alt_sinistra | December and the YPL

Dear students and visiting guests,

Our upcoming lecture:
On December 3rd, we will welcome several medwizards, who have graciously offered their time on Saturday to share some tips on dealing with urgent injuries and crisis care. Our guests are welcome to join us for this. You will be divided into groups, spending forty-five minutes with each presenter. Please gather at 1pm in the Great Hall for the introduction, and we will split off to other spaces from there.

CCF students: you will be grouped together and cover topics in more depth, as you covered some of the basics last summer, and will also have an additional hour training session following the main presentations.

(Thanks to Miss Perks for suggesting that this would be an excellent topic.)

Preparing for the Yule Ball
CCF students and YPL counsellors are asked to assist with various small duties relating to hosting the Yule Ball. Planning sessions will take place on Thursday, December 8th or Saturday, December 10th. Please sign up on the lists by my office for one of these two times no later than this coming Thursday. Each session will last two hours and begins at 7pm.

A schedule conflict
Finally, due to YPL planning committee needs, I must be in New London on Sunday, December 11th and Monday the 12th. My classes are cancelled for that Monday, including the observing session that evening (though I will be giving you assignments to cover the missing session this week). I will obviously not be available for questions or my normal office hours during those two days. I am confident this will be the last such disruption for this school year, and appreciate your patience.

Miss Clearwater and Mister Avery, I have an additional note for you below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I am hoping that you will assist me in a slightly delicate matter. I have been asked to help coordinate dancing and etiquette lessons for Hogwarts students, so that we may make the best possible impression at the Yule Ball. However, it would be impolitic to publically admit our students may need additional teaching in these areas.

I would appreciate your assistance in sharing the following information with Hogwarts students, and only with Hogwarts students. (For your own houses, we have prepared copies for each separate dorm room, as well as general copies for the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff common rooms. Please pick them up from outside my office before the end of the day on Monday: their envelopes are specifically charmed to you.)

Madame Pomfrey has agreed to help me with the session planning but we will also need assistance from our CCF students and YPL counsellors in providing instruction and practice. I will discuss that in detail with them during the scheduled planning sessions. Madame Pince has also gathered some reference materials and books for review.

As noted below, if you know of a student who feels they need help with suitable dress robes (particularly fostered halfbloods), please encourage them to speak to me as soon as possible so we can see if arrangements can be made. Likewise, if there are students you feel are particularly in need of this training so as not to embarrass the school, please let me know their names no later than the 12th.

For your reference, the announcement to be distributed reads:

Dear students,

In order to help you prepare for the Yule Ball, the YPL programme is coordinating etiquette and dance lessons for all students who are interested, so that you may feel more confident and at ease in a formal social setting.

All other students expecting to attend the Ball are encouraged to attend one of four two-hour sessions teaching dance and formal ball etiquette. These will be held at 7pm on December 13th, 7pm on the 15th, and 2pm on the 17th or 18th. Please sign up by my door for the session of your choice. CCF students will assist with demonstrations by the instructor.

All students were instructed to bring dress robes suitable for a formal event with them this autumn. However, we do understand that you may have grown since returning to school, or may discover some other difficulty with your robes. If so, please stop by my office hours as soon as possible (but no later than the 18th) to discuss the difficulty, and I will see what can be arranged.

We all look forward to the splendours of the Yule Ball!

Yes, of course, Professor. We shan't let you down.

Thank you both.

Miss Patil -

I wanted to reassure that I have not forgotten your proposal of a journal code spotting workshop. I thought you would like to know that we have worked out some of the necessary details, and expect to resolve the remaining considerations at our December meeting. With luck, we will manage to schedule something this spring, but if not, certainly as part of your summer training (and I will, of course, ensure you get public credit, as I have done for others in the past.)

I am looking forward to seeing your mother on the trip to New London - I think the new accessory line quite brilliant, and not simply because it’s making my holiday shopping much easier this year.

Thank you, Professor! It's not about the credit, of course, it's about helping the CCF. You've always told us to come forward with suggestions. I really hope everything works out!

