Thomas Kinkade xmas cottage painting

Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?" Harry looked up; Slughorn was just passing the Slytherin table.
"Yes," said Slughorn, without looking at Malfoy, "I was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age…"
And he walked away. Harry bent back over his cauldron, smirking. He could tell that Malfoy had expected to be treated like Harry or Zabini; perhaps even hoped for some preferential treatment of the type he had learned to expect from Snape. It looked as though Malfoy would have to rely on nothing but talent to win the bottle of Felix Felicis.
The sopophorous bean was proving very difficult to cut up. Harry turned to Hermione.
"Can I borrow your silver knife?"

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fishermen at Sea painting

Yes, dear, I'd have noticed," said Mrs. Weasley patiently. "But it's barely nine, there's still plenty of time..."
"I know I messed up Ancient Runes," muttered Hermione feverishly, "I definitely made at least one serious mistranslation. And the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical was no good at all. I thought Transfiguration went all right at the time, but looking back..."
"Hermione, will you shut up, you're not the only one who's nervous!" barked Ron. "And when you've got your eleven 'Outstanding OWLs...’"
"Don't, don't, don't!" said Hermione, flapping her hands hysterically. "I know I've failed everything!"
"What happens if we fail?" Harry asked the room at large, but it was again Hermione who answered.
"We discuss our options with our Head of House, I asked Professor McGonagall at the end of last term."
Harry's stomach squirmed. He wished he had eaten less breakfast.

childe hassam Wayside Inn Sudbury Massachusetts painting

"Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude again. "At the first chance!"

　　　"You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world … we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain …"

　　　Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.

"Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort.

Francois Boucher The Rape of Europa painting

nava1 strength, their manpower resources, their resolution, make it certain that they can defend themselves. And it is true that vast fleets of airplanes on both sides contribute a new and uncertain factor, but there is nothing which proves that even the superiority in airplanes can win the war. And while assurances have been given that there will be no bombing of women and children, there may come a time of desperation when all restraints go to the winds It's likely to be the most barbarous war that we have ever known.This situation in the world today is not the act of the German people themselves, it's the act of a group who hold them in subjection. The whole Nazi system is repugnant to the American people. The most of American sympathy will be to the democracies, but whatever our sympathies are, we cannot solve the problems of Europe. America must keep out of this war. The President and the Congress should be supported in their every

Thomas Kinkade Spirit of Christmas painting

The mistake, widely reported in today's newspapers, appears in the ninth paragraph on page 503 of the 640 page bestseller. Banjar's mother, Tracey, sent an e-mail to the publishers Bloomsbury asking whether the offending sentence, which reads "'Dumbledore, come!' said Crouch angrily.", was a printing error. "Yes, you are right about the error, we have forwarded your e-mail on to the editorial department," Bloomsbury admitted. "We are very upset that this error went unnoticed until after printing." The sentence should have referred to Cornelius Fudge and not Crouch. "I was really surprised when I spotted the mistake and then I jumped for joy when I knew I was right," Banjar, from Somerset, told the Times newspaper.

Thomas Kinkade The Rose Garden painting

s really the equivalent of having a nuclear device go off, without the mushroom cloud or radioactivity," Huckabee told CNN television. "Virtually everything is shut down. We have 11 or 12 counties where every single person has lost power, phone service and water."He spoke by cellular telephone, because the governor's mansion had neither electricity nor a working telephone line. Huckabee said it was likely that some areas of his state would not have power for at least 10 days. In Texarkana, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas line, officials ordered a nighttime curfew and froze all prices to prevent merchants from capitalizing on the city's troubles. "Everywhere you look, trees are snapped like match sticks. Power lines are down everywhere and most of the streets are impassable becau

Steve Hanks Blending Into Shadows Sheets painting

People stop to view stock prices at the Nasdaq Market Site as news of the sharp rise in stock prices is displayed on a news ticker above them in Times Square in New York, January 3, 2001. The Nasdaq closed up 324.83 to 2616.69.
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve slashed key interest rates in a shock move on Wednesday and said it would do more if needed to keep the U.S. economy from stalling, electrifying financial markets worried about a looming slump. The move, which came four weeks ahead of the year's first scheduled meeting of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), takes the crucial fed funds overnight bank lending rate to 6 percent. The cut, which was the first half-percentage point reduction in that rate since mid-1992, was decided in a hastily arranged conference call among FOMC members.

