Mathematics will conquer the world

( Facebook Profile. )

( Perfect numbers, like perfect men, are very rare. -Descartes )

I had a dream last night that the Daily Prophet shut down, and no one missed it at all. Actually, I believe everyone was quite content with that state of affairs, in the dream.

For the record, I don't believe that the Quidditch this weekend ought to be cancelled, even if I'm not the sport's greatest fan. Good luck and best wishes to the Ravenclaw team, of course.

And, since I believe saving the best for last is the common policy, my mother owled my GCSE results to me today. I earned stellar marks on Mathematics, Science, Astronomy, and History, and even my English results were far higher than what I expected. A celebration is certainly in order; my mother has also sent treats from home, which were thankfully not disturbed by whoever inspected the owl, and everyone is certainly welcome to sample them in the Ravenclaw common room tonight.

( Private to Lysander )

Happy Pi Day, Hogwarts. This used to be my favourite holiday when I was quite young, you know. My mother used to make what my family calls "Genu-ine Uruguayan Supper Pie", though I'm sure that's not its proper name, and at school we'd always be given sweet pies at lunch. In honour of my childhood, then:

1) What do you get when you divide the circumference of the sun by its diameter?

2) What do you get when you divide the circumference of an igloo by its diameter?

3) What do you get when you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?

4) What is a mathematician's favourite dessert?

5) What does a mathematician call his sweetheart?

After much debate and some time to reconsider the issue, my father has agreed that I may return to Hogwarts for the remainder of the term. I must say I'm relieved; I knew that I would miss my friends and my housemates, but as it turns out, I've missed the school itself more than I expected. I suppose one really does get used to all of that, which is not something I would have thought the first time I entered the castle.

It seems that there's been some commotion at Hogwarts with the investigation. I So they caught We really shouldn't jump to conclusions, of course, and so I believe I'll wait to comment until we know more of the facts.

My family hasn't yet worked out the details of my return to Hogwarts, but I believe I'll be back on Sunday evening, and certainly in time for class on Monday.

( Private to Lysander )

I I'm leaving for a while, and

I'm leaving school this morning, along with my father, who as some of you know came here personally in order to withdraw me from Hogwarts, due to his concern over my safety. Whether this is a permanent withdrawal, I'm not sure; at this point I believe I will return. I'm not certain how long I'll be gone, but if I return it will be in a week I anticipate that I may be back in a week's time.

Some of you won't care, of course, and I'm sure that some will be glad to see me go. For the rest of you, I will have my journal and I'll keep in contact. Th I don't That's all, I suppose, and Goodbye.

Of all the strange things to happen over the past week, I believe seeing my father within the walls of Hogwarts is the very strangest. M I still can't quite b My father is here and

( Private to Charlotte, CM, Naoko, Aisling, Ellyn, Lysander, & roommates )

( Private to Lysander )

This is mostly for in case    for the purposes of recording my thoughts and observations of the event which is currently ongoing. If we I hope it might be of some use to those of us who are here, and perhaps for the if we don't return for future inquiries.

( Cut for length; not private )

( Private )

Lysander? What's g This is a test. Please respond if the journals are in working condition.

Thank you to my mystery Valentine. I have some hunches as to who it is, but you could have waited until the day, you know. I believe that would have heightened the effect. Still, it was quite nice to receive. And rather impersonal, but that's

( Private to Lysander )

There was a man who entered a local newspaper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win.

Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

( Private )

( Private to Jareth, Tristan, Aisling, Naoko, Zara, Charlotte, Anila, Claire Molly, Iona, Ellyn, and Lysander )

I believe I've caught up on the missed sleep of the past few weeks, and now that I have much less to read and no exams for which to revise, I find myself with a rather astounding amount of free time. I don't remember being so un-busy for quite a long time; it's quite nice, really.

In honour of my new state of leisure:

An infinite crowd of mathematicians enters a pub. The first one orders a pint, the second one a half pint, the third one a quarter pint, the fourth an eighth of a pint... "I understand," the barman interrupts - and pours them two pints.

( Private )

In case I die of nerves tomorrow, I leave my clarinet to Charlotte, my computer to Claire Molly, my owl to Tristan, and my books to Lysander.

More seriously, thank you to everyone who's helped me to prepare for these exams, whether through revising with me or offering encouragement. I know that I've been a right mess at times, and I apologise for that. I believe I'm calmer now.

( Private to Lysander )

( Private )

Eight days until I'm not r I

Good luck in the match tomorrow, Ravenclaw. I'm sure you'll all be brilliant. I'm not sure I'll I may not be at the match, but I'll certainly be cheering you on.

