I felt relieved, and with the tension over we just started laughing. The little kid laughed back. Maxim and I decided it had been a good prank, and in order to motivate the young prankster spirit of the kid, we gave him special coupons with incredible discounts on his next purchases.

The day had come to an end. Maxim and I shook our hands, and high fived. Our shop had been a success, and there was a bright, pranky future ahead of it!
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