August 12th, 1894

The dog days of summer

An interesting parlance used to refer to the hottest part of the month one might find themselves to seek shelter at the coast. The name has an astronomical origin, the star Sirius, constellation of Canis Major (Grand Chien) rises with the sun and chases le Chasseur across the sky. The period runs from early July until mid August and the fair folk of antiquity attributed this event with all manner of problems, many of which are much more likely to have earthly origins, but it is fascinating what superstitions arise from this star and if we consider the effect of the moon on some of our magical folk, it would not be beyond this belief of this student that there is some truth behind it.

We are just coming to the end of the period and I have not personally encountered many of the claimed events, however the coastal winds at home usually make the heat much more bearable and it is likely other students may have found different results.

By
Mademoiselle Violetta DeCroix
Slytherin 5th year (as of September '94)