Andrea Mantegna paintings

government to resign. Both houses of parliament were suspended on Wednesday amid riotous scenes. The development, which comes on the eve of the five state polls, has given the opposition much ammunition to challenge the BJP and to build a credible campaign against the ruling establishment. Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes's offer of resignation on Tuesday was not accepted. Among the allegations that emerged from the tapes is one that he accepted a bribe to ensure that the Israeli missile system, Barak, was bought for the Indian Navy. In 1987, Swedish radio reported that the Bofors firm had paid more than $50 million in bribes to secure a contract for a $1.4 billion sale of field guns to the Indian army, against stiff international competition. The bribes were paid into secret Swiss bank accounts. Indian authorities obtained documents relating to the accounts after a seven-year legal battle with Swiss authorities. The case is still continuing. The scandal created a political uproar in India, and Bofors became a symbol of political corruption. It tarnished the image of Rajiv Gandhi

Christ painting

Fourteen years later, when Suzanne Vega took the stage Friday night (March 23rd) at Hollywood's Knitting Factory, the venue, albeit much smaller, was again sold out. However, the circumstances are much different, as Vega is now a veteran performer attempting what likely will be viewed as a comeback, seeing as how she hasn't released a studio collection in the States since 1996's Nine Objects of Desire.
The first time I saw Suzanne Vega live was in 1987, during a sold-out two-night stand at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theater. Riding high off the surprising hit "Luka," a pop/folk gem about child abuse, the New York-based singer-songwriter was two albums into what appeared to be a very promising career. Vega had come on the scene in 1985 with her dazzling self-titled debut, a smart, sparkling collection of mostly acoustic tunes that earned her rave reviews. Her second effort, 1987's Solitude Standing was an equally impressive work and boasted a Top Ten hit in "Luka."

Andrea del Sarto paintings

>The fossil was found flattened in light gray, fine-grained shale that has been split into two mirroring pieces. Resembling an oversized duck with teeth, its large head indicates it died as a juvenile, researchers say. It is dated between 126 million and 147 million years old.Farmers carved the fossil from the famous Liaoning fossil beds in northeastern China last spring, where many other soft-bodied animals were preserved in ancient freshwater lakes. The beds have yielded a huge variety of fossil fish, birds, insects, reptiles, dinosaurs and even flowers. Since 1995, when the first feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx, was discovered in China, several specimens have promised to shed light on the bird-dinosaur debate, but they have usually been fragments of fossils and revealed only the very debatable presence of feathers.

Rembrandt The Return of the Prodigal Son painting

The grebe is a duck-like bird with short legs designed for diving, and it doesn't look at all like a flamingo. Yet according to the researchers, the flamingo is more closely related to the grebe than it is to any other bird. Turning Ornithology on its HeadIf confirmed by further research, the findings indicate that the way we have grouped birds into distinct families, based generally on morphological traits like body structure and other similar physical characteristics, is wrong.In other words, just because it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's not necessarily a duck.The research also suggests that evolution, especially among aquatic birds, has moved along at a much faster pace than had been thought, with many species developing similar characteristics — like webbed feet — independently, and at different times.

Thomas Kinkade paintings

front porch, Kolls suggests two quick and easy solutions. To make an instant ghost, just throw a sheet over a lamppost. To make a quickie lit-up jack-o-lantern, cut out the back of plastic pumpkin and put it over the lamppost.If you want to get a little fancier, follow Kolls' directions for creating a more elaborate jack-o-lantern:Step OneGather Materials:
X-acto knife with a jigsaw blade
Pumpkin
Set of stencils or some leaves
Felt-tip pen
Straight pins
Petroleum jelly
CandleStep TwoTo begin, remove the insides of the pumpkin. First cut off the top of the pumpkin. Then stick your hand inside to remove the seeds.Step ThreeBegin tracing the pattern. Choose a stencil (or any flat flexible object that you want to trace) and position it on any side of the pumpkin. To hold the stencil in place, use some straight pins. Take a felt-tip pen and trace the stencil pattern onto the pumpkin. Once this is done, remove the straight pins and the stencil to see the pattern on the pumpkin.

Peter Paul Rubens paintings

天的热门微博，“是朕”无疑榜上有名！一张高考考生姓名纸引发大众的关注，全因为这个考生的名字叫“是朕”！引来不少网友大喊“吾皇万岁”。据了解，“是朕”确有其人，武进鸣凰人。记者联系上这名考生的母亲，她表示这只是一个名字，而且她女儿刚高考完，希望网友们别再炒作了。

6月12日晚上，@藤原落红微博爆出，“女生名字霸气，让人无法直视”——@藤原落红贴出了一张小照片，上面一张2012年江苏高考考生姓名纸上，“是朕”两个字着实让人眼前一亮。再细看，还是女孩子的名字！够霸气，引得网友大喊“吾皇万岁”。

