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The Queen’s Library ran its own Hunt the Horcruxes event – a Harry Potter extravaganza held as part of the national celebrations surrounding the annual Harry Potter World Book Night.

Twenty-four boys from Years 7–9 who scored top marks in a recent trivia quiz held on eQE – the School’s online portal – were invited to take part in the lunchtime event, together with the Hogwarts Prefects, aka QE’s pupil librarians.

“It was great to have an opportunity for inter-year competition between boys who all share a love of JK Rowling’s magical world,” said Librarian Ciara Murray, who hosted the event together with her fellow Magic for Muggles Administrator, Library Assistant Leena Shah.  “There was lots of excitement and competitive spirit – and I think they found the clues more challenging than they expected!”

Boys were sorted into houses by the Sorting Hat (pupil librarian Saifullah Shah, of Year 10) and competed as Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. These houses then competed to be the first to find and destroy six horcruxes – parts of Voldemort’s soul – that were each hidden inside a book. To find the books, boys had to solve a riddle or clue, giving them the title and author.

“Gryffindor were the apparent winners, but it later emerged that they had failed to destroy all their horcruxes – and some suspected foul play! – meaning that, contrary to all expectation, Slytherin were the moral victors!” said Ms Murray.

Boys also had the opportunity to try creating a wand and to borrow mystery books from the Flourish & Blotts bookstore (proprietor: pupil librarian Des Ganeshamoorthy, of Year 9) that had been carefully selected to appeal to Harry Potter fans.

They then competed in their year groups in another fiendish quiz, in which Years 8 and 9 tied for first place, showing impressive knowledge of even the most obscure Harry Potter trivia.

The Hogwarts Prefects with their respective houses were: Gryffindor – Charan Kumararuban (Year 9) and Ciaran Price (Year 8); Ravenclaw – Ethan Solanki (Year 8) and Rishi Shah (Year 10): Hufflepuff –Janison Jeyaventhan (Year 8) and Arjun Patel (Year 8), and Slytherin – Kritik Pant (Year 8) and Sultan Khokhar (Year 8), while Hector Cooper (Year 10) was Mr Ollivander.

“A special thank you to the pupil librarians who helped out, and congratulations to Slytherin (aided by the Sorting Hat) for being the only team to solve every clue,” Ms Murray concluded.

A comedy performed in German explored the fraught question of whether a friendship would survive a camping trip.

The play, performed by visiting specialist theatre group Onatti Productions, provided plenty of mirth for the audience of Year 9 pupils as the German campers, Jürgen and Sophie, thrashed out their difficulties in Auf dem Campingplatz (At the Campsite).

Not only were the boys engrossed in the action, but some were invited to take part in the play, thus putting their German skills to good use.

It was the fourth year that the Gloucestershire-based troupe have visited QE. The company produces plays in French, Spanish, German and English for pupils who are studying languages. Its actors are all native speakers. Before a visit, schools are sent a vocabulary list and part of the play script.

QE’s Head of Languages, Chris Kidd, said: “This was an excellent opportunity for our boys to put to use what they have learnt in the classroom. Once again, the theatre company was impressed by how well our students participated and their high level of understanding.”

A Year 9 pupil took part in a team fund-raising drive culminating in a special theatre concert, raising more than £2,000 for an international children’s charity.

Senthuran Jeevan worked with three friends from other schools as Team Oak to raise money for The Wings of Hope in a money-raising campaign spanning almost a year.

Headmaster Neil Enright was invited as Chief Guest to the concert at Rickmansworth’s Watersmeet Theatre. QE boys have now been involved in fundraising for The Wings of Hope for several years.

Since Team Oak was formed last April, the four boys have engaged in a range of pursuits, including car boot sales, selling food and flowers at temples, Halloween sales, cake sales and door-to-door collecting to raise money for the North London-based charity.

The concert programme featured music and dance – including a performance by a number of QE musicians – as well as speeches from Mr Enright and from Team Oak themselves, who spoke about The Wings of Hope. Team Oak had been working on the concert since October, winning sponsorship and selling advertisements in the programme.