Private Ward failed; visible to everyone
Why did I ever imagine that I could do this? A week -- I'm not ready, there hasn't been enough time. I'm ill-prepared. I don't know enough, I'm rubbish in literature, my science is rusty, I'm going to mix up Muggle and magical history. I'm not clever enough to do this. I'll fail and any chance I have for a normal life will be
And my father will

Why did I ever come here? This isn't right. It isn't where I should be.

( Private )

( Private to Lysander )

It's rather nice to be back at school, though the holidays were nice and it was very good to be at home for a bit. Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope that this year is equal to or better than the last.

I do have a bit of a riddle for today:

3 is an odd prime, 5 is an odd prime, 7 is an odd prime, and 11 is an odd prime. But what is the oddest prime of all?

( Private )

It's rather nice to be home, all things considered. My baby sister has grown so much since I was last home that she's hardly a baby at all anymore, and my little brother is taller than I remembered, as well. My father hasn't

For those of you in need of diversion on your holidays, here's a rather interesting puzzle I discovered today:

If 5 = 4, 7 = 5, 8 = 1 and 6 = 9, what does 12 equal?

If you're in need of a hint, this is not a maths problem in particular, though it does require basic knowledge of one specific mathematical system.

If there were a professor at Hogwarts who led a double life as a crime-fighting adventurer à la Indiana Jones, which of our professors would it be?

( Private to Lysander )

( Private to 6th year Ravenclaws + CM )

John Edensor Littlewood, a Cambridge mathematician, was once asked by a colleague from theology whether he believed in one God. Without hesitation, he replied: "Yes, of course -- up to isomorphism."

That story is apocryphal, of course, but rather amusing nonetheless. Littlewood is best known today for his association with the brilliant G. H. Hardy, who was a number theorist, like my father. Unlike my father, however, Hardy was very likely homosexual and well-known in his time -- especially as the teacher of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Interestingly, he was closely associated with the Bloomsbury Group of writers and thinkers, and was friends with people like the writers Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster, the economist John Maynard Keynes, and the painter Vanessa Bell. That circle is quite fascinating, really, though I don't know much about its specifics; it's interesting to me that these people were friends before they did the work for which they're famous today.

Littlewood is a fascinating character in his own right, actually; he seems to have had a wonderful sense of humour, and my favourite of his works is Littlewood's Law, which states that, on average, an individual may expect to experience miracles at a rate of approximately one every thirty-five days.

Cam's To-Do List (and pre-New Year's resolutions):
0) Experience my miracle for the month.
1) Remember that I am an intelligent and well-organised person and I can certainly handle my GCSE work and my schoolwork for two more months.
1) Banish self-doubt. (A lofty goal, to be sure, but I can at least try.)
2) Appreciate my friends more.
1) Practise Transfiguration; have confidence that I might actually pass the practical exams.
3) Find a warmer hat and brave the outdoors once in a while.
2) Christmas shopping. Oh, dear.
3) Remember that my father's opinion, while important, is not everything.
1) More new jokes.

( Private to Llewellyn )

( Private to Lysander )

66 is: a sphenic number, a triangular number, a hexagonal number, the seventh semi-meandric number, a semi-perfect number, and an Erdős–Woods number. It's quite an interesting number, actually. It has important historical significance: for example, the year 1066, of course, is the year of the Norman conquest of England, and the Great Fire of London occurred in 1666. I recently learned, thanks to my extracurricular reading, that in the Muslim religion, the number 66 is said to represent the true name of God, due to the sum of the alphanumeric quantities of its letters.

There are also precisely 66 days until I take the GCSEs. That's barely more than two months, and I'm feeling very I'm not generally in the habit of counting down, but it seemed important.

To-Do List
30) Write to Aunt Jenny.
42) Arithmancy project.
66) Second GCSE practise tests: Economics, Science, Maths, Astronomy.
70) Study book: British and American poetry since the wars.
78) Special revision on biology.
102) History of the British throne from Elizabeth to Victoria, and attendant social and political history.
105) Practise writing a persuasive essay. Topic?
110) Make arrangements for Christmas holidays. (In the interests of fairness in accounting, there are 31 days by my count until holidays begin.)

And, to round off, here is a very old riddle:

As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks;
Each sack had seven cats;
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, wives:
How many were going to St. Ives?

( Private )

( Private to Lysander )

Items of Note:
1) Happy birthday, Naoko.
2) There are twelve weeks from yesterday until I take GCSEs.
3) An Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scotsman walk into a pub. The barman looks up and says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"