Quite a night!

[alt_sinistra]

I do want to second Miss Clearwater's compliments and congratulations: excellently done, all of you, for representing Hogwarts in the best possible tradition.

My very deep thanks to the Prefects, YPL counsellors, and to the CCF for all doing their part to coordinate all manner of tasks, and I'm delighted everything went so smoothly. And the surprise of hearing "Hey, Hey Merlin" by two of our own was amazing. Excellent work, both of you!

For those who need to return borrowed robes, or perhaps want an ear for any reason, I'll be up in my office for much of the later morning and afternoon, until about four, outside of lunch. (I've also got a fair selection of the press coverage, if anyone wants to have a look.)

Comments

Private message to Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_sinistra]

I do hope the rest of your night was as wonderful as the beginning - you did seem to be having quite a good time every time I spotted you.

I mentioned it above, but I do have the various press that's come out. If you'd like to see, come by - or I'd be glad to arrange a time you can look more privately, if you or Miss Parkinson would like that.

There's some nice bits about both of you, though also some cattier ones, but nothing too horrible, of course. You didn't give them the slightest cause.

Re: Private message to Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_sally_anne]

I've seen a few already. There was one that called me Sarah Jane Parks. Being 'innocent and lovely' was nice to see but 'depressingly dowdy'?!? My robes were BEAUTIFUL even if they weren't from some famous designer like Pansy's Hydra's most everyone else's in Slytherin some.

Pansy told me not to read the nasty ones but I couldn't help myself.

Well. At least Viktor was right, they didn't have any time to look into my family. Though there was one article where they have this whole little side bar explaining that half-bloods in fostering have very little money of their own and outlining the entire BUDGET that our foster families get from the Ministry! And then they talked about the school robes and noted I wasn't in them and speculated that Pansy had bought them for me and wrote about HER family fortune. I hate to think what sorts of things they'd have written about my mum and dad -- my original mum and dad, I mean, not Mr and Mrs Stretton -- if they'd had time. (They'd probably have written all sorts of dreadful things about the Strettons too but I mind less come to think about it.)

Anyway I'll come up later to see the rest of it. There are probably a few no one in Slytherin had.

Re: Private message to Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_sinistra]

I thought you looked entirely lovely, and your dress suited you perfectly. (But yes, I had seen that one as well.)

On reading the nasty ones: I've mostly decided I'd rather know what they say than wonder. But I only read them when I'm in the right mood, and can be more amused than anything. (A couple of the pieces this morning, my goodness, the assumptions.)

And I'm glad they seem not to have had much luck digging into my background, though they've certainly had more time to have a suspicion they might want to. (Not that I've particular ghosts in the closet, but one never knows what innocent thing the press will grab, I gather.)

The sidebar really was a bit much, I thought. And it's not like you yourself have a great deal of control over that sort of thing.

I'll look forward to seeing you, then, later.

Re: Private message to Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_sally_anne]

Trying to find them funny is a good idea. Maybe I'll bring Pansy with me and we can take turns reading them out loud? When I looked at them this morning everyone was watching for my reaction and so I tried just to roll my eyes and say you can't expect much from a group of reporters who couldn't even get my name right (SARAH JANE PARKS, really? Although at least if they think my last name is 'Parks' they'll have a job of it to find my parents.)

I didn't look that much at what they said about you but you were on the front page of nearly everything. Did anyone say anything bad? I don't know how they could, you were so elegant and you and the Razzer Professor Lestrange looked absolutely lovely together. And you've both been completely proper.

Re: Private message to Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_sinistra]

Reading them out loud can be quite amusing, yes. And I quite agree - when they can't even get your name right, there's no reason you should take them at all seriously. It just proves how much of these sort of things are speculation.

On the ones about me - I'm quite glad the photos came out as well as they did, I must say. Nothing I've seen yet has been entirely terrible, but there have been some digs at my family (we're pureblood quite a way back, of course, but certainly not moving in those sorts of social circles at all). And I've seen several speculating on how long it might last.

No matter. I'm quite content, and it'll take more than a few articles to shake that. Feeling gorgeous in new robes certainly didn't hurt either. I'd never quite understood the power of clothing to do that, before this.