Senthuran said: “We are raising funds for this truly amazing charity as we believe our lives should not only be enjoyable for ourselves, but useful to others as well. We believe it is a great cause and we are honoured to have the opportunity to support it. At the same time, we are also developing great new skills.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Enright said: “I commend Senthuran and his fellow Team Oak members for a tremendous effort in a very good cause. Not only have they been industrious and creative in organising such a variety of events, but they have also worked hard to raise awareness of the charity’s work through a number of social media channels.”

The Wings of Hope’s work includes the support of children in India and in Malawi. In India, it provides a free education to children whose families could not otherwise afford to send them to school, as well as arranging tuition evenings in North Chennai for some children living in slums. In Malawi, its work involves not only education but also providing poor and orphaned children with the basics of life – food and clothing – and with the stationery they need to attend classes.

Some 70 boys travelled to the Rockies for the QE skiing trip – the School’s first to the western side of Canada.

Their epic journey took in a coach ride to Gatwick, a flight to Reykjavik in Iceland, a further flight to Edmonton, provincial capital of Alberta, and a second, long coach ride to the ski resorts at Jasper.

PE teacher Richard Scally, who led the trip, said: “We arrived to near-perfect conditions and temperatures, which made for a great week’s skiing: we were definitely rewarded for the extra travel.

“As well as almost having the mountain to ourselves, the boys got to experience Ice-skating on a frozen lake, a night walk up an ice canyon and the sight of the least light-polluted night sky in the northern hemisphere at a planetarium. Many great memories were made and litres of maple syrup consumed!”

Mr Scally was supported by a seven-strong staff team, each of whom led a team of boys, who were drawn from Years 8–13.

Their hotel – the recently renovated Lobstick Lodge – lies deep in the Rockies in the Jasper National Park, which is Canada’s largest Rocky Mountains park and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jasper itself is a picturesque town often referred to as The Gem of the Rockies.

As well as daily morning and afternoon ski school and opportunities simply to relax together, the boys enjoyed a full programme of other activities. In addition to the ice-skating, canyon walk and planetarium visit, there was a quiz night and swimming. On the final night in Canada, QE staff led an awards evening.

The next day, the group rose early for the coach journey back to Edmonton. Before boarding their flight to Iceland and, ultimately, back to London, they were able to visit Edmonton Mall – home not only to North America’s largest indoor shopping mall, but also to a theme park and aqua park.

Aaron Tan is not only an experienced public speaker himself, but also trains others in this most valuable skill – and he traces his success squarely back to QE.

Aaron (OE 1996–2003) has followed a varied path since university and is currently enjoying a portfolio career which includes running two businesses as well as lecturing at Greenwich University.

But it is in passing on his abilities in public speaking that he has found the greatest satisfaction. “Having worked in companies of all sizes and also been self-employed, I discovered that what I really found rewarding was helping others,” he says. “After finding out that public speaking is the number one fear amongst adults, I knew that if I could tackle this, I would be helping the highest number of people possible.”

Aaron has learned from world-class speakers who have shared the stage with the likes of Lord Alan Sugar, James Caan and Sir Richard Branson, and has himself spoken to audiences of up to 200 both in this country and abroad. And, he says: “It all started by taking public speaking classes during my time at QE, which took place after School hours.”

Aaron, who lives in Dollis Hill, went from QE to UMIST (now part of the University of Manchester), where he read Management with a Marketing Specialism.

He has since worked for diverse businesses including a company specialising in reinstating roads after work has been done, and an aerospace & defence company. In 2013, he took over management duties at his father’s restaurant in Clacton-on-Sea and has since doubled its revenue.

In his new business as a speaker trainer, which he launched in October 2016 on returning from a public-speaking trip to Vietnam, he focuses on both technical and mental processes. “I help people overcome their fears and deliver presentations at the highest level, through webinars, workshops and seminars.

Public speaking is, he points out, a useful skill for “anyone who deals with people on a daily basis”, from those in the corporate world to people in education: he has already worked with clients including YouTube personalities, sales people and personal development coaches.

“I will be travelling to Malaysia in April to speak and train others.  I will also show them how this can help people rise up the corporate ladder and open up more opportunities.”

Since the start of this year, Aaron has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, where he teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates from different countries. He draws on his experience of working in companies of different sizes to teach the students about business concepts, offering a practical perspective on the theories taught in textbooks.