— The —
Daily Prophet
Daily Prophet
Price One Knut
April 1st, 1893
Showers Of Gold
Hogsmeade Weather Looking Up?
April showers this year may bring earlier rewards than May flowers. Although the Daily Prophet's Weather Witches had predicted a washout wet weekend, the skies over Scotland now seem set for a steady rainfall of more unnatural means. Preliminary tests have shown this magically-precipitated precipitation, already falling across Hogsmeade and Irvingly, to consist of a heavily diluted solution of freshwater and Felix Felicis.
Popularly known as "Liquid Luck", Felix Felicis — first invented by Zygmount Budge in the sixteenth century — is said to make its drinkers lucky for a period of time, making all their endeavours under the influence successful.
Miss Gladys Gully (47) of Billywig Bend, Bartonburg, first recognised the unusual raindrops by the apparent "molten gold shine" of the droplets leaping off and splashing about her porch steps. "So I stepped right out in my nightgown — never mind an umbrella! — and opened my mouth, all goldfish-like. I glugged a few gulps of the stuff down and felt it at once. On top of the world. Like I could do anything."
Miss Gully's new confidence was not, in fact, unwarranted: in the next few moments, having shown off spectacular acrobatic skill in cartwheeling down the street, she met her neighbour Mr. Egbert Bull (26) and proposed to him. Mr. Bull, busy filling pails with lucky rainwater, accepted. "They say Felix Felicis makes an ordinary day extraordinary," the newly-engaged Mr. Bull tells me, "and they're d— well right. This might be the best day of my life."
With a potion so valuable, expensive, and difficult to prepare, the perpetrators — or benefactors — of this incident and their motives are as yet unknown. If these "golden showers" do not stop of their own accord, the Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes may be set on the case of stemming the flow. If residents must step out into the rain this weekend, please be advised that any amount of Felix Felicis is banned in all organised competitions, and taken in excess, can lead to giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. Consumption in large quantities can also be highly toxic. If you are experiencing symptoms, please get help immediately.
Otherwise, from us all at the Daily Prophet: good luck?
Popularly known as "Liquid Luck", Felix Felicis — first invented by Zygmount Budge in the sixteenth century — is said to make its drinkers lucky for a period of time, making all their endeavours under the influence successful.
Miss Gladys Gully (47) of Billywig Bend, Bartonburg, first recognised the unusual raindrops by the apparent "molten gold shine" of the droplets leaping off and splashing about her porch steps. "So I stepped right out in my nightgown — never mind an umbrella! — and opened my mouth, all goldfish-like. I glugged a few gulps of the stuff down and felt it at once. On top of the world. Like I could do anything."
Miss Gully's new confidence was not, in fact, unwarranted: in the next few moments, having shown off spectacular acrobatic skill in cartwheeling down the street, she met her neighbour Mr. Egbert Bull (26) and proposed to him. Mr. Bull, busy filling pails with lucky rainwater, accepted. "They say Felix Felicis makes an ordinary day extraordinary," the newly-engaged Mr. Bull tells me, "and they're d— well right. This might be the best day of my life."
With a potion so valuable, expensive, and difficult to prepare, the perpetrators — or benefactors — of this incident and their motives are as yet unknown. If these "golden showers" do not stop of their own accord, the Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes may be set on the case of stemming the flow. If residents must step out into the rain this weekend, please be advised that any amount of Felix Felicis is banned in all organised competitions, and taken in excess, can lead to giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. Consumption in large quantities can also be highly toxic. If you are experiencing symptoms, please get help immediately.
Otherwise, from us all at the Daily Prophet: good luck?
Gulliver Doran