Contemplating past history
Feb. 16th, 2010 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_sinistraFirst -
As noted to students yesterday, observation sessions for astronomy are limited to students preparing for OWLs and NEWTs as scheduled. Thank you for your cooperation, and do see me if you have any questions.
Second -
As you may know, I generally keep up an energetic correspondence with my family by owl, but that's stopped since Mum's donated the family owls to Ministry use. But in the last one she sent, she asked a question I've been thinking about ever since, and thought might be of interest to others.
As you may know, my last year at Hogwarts was the year our Lord Protector came to power - and it was a time of great uncertainty in many ways. Mum asked how I felt about being here now, compared to being here then.
Back then, it was - well, scary. You'd hear scraps of news, or see someone being pulled out of class by a teacher, reappearing hours later pale and teary. There were rumours of all kinds about who was doing what, and who was helping which side. There was great tension not only between the four houses, but between members of many of them. All of us - purebloods included - worried about what might be coming for us and how that would affect not only us, but our friends. Not that different from now, though the reasons for nervousness are different.
Like now, we felt quite isolated. News was filtered before it reached us, to avoid panic in the school. Trips outside Hogwarts were rare in those last few years. And yet, the world inside Hogwarts was painfully limited, for everywhere you went, there was a possibility of an argument, or a messy conversation, or news you just didn't want to hear. No matter how big the castle, you find other people eventually.
Two things were especially hard. One was the news of people you'd thought you knew, doing things that didn't seem possible Any number of deaths, especially for those recently out of Hogwarts, who were still remembered by their housemates and siblings and cousins and extended families: people we remembered vividly and clearly as laughing and joking and living. Most shocking, I think, were the Head Boys, Head Girls, and prefects who came to bad ends. How confusing to have looked up to someone for years, and then find out, all in a rush, that they were dead or disgraced, often for something no one would discuss in detail.
The other hard thing was that we had very little guidance. Now that I'm in a teacher's shoes, I understand the difficulty. All rumour to the contrary, I did not get presented with some magical device to help me guide students wisely through complex decisions when I returned as a teacher.
But I do wish there'd been something. Of course, I asked my parents, my aunts and uncles and older cousins for advice. But those people - as loving as they are - also remembered me as a tot, and as a silly ten-year-old, and all sorts of other things that shape memory.
As I look back, I wish more and more for guidance from other adults in the community as we left school and cast about in those first few years about how to make our way in our new lives. We went from the protection of Hogwarts to the deep waters of a strange new world, and had nothing to help us keep our balance. And again, some of us succeeded more than others, and all of us remember those of promise who fell along the way. And yet, without knowing why those others fell, all of us feared doing the same, for some reason we didn't know to avoid.
As a teacher, I have no wish to stick my nose into a student's personal affairs, unless those affairs directly affect their learning or other students. And, like all the staff here, I certainly have enough other things on my mind that I'm scarcely looking for more things to fill my day. And yet, I keep wondering what might be different if we did make more time for these things.
But I am glad, these days, to see that more staff here make some attempt to reach out . Poppy has made it easier and easier for students to seek her out. While Professor Slughorn's gatherings are legendary, I'm delighted to see more staff opening their doors for similar gatherings or sponsoring clubs of interest.
To that end: students who are interested in general conversation, I am glad to open my office to you on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights, after dinner until eight. No particular agenda, and no butting into your decisions, but a chance to have conversations somewhere about topics other than school
I would also - for any students who read this far - encourage you to take time to find things that engage you in multiple ways. Find time to be quietly alone and think. Find time to spend with friends. Spend time on both your studies and your hobbies. Be gentle with each other - you may not know the pressures someone else or their family is under right now. Get to know others - the people you meet now will continue to intersect your lives for decades to come. I'm excited about steps students have already taken - the new proposed clubs and organisations for example - and I hope to see still more in future.
As noted to students yesterday, observation sessions for astronomy are limited to students preparing for OWLs and NEWTs as scheduled. Thank you for your cooperation, and do see me if you have any questions.
Second -
As you may know, I generally keep up an energetic correspondence with my family by owl, but that's stopped since Mum's donated the family owls to Ministry use. But in the last one she sent, she asked a question I've been thinking about ever since, and thought might be of interest to others.
As you may know, my last year at Hogwarts was the year our Lord Protector came to power - and it was a time of great uncertainty in many ways. Mum asked how I felt about being here now, compared to being here then.
Back then, it was - well, scary. You'd hear scraps of news, or see someone being pulled out of class by a teacher, reappearing hours later pale and teary. There were rumours of all kinds about who was doing what, and who was helping which side. There was great tension not only between the four houses, but between members of many of them. All of us - purebloods included - worried about what might be coming for us and how that would affect not only us, but our friends. Not that different from now, though the reasons for nervousness are different.
Like now, we felt quite isolated. News was filtered before it reached us, to avoid panic in the school. Trips outside Hogwarts were rare in those last few years. And yet, the world inside Hogwarts was painfully limited, for everywhere you went, there was a possibility of an argument, or a messy conversation, or news you just didn't want to hear. No matter how big the castle, you find other people eventually.