这条微博很快被传播开来，不少网友都很“鸡冻”，有的猜想是2012年江苏高考考场出现的，应该不会是恶搞或假的吧。也有网友细看了照片，觉得照片上有阴影，有“PS”的嫌疑。

但记者调查发现，“是朕”确有其人，她是女生，武进鸣凰人，今年19岁，是常州的重点高中前黄高级中学的高三毕业生。她没意识到，在高考考场上贴着的一张姓名核对纸，让她成为了网络红人。

Knight painting

It is an incredible response and makes you realise why the distributors are so keen to protect the film from pirates." The staff has to spend all two hours and 22 minutes of the film ...
Ushers at British cinemas showing the new Harry Potter film have been issued military-style night vision goggles to prevent cinema pirates.The staff has to spend all two hours and 22 minutes of the film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"scanning the theaters in order to uncover anyone trying to secretly record the film.The goggles were distributed to Vue cinemas around Britain, along with copies of the film, by Warner Brothers. The company is determined to fight back after a large amount of poor quality copies of the first two Harry Potter movies hit the black market.

William Bouguereau Birth of Venus painting

The Second China International Auto Expo opened in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province. Leading global automakers including BMW, General Motors, Volkswagen and...
The Second China International Auto Expo opened in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province.Leading global automakers including BMW, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai, and domestic automobile brands like Beijing Jeep will showcase their concept cars as well as their latest products. The event, from November 23 to 29, aims to stimulate the nation's auto market, which was seen slowed growth.

Frederick Carl Frieseke paintings

RHETT: Here's a soldier of the South that loves you, Scarlett. Wants to feel your arms around him, wants to carry the memory of your kisses into battle with him. Never mind about loving me. You're a woman who's sending a soldier to his death with a beautiful memory. Scarlett, kiss me, kiss me, once. SCARLETT: You're a low-down, cowardly, nasty thing, you! They were right. Everybody was right, you, you aren't a gentleman.RHETT: A minor point at such a moment. Here, if anyonelays a hand on that nag, shoot him. But don't make amistake and shoot the nag.SCARLETT: Oh, go on. I want you to go. I hope acannonball lands slap on you, I hope you're blown into amillion pieces, I...RHETT: Never mind the rest, I follow your general idea.And when I'm dead on the order of my country, I hopeyour conscience heard you. Good-bye Scarlett.(Scarlett drives on.)SCARLETT: Melanie, Melanie, we're home! We're atTara! Hurry, move brute!PRISSY: Oh, Miss Scarlett, he's dead!SCARLETT: I can't see the house, is it there? I can't seethe house, have they burned it? It's all right, it's all right,they hav

Eugene de Blaas paintings

SCARLETT: You should die of shame to leave me here alone and helpless. RHETT: You, helpless? Heaven help the Yankees if they capture you. Now climb down here. I want to say goodbye.SCARLETT: No. RHETT: Climb down.SCARLETT: Oh Rhett, please don't go. You can't leave me, please, I'll never forgive you. RHETT: I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'll never understand or forgive myself. And if a bullet gets me, so help me, I'll laugh at myself for being an idiot. But there's one thing that I do know. And that is I love you, Scarlett. In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you. Because we're alike. Bad lots, both of us. Selfish and shrewd. But able to look things in the eyes and call them by their right names. SCARLETT: Don't hold me like that. RHETT: Scarlett, look at me. I love you more than I 've ever loved any woman. And I 've waited longer for you than I 've ever waited for any woman. (Butler is pressing his lips onto Scarlett's.) SCARLETT: Let me alone!

Francois Boucher paintings

Blythe is to steer clear of politics. First thing you know, he'll be running an election himself, and going off to Ottawa for half the year and leaving his practice to go to the dogs."
"Ah, well, let's not borrow trouble," said Anne. "The rate of interest is too high. Instead, let's look at Little Jem. It should be spelled with a G. Isn't he perfectly beautiful? Just see the dimples in his elbows. We'll bring him up to be a good Conservative, you and I, Miss Cornelia."
"Bring him up to be a good man," said Miss Cornelia. "They're scarce and valuable; though, mind you, I wouldn't like to see him a Grit. As for the election, you and I may be thankful we don't live over harbor. The air there is blue these days. Every Elliott and Crawford and MacAllister is on the warpath, loaded for bear. This side is peaceful and calm, seeing there's so few men. Captain Jim's a Grit, but it's my opinion he's ashamed of it, for he never talks politics. There isn't any earthly doubt that the Conservatives will be returned with a big majority again."
Miss Cornelia was mistaken. On the morning after the election Captain Jim dropped in

