Harold Samamor Roberts is a “Sprout Sprite” (scientific name micrófyllo esprit, meaning “small leaf spirit”), a variety of Sprite that can be found most commonly in the Enchanted Forest which these sprites call home. Not to be confused with the Sprout Sprite variety cited in The Spiderwick Chronicles, Harold is a member of an entirely separate species.

Fully grown Sprout Sprites range in height from 3.3in to 5in (8.3cm to 12.7cm). Some varieties of adult Sprout Sprites develop wings, many with bioluminescent properties, which are nearly impossible for the human eye to view, due to their degree of translucence. They posses magical qualities, many of which are yet to be discovered. It has also been observed that these Sprites utilize plants and items in their native forest which allow them to fluctuate in size. Sprout Sprites have been seen to grow as much as 13 times their natural height, or 13 times shorter, while under the effects of such items and foods.

The Enchanted Forest. Suspected to be the very same Brocéliande Forest from Arthurian legend, the Enchanted Forest where Harold grew up and currently lives is known for its abundance of magic, magical creatures, and strange happenings that are unexplainable by basic reasoning and human science!

Harold and his fellow Sprout Sprites are native to the Enchanted Forest. It is unknown how many magical species call Brocéliande home, or if the magical forest where Harold lives truly is the same Enchanted Forest from the legends of King Arthur. All signs indicate that these magical places are one and the same, but further research must be done to confirm this hypothesis. This page will be updated when more information comes to light.

Our mascot is roughly the equivalent of a 17-year-old human. Adolescence can be a difficult time, but Harold is ready to take this unique period of life by the reigns. He is navigating his teenage years with the unwavering support of his friends and family.

Sprout Sprites like Harold age very differently than humans. Adolescence can linger for a chosen amount of time, rather than passing in a linear way as human years do. Sprout Sprites must choose to move into adulthood.

The process of deciding to become an adult can be a complicated one, which often includes a public display of maturity and growth. This display most often occurs in the form of a community project, something that benefits the Sprout Sprite community and shows that the individual choosing to move into adulthood is ready to take on responsibilities and help their fellow sprites grow together.

Harold has not yet chosen to move into adulthood. He is still considered to be very early in his development for a Sprout Sprite. However, our mascot already has plans for his adulthood project: a return of the “Sprout Scouts”, an organization much like the Boy Scouts which fell out of popularity in his village over time. Harold’s dream is to officially revive the Sprout Scouts for the young Sprouts in his community and lead them into a new age of learning!

Yes.

Sprout Sprites have been observed to have a variety of magical properties and abilities. Their primary forms of magic involve brewing and cooking magical foods and substances, healing creatures and plants, and flight. It has been asked in the past whether Sprout Sprites have the ability to create floral projectiles in the form of vines, petals, or spores. While there is no documentation of such powers from these sprites, it has not been ruled out entirely as there are many varieties of Sprout Sprites that are yet to be fully studied.

It is believed that elder Sprout Sprites can specialize in particular areas of magic, but very few have been observed to have an intimate knowledge or mastery of multiple branches of their potential magical abilities. In the case of Harold, he has mastered a plethora of cooking skills. Among his magical culinary capabilities is the careful art of brewing the popular height-altering substance which Sprout Sprites use in their foods and beverages. This special ingredient allows Sprout Sprites to fluctuate as much as 13 times their typical height, resulting in a maximum measurement of up to 5.5 feet (1.6 meters) and a minimum height of 0.3 inch (0.7 centimeter). At their smallest, Sprout Sprites can temporarily enjoy being the same size as their tardigrade friends!

Harold is a kind and gentle being. Although he experiences the same struggles as many other homeschoolers, he never loses hope, even in the tough times! He stays determined and works through every obstacle with the help of his community and friends. He always puts his best foot forward, even when things get scary.

Harold’s MBTI type is ENFJ-A. His zodiac sign is Pisces. His key values include loyalty, respect, honestly, and empathy. Above all else, friendship is the most important thing to Harold. No friend of his ever gets left behind when they’re struggling. He will go out of his way for a friend in need and is well-known in his home village as being a dependable young Sprout.

To get a better understanding of Harold himself, listen to his special Spotify playlist. This playlist includes many of his favorite songs and is a great way to get to know our friendly plant-boy mascot.