Two things were especially hard. One was the news of people you'd thought you knew, doing things that didn't seem possible Any number of deaths, especially for those recently out of Hogwarts, who were still remembered by their housemates and siblings and cousins and extended families: people we remembered vividly and clearly as laughing and joking and living. Most shocking, I think, were the Head Boys, Head Girls, and prefects who came to bad ends. How confusing to have looked up to someone for years, and then find out, all in a rush, that they were dead or disgraced, often for something no one would discuss in detail.
The other hard thing was that we had very little guidance. Now that I'm in a teacher's shoes, I understand the difficulty. All rumour to the contrary, I did not get presented with some magical device to help me guide students wisely through complex decisions when I returned as a teacher.
But I do wish there'd been something. Of course, I asked my parents, my aunts and uncles and older cousins for advice. But those people - as loving as they are - also remembered me as a tot, and as a silly ten-year-old, and all sorts of other things that shape memory.
As I look back, I wish more and more for guidance from other adults in the community as we left school and cast about in those first few years about how to make our way in our new lives. We went from the protection of Hogwarts to the deep waters of a strange new world, and had nothing to help us keep our balance. And again, some of us succeeded more than others, and all of us remember those of promise who fell along the way. And yet, without knowing why those others fell, all of us feared doing the same, for some reason we didn't know to avoid.
As a teacher, I have no wish to stick my nose into a student's personal affairs, unless those affairs directly affect their learning or other students. And, like all the staff here, I certainly have enough other things on my mind that I'm scarcely looking for more things to fill my day. And yet, I keep wondering what might be different if we did make more time for these things.
But I am glad, these days, to see that more staff here make some attempt to reach out . Poppy has made it easier and easier for students to seek her out. While Professor Slughorn's gatherings are legendary, I'm delighted to see more staff opening their doors for similar gatherings or sponsoring clubs of interest.
To that end: students who are interested in general conversation, I am glad to open my office to you on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights, after dinner until eight. No particular agenda, and no butting into your decisions, but a chance to have conversations somewhere about topics other than school
I would also - for any students who read this far - encourage you to take time to find things that engage you in multiple ways. Find time to be quietly alone and think. Find time to spend with friends. Spend time on both your studies and your hobbies. Be gentle with each other - you may not know the pressures someone else or their family is under right now. Get to know others - the people you meet now will continue to intersect your lives for decades to come. I'm excited about steps students have already taken - the new proposed clubs and organisations for example - and I hope to see still more in future.
I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 02:24 am (UTC)Neville is she talking about your father? When I looked up the old annuals to see pictures of my mum I saw that there was a Frank Longbottom and he was a prefect and then head boy.
Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 02:55 pm (UTC)I figured she meant like Sirius Black and his lot. But I guess they're older than Professor Sinistra? I can't really tell about grownups. They all just seem old, you know? But then they act like some of them are loads older and they'd never know one another because they were so far apart at school or something.
Like my Dad said he doesn't know the Minister very well because she's loads older, but they look about the same to me. And, y'know, someday when Sandoval's Minister for Magic or whatever, I expect she'll be just like she is now and we'll look back and know it was going to happen 'cause we know what she's like.
Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 02:57 pm (UTC)Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 03:11 pm (UTC)Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 04:14 pm (UTC)But I don't think this made him behave any better.
Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-18 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-17 03:04 am (UTC)I'd like to come to your discussion nights, I think. Last term I tried not to talk to people much at all, but I'm not sure that really made things better.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-17 12:30 pm (UTC)I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 02:57 pm (UTC)Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Date: 2010-02-17 04:19 pm (UTC)But that might just be to get people to come and confide in her if they have disloyal thoughts so she can keep an eye on them. Not because she'd throw them to the MLE, she's subtler than that, but she'd know who to watch and if they were still disloyal by the time they were getting out of Hogwarts...
I mean I'm tempted to go to one of those discussion sessions just to hear what people in other houses are saying but I'm certainly going to watch what I say.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-17 03:07 pm (UTC)These are unsettling times, but I can't help thinking that there is an important difference between this time and the one you describe: we now live in a peaceful realm, protected by Our Lord with justice and order administered by a strong Ministry. Whatever challenges we face--and the repercussions of this epidemic have undoubtedly challenged us all--we take hope and strength from the knowledge that Our Lord is guiding us through all difficulties.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-17 04:59 pm (UTC)That said - my childhood was also, to me, a time of peace and order. I was, of course, a child: I did not know or understand the difficulties of living in a society surrounded by Muggles in the same way that the Lord Protector did.
There is also the question of comparing unsettling times - those times were chaotic and worrying, these times have those moments too. Rather than compare them, and say that one was much worse than the other (especially since, as students, you have relatively little experience to compare them to), I'd rather focus on remembering what would have helped me then, and trying to provide that now.
The Lord Protector will certainly guide decisions that I hope lead to both the rapid end of the epidemic and a resolution to the petrifications and death here - but in the meantime, a little herbal tea and biscuits and jam and good company will scarcely hurt matters.