I didn't realise you were going back to Mum's for more robes. Well, I guess you'll want something new for the Yule Ball as well, won't you? Are there many other parties you'll be attending, Professor? I think it must be well exciting to suddenly get to go to all sorts of society occasions.

And thanks for saying you like Mum's accessory, too. Parvati and I are quite chuffed it's doing so well. Really, it's surprising no one's thought of journal covers before. They're so simple and everyone needs one. You could even have more than one, right, depending on the occasion. And what I think is brilliant is that even if you're buying a load of them for different people - family members or whatever - you can still individualise them with different colours or patterns. I honestly think it's one of her best ideas yet. And it's the kind of thing that could only happen here, in the Protector's land, which makes it even more special.

I do think we've worked out most of the committee's practical concerns with the proposal (as you may discover for yourself, doing work by committee has both benefits and complications.) And we've recently had someone volunteer as a presenter. I do appreciate your thoughts for CCF programme items, and I'm sure you'll have excellent suggestions at our meetings about the Yule Ball as well.

As to your mother - well, this is the fitting for my Yule Ball robes. (I had advance warning of the Ball, since I had to arrange the YPL schedule.) I'm quite looking forward to seeing what she's come up with, though of course we've discussed by owl since the original consultation.

As to other parties, I have had several invites from people I know through YPL work, and of course, I want to have something appropriate to wear on hand as a matter of course.

The journal covers really are excellent. I come from a large family, and it's so hard to think of good gifts for more distant relatives, or the people who have most of what they need or want. Being able to get a journal cover, or some of the other accessories makes it much simpler, and yet, as you say, easy to personalise, without worrying they already have one just like it.

Felix -

Just wanted to confirm that you’re on top of scheduling time for me at Revati Patil’s on the Monday. She’s said it will take 60 to 90 minutes, but she’s glad to arrange it based on my schedule. I’d prefer a long lunch, if we can make that work with the code discussions in the morning, otherwise at 5pm.

If I’ve got all the changes, that means the schedule is:

Sunday:
10: Welcome, review of the last two events.
10:30: Review of spring plans (except for Melete)
11:30: lunch. (Can you arrange something that needs my attention so I cannot go out? And a sandwich?)
12:30: Review budget and staffing needs for spring.
1: Melete reviews her plans for the mural.
2: Coordinating CCF and YPL plans, timing, etc.
2:30: break
3: initial CCF planning. (Split sections, or everyone together?)
3:45: Code recognition committee resolution.

One favour:
The Wilton Consort are playing Sunday night - I’d very much like to go if you can get me a ticket. (But please make sure you don’t let Stint or Gimlet know where I’ll be.) Would you check if either Helena or Campanella might be interested?

And please book me at the usual inn, though could you confirm a top floor room so I don't get woken up at dawn again?

Monday:
9am: code recognition planning (assuming we have a solution)
10: summer schedule planning with list of needed specialists.
11:30: break (Revati’s at 11:45?)
1:30: MLE and relevant protection details
2:15: Transporation
2:45: International Magical Cooperation
3:30: Final summary, full committee, end by 4:30.

And then you and I will finish any remaining business and paperwork, though I think we’re largely caught up, yes?

Felix -

Thanks for the confirmations. Owl and signed parchments on their way back to you for the payments.

On Monday: my parents asked if I'd join them for supper (they'd like 5:30), so if you have parchment work for me, and it'll take more than an hour, can we find another slot for some of it? Perhaps over lunch Sunday?

Also, reviewing my notes, I realised I'd forgotten I wanted to talk about some sort of resource list for halfbloods. Could we push that into 11 or so on Monday? If we get short on time, we can table it until March if we have to, though I'd really rather not.

Much appreciation, as always.

December and the YPL

Private message to Penelope Clearwater and Julius Avery:

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Private message to Padma Patil

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Re: Private message to Padma Patil

Private message to Felix Green

Re: Private message to Felix Green