Edwin Lord Weeks paintings

Bertie Shakespeare. Quite a combination, isn't it? And I'm glad you haven't had much trouble picking on a name. Some folks have an awful time. When the Stanley Flaggs' first boy was born there was so much rivalry as to who the child should be named for that the poor little soul had to go for two years without a name. Then a brother came along and there it was--`Big Baby' and `Little Baby.' Finally they called Big Baby Peter and Little Baby Isaac, after the two grandfathers, and had them both christened together. And each tried to see if it couldn't howl the other down. You know that Highland Scotch family of MacNabs back of the Glen? They've got twelve boys and the oldest and the youngest are both called Neil--Big Neil and Little Neil in the same family. Well, I s'pose they ran out of names."
"I have read somewhere," laughed Anne, "that the first child is a poem but the tenth is very prosy prose. Perhaps Mrs. MacNab thought that the twelfth was merely an old tale re-told."
"Well, there's something to be said for large families," said Miss Cornelia

Lord Frederick Leighton Leighton Flaming June painting

>Leslie came over to the house of dreams one frosty October night, when moonlit mists were hanging over the harbor and curling like silver ribbons along the seaward glens. She looked as if she repented coming when Gilbert answered her knock; but Anne flew past him, pounced on her, and drew her in.
"I'm so glad you picked tonight for a call," she said gaily. "I made up a lot of extra good fudge this afternoon and we want someone to help us eat it--before the fire--while we tell stories. Perhaps Captain Jim will drop in, too. This is his night."
"No. Captain Jim is over home," said Leslie. "He--he made me come here," she added, half defiantly.
"I'll say a thank-you to him for that when I see him," said Anne, pulling easy chairs before the fire.
"Oh, I don't mean that I didn't want to come," protested Leslie, flushing a little

Gustav Klimt Three Ages of Woman - Mother and Child (Detail) painting

address on it and the envelope was gone. They let him stay on--he learned to do a few odd jobs about the place--and there Captain Jim found him. He brought him home-- I've always said it was a bad day's work, though I s'pose there was nothing else he could do. He thought maybe when Dick got home and saw his old surroundings and familiar faces his memory would wake up. But it hadn't any effect. There he's been at the house up the brook ever since. He's just like a child, no more nor less. Takes fractious spells occasionally, but mostly he's just vacant and good humored and harmless. He's apt to run away if he isn't watched. That's the burden Leslie has had to carry for eleven years--and all alone. Old Abner Moore died soon after Dick was brought home and it was found he was almost bankrupt. When things were settled up there was nothing for Leslie and Dick but the old West farm. Leslie rented it to John Ward, and the rent is all she has to live on. Sometimes in summer she takes a boarder to help out. But most visitors prefer the other side of the harbor where the hotels and summer cottages are. Leslie's house is too far from the bathing shore. She's taken care of Dick and she's never been away from him for eleven years--she's tied to that imbecile for life. And after all the dreams and hopes she once had! You can imagine what it has been like for her, Anne, dearie--with her beauty and spirit and pride and cleverness. It's just been a living death."

Juarez Machado paintings

es and dreams to bless the next comer," said Anne, looking around the blue room wistfully -- her pretty blue room where she had spent three such happy years. She had knelt at its window to pray and had bent from it to watch the sunset behind the pines. She had heard the autumn raindrops beating against it and had welcomed the spring robins at its sill. She wondered if old dreams could haunt rooms -- if, when one left forever the room where she had joyed and suffered and laughed and wept, something of her, intangible and invisible, yet nonetheless real, did not remain behind like a voiceful memory.
"I think," said Phil, "that a room where one dreams and grieves and rejoices and lives becomes inseparably connected with those processes and acquires a personality of its own. I am sure if I came into this room fifty years from now it would say 'Anne, Anne' to me. What nice times we've had here, honey! What chats and jokes and good chummy jamborees! Oh, dear me! I'm to marry Jo in June and I know I will be rapturously happy. But just

John Collier paintings

fatal day when Gilbert had called her "Carrots" and vainly tried to make his peace with a pink candy heart, had written him a nice little note of thanks. But she had never worn the trinket. Tonight she fastened it about her white throat with a dreamy smile.
She and Phil walked to Redmond together. Anne walked in silence; Phil chattered of many things. Suddenly she said,
"I heard today that Gilbert Blythe's engagement to Christine Stuart was to be announced as soon as Convocation was over. Did you hear anything of it?"
"No," said Anne.
"I think it's true," said Phil lightly.
Anne did not speak. In the darkness she felt her face burning. She slipped her hand inside her collar and caught at the gold chain. One energetic twist and it gave way. Anne thrust the broken trinket into her pocket. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were smarting.