Harold was grown and raised in a large, loving community from a beautiful area with a plethora of nature and animal life, known currently only as the “Enchanted Forest”. His early childhood years were full of learning through exploration and hands-on activities in his home tree and the surrounding woods. Most subjects, including math, science, and even languages were taught to Harold by exploring the world around him and helping with community projects in his village.

Sprout Sprites which hail from larger colonies are often grown in their town’s local greenhouse. Harold, being from a small village, was grown in his community’s local sprout patch. While greenhouses have designated attendants and require 100 volunteer hours from any Sprout Sprite wishing to become a guardian for a young Sproutling, village patches work based on reputation and community compassion. An entire village waters their patch, adults and children alike, with specific adult sprites watering and bonding with the sprouts they hope to bring into their home.

Yes! Harold has three primary guardians who watered and cared for him as a Sproutling: Mora, Arthur, and Egir.

Sprout Sprites parental dynamics vary widely from family to family. These Sprites have been observed to have anywhere from one to four primary guardians, ranging from groups of friends to sole individuals who proved their parental abilities to the community either through contributing to the raising of young Sproutlings in their village or completing 100 hours of greenhouse service in larger colonies.

Each Sprout Sprite in a group of guardians tend to have a specialty which they share with their Sproutling. In Harold’s case, his family dynamic went something like this:

Mora taught him all of his known social skills, from how to properly introduce yourself to a new friend to how to stand up to bullies without lifting a finger. She spent her bonding time with Harold during his days in the sprout patch reading him books in multiple languages.

Arthur shared with Harold an appreciation and understanding of the arts and magic. They filled their bonding time with Harold as a Sproutling playing him music and singing a variety of songs to the young Sprout.

Egir supplied Harold with an overwhelming amount of technical knowledge, covering everything from mathematics and physics to plant identification and the art of cooking. Egir always brought a new activity to the sprout patch when visiting Harold, as well as a snack for himself and a new liquid nutrient to help the soon-to-be-Harold grow big and strong.

Harold’s favorite author during childhood was Shel Silverstein. He enjoys anything in a similar style to Shelf Silberstein’s popular poem books.

Harold will read just about anything, but prefers light, motivational, or content that will make him laugh. He particularly loves to read new jokes to tell his friends. One of Harold’s favorite memories from his early childhood is of being read to by his parental guardians.

Harold’s go-to pastime is hanging out with his friends.

HSRC’s energetic mascot loves to explore the Enchanted Forest, climb the local trees, picnic with friends, work on projects, help his friends with homework, go swimming in the stream near his home, cook food for his community, and help the young Sprout Sprites in his village learn and grow.

Yes!

Although Sprout Sprites like Harold don’t grow hair like humans do, they experience growth on their heads which they can style and trim for fun and cleanliness. Sprout Sprites have very little interest in coloring their “hair”. They prefer to blend into the Enchanted Forest’s scenery and feel that adding coloring would take away from their ability to be inconspicuous.

The Homeschooler’s Chat community!

Our mascot was created by The Homeschooler’s Chat community in March of 2019 through a series of polls about certain traits and aspects our mascot should have. HSRC users voted on every detail of his design. We collectively decided on how many arms, legs, eyes, and fingers he should have. Everything from his fluffy green complexion to the color of his eyes was carefully chosen by our group. Harold is the creation of our whole community and we love him!

Harold’s official backstory is written by Anne (that’s me), the founder of The Homeschooler’s Chat, with creative input, incredible ideas, and amazing illustration help from Max and @dreamiebuns. This trio collaborated to create Harold’s first ever book: Harold’s Halloween Hullabaloo, lovingly assembled by Max. @dreamiebuns and Max both brainstorm with Anne about a massive variety of Harold topics, ranging from choosing his name to understanding where Sprout Sprite children grow.

Thank you to Max and @dreamiebuns for your help, support, and encouragement in all things HSRC. ❤

Yes! Harold can be seen in HSRC’s Discord server frequently. He shows up in the form of a bot that helps users understand how to use our Discord server, provide links to helpful information, and send positive messages. Harold Bot also helps to keep the community safe by automatically moderating messages sent in chat.