Leonardo da Vinci the picture of the last supper painting

as Anne had known it must be.
By this time the silence had grown too dreadful, and Priscilla nudged Anne to intimate that she must speak.
"We -- we -- saw by your sign that this house is to let," said Anne faintly, addressing the older lady, who was evidently Miss Patty Spofford.
"Oh, yes," said Miss Patty. "I intended to take that sign down today."
"Then -- then we are too late," said Anne sorrowfully. "You've let it to some one else?"
"No, but we have decided not to let it at all."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," exclaimed Anne impulsively. "I love this place so. I did hope we could have got it."
Then did Miss Patty lay down her knitting, take off her specs, rub them, put them on again, and for the first time look at Anne as at a human being. The other lady followed her example so perfectly that she might as well have been a reflection in a mirror.

Gustav Klimt The Three Ages of Woman painting

"You LOVE it," said Miss Patty with emphasis. "Does that mean that you really LOVE it? Or that you merely like the looks of it? The girls nowadays indulge in such exaggerated statements that one never can tell what they DO mean. It wasn't so in my young days. THEN a girl did not say she LOVED turnips, in just the same tone as she might have said she loved her mother or her Savior."
Anne's conscience bore her up.
"I really do love it," she said gently. "I've loved it ever since I saw it last fall. My two college chums and I want to keep house next year instead of boarding, so we are looking for a little place to rent; and when I saw that this house was to let I was so happy."
"If you love it, you can have it," said Miss Patty. "Maria and I decided today that we would not let it after all, because we did not like any of the people who have wanted it. We don't HAVE to let it. We can afford to go to Europe even if we don't let it. It would help us out, but not for gold will I let my home pass into the possession of such people as have come here and looked at

Claude Monet The Water Lily Pond painting

ot as red as a beet and said his grandmother didn't do any such thing and his hair was born curly. And then he laid down on the bank and stuck his head right into the spring to show them. Oh, it wasn't the spring we drink out of. . ." seeing a horrified look on Marilla's face. . ."it was the little one lower down. But the bank's awful slippy and Paul went right in. I tell you he made a bully splash. Oh, Anne, Anne, I didn't mean to say that. . .it just slipped out before I thought. He made a splendid splash. But he looked so funny when he crawled out, all wet and muddy. The girls laughed more'n ever, but Gracie didn't laugh. She looked sorry. Gracie's a nice girl but she's got a snub nose. When I get big enough to have a girl I won't have one with a snub nose. . .I'll pick one with a pretty nose like yours, Anne."
"A boy who makes such a mess of syrup all over his face when he is eating his pudding will never get a girl to look at him," said Marilla severely.
"But I'll wash my face before I go courting," protested Davy, trying to improve matters

Aubrey Beardsley paintings

Anne turned from the second reader class which she was hearing.
"Really, Barbara," she said icily, "if you cannot move without falling over something you'd better remain in your seat. It is positively disgraceful for a girl of your age to be so awkward."
Poor Barbara stumbled back to her desk, her tears combining with the coal dust to produce an effect truly grotesque. Never before had her beloved, sympathetic teacher spoken to her in such a tone or fashion, and Barbara was heartbroken. Anne herself felt a prick of conscience but it only served to increase her mental irritation, and the second reader class remember that lesson yet, as well as the unmerciful infliction of arithmetic that followed. Just as Anne was snapping the sums out St. Clair Donnell arrived breathlessly.
"You are half an hour late, St. Clair," Anne reminded him frigidly. "Why is this?"
"Please, miss, I had to help ma make a pudding for dinner 'cause we're expecting company and Clarice Almira's sick," was St. Clair's answer, given in a perfectly respectful voice but nevertheless provocative of great mirth among his mates

William Etty William Etty painting

"Give them a good whipping, of course."
"Oh, Jane, you wouldn't," cried Anne, shocked. "Jane, you couldn't!"
"Indeed, I could and would, if they deserved it," said Jane decidedly.
"I could never whip a child," said Anne with equal decision. "I don't believe in it at all. Miss Stacy never whipped any of us and she had perfect order; and Mr. Phillips was always whipping and he had no order at all. No, if I can't get along without whipping I shall not try to teach school. There are better ways of managing. I shall try to win my pupils' affections and then they will want to do what I tell them."
"But suppose they don't?" said practical Jane.
"I wouldn't whip them anyhow. I'm sure it wouldn't do any good. Oh, don't whip your pupils, Jane dear, no matter what they do."
"What do you think about it, Gilbert?" demanded Jane. "Don't you think there are some children who really need a whipping now and then?"