Today's lessons.

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Dear boys and girls,
How fast our time together has flown! I can scarcely believe we are nearly at the end of our first term working together. Now, I do hope you are all prepared to do just your very best on your coming exams, and that the little notes and study tips from our session in November are still fresh in your mind.

We also covered such a great deal of information today. And so I wanted to give you this space, here, through the wonder of the journals, that if you have any teensy etiquette questions we did not get to this afternoon, that you should feel free to ask them here.

I want to send you back to your parents demonstrating the very best of what the YPL Programme has to offer, encouraging you to be courteous, well-behaved young witches and wizards, a credit to the Protectorate. And of course, the Protectorate traditions of valuing the very best that pure Wizarding blood can bring to our building a bright future.

Dear parents,
Let me take the opportunity to let you know about a few teensy advances. You should all have the latest newsletter in hand by now, and I do appreciate each and every letter you’ve sent. Some of you will even see your letters excerpted in our subsequent newsletters. I have been giving a great deal of thought to something that clearly concerns a number of you, the quality of education here at dear old Hogwarts.

To that end, I have begun observing each of the professors here, getting a better sense of their skill and mastery of material. Thus far, I’ve had the opportunity to observe Professors Vector, Sinistra, and Acton, and will be observing Professor Grubbly-Plank this week, with the rest to follow once we return from our holidays. And of course, I am teaching myself, now. Our first two weeks of Civics classes have gone splendily, and I look forward to our next sessions. With that, I have also begun attending staff meetings, and it is just so very intriguing what conversations happen there.

Now, again, any little questions or concerns, you know just where to find me. I will be continuing to respond to YPL business and correspondance over the holidays - there is no rest for those truly seeking to build our strongest future, of course!

Comments

Private message to Poppy Pomfrey

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Poppy,

Do let me know when you might have a few minutes for me again. It seems as if every time I've stopped by, you have been thoroughly enmeshed in some conversation or another.

The problem is no better, though I suppose it is not vastly worse, either.

Re: Private message to Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_poppy]

You'd be most welcome to stop up tonight if you have not turned in yet. I'm afraid that one cannot schedule around the ailments of school children--they are impossible to predict and often of an urgent nature.

That said, I would very much like to get to the bottom of the trouble you are experiencing. Does it continue to involve only your ankles and feet? Do you notice any variation in the intensity of the symptoms? Is it less bothersome in the mornings, for instance? Or after bathing? When sitting as opposed to when standing or walking for stretches of time?

Re: Private message to Poppy Pomfrey

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Oh, dear. No, I did not see this last night, and this morning has been quite taken up with the Civics classes. I'm rather surprised to see you keeping such late hours, my dear. I would have though that of anyone, you'd recognise the importance of going early to bed.

I'll try to stop by late this afternoon, or after supper, and see if that gets us anywhere.

To answer your questions in the meantime: Ankles, feet. Up the calves, at this point. I do wonder if I'm feeling something on my hands, but it's very fleeting. As to variation, some days are better than others, but I admit I've not found a clear pattern yet. Worse in the evenings than the mornings. I'd wonder if the weather had an effect, but it's not as if we've had overmuch variation recently.

And I believe somewhat better after bathing, though I'll pay further attention to that. I do notice it more when I'm walking or moving around.

Re: Private message to Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_poppy]

Do stop up this evening if you've the time. Unless this was a day when the symptoms seemed less severe. Given what you say, I would prefer to see you in the evening of a day when you've felt the itching manifest itself, and I'd hope to examine you before you bathe or change any of your clothing on such a day.

I find it unlikely that it's anything to do with the cleansing processes the elves use as one would expect the effect to be more evenly dispersed. It's highly unlikely that you should be the only one with bedbugs if that were the source, and in any case, I didn't think it looked like bites or stings when I examined you the first time.

I suppose it could be a slow-developing reaction to the transfigured ingredients in our diet here. I expect you've not been accustomed to rely so much on transfigured fare?

The trouble with allergies, as I said before, is that they are not always immediate: a body may go on for some time, fending off the irritation before it suddenly succumbs to the botheration.

And you've truly not purchased any new garments--hosiery or shoes, particularly?--or ordered in new bedding? (I know some find the school-issued sheets to be less than satisfactory. It would be understandable.)

Or. Well, while I agree that it seems most like an allergic irritation, there's always a chance that it's something more sinister. Have you, by any chance, received any gifts recently that we ought to check for tampering or malign influence?


If you wish, you could use the fire to check before coming up. I should hate to have you stop up only to find me in the midst of some emergency. You needn't worry, however, that you'll deprive me of sleep. It is simply a fact of the caregiving profession that one must be able to respond when need requires. I'm blessed with a constitution that demands less sleep than most, it seems, and, of course, over the years I've weaned myself from wanting more.

Re: Private message to Poppy Pomfrey

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I'm just waiting for a brief firechat at half-ten, but I will come up thereafter, as I would indeed like to sort out what is going on. It has been an unpleasant day for the symptoms.

To answer your other questions briefly:

Bedbugs, really? I do hope that is not actually a common problem. Or else the habits of the house-elves here need a great deal of attention indeed.

As to diet, I suppose that is possible. You are quite right that the amount of transfigured food at the staff table is suprising to me, though I generally limit myself to the better ingredients.

I've not purchased new garments since the end of the summer, and the sheets on my bed are my own, from my own little house south of New London. Nor have I received any particular gifts. I've started to see a few coming in - it is that time of year, of course - but they all are quite ordinary baskets from widely used businesses. Nothing as yet unusual or even unexpected.

Ah, well. I am glad you have come to some sort of balance with the demands of your position. I must say it's quite a challenge to adapt, myself. There always seems to be one more conversation to have.

Private message to Septima Vector

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Septima -

Well, that’s one less thing to manage until January. Honestly, I must give you credit for keeping so many pieces going at once, my dear. Your own classes, and Ravenclaw House, and then keeping everything together for Minerva (and that is just such a task these days.)

Now, are you really sure that the punishments for that duelling circle were the right thing? It just seems uneven and unfair to me, somehow. Only six of them with their magic bound, no matter how many others will end up serving detentions. (And didn’t you and I have quite the talk about that kind of punishment not being generally appropriate? How is this different, I ask.) And I still cannot fathom some of the other decisions. Not to remove the Prefects from positions of power..

And related, are you certain that dear Antonin should be teaching? I swear, every time I see him, I have to wonder whether he is really capable of dealing with his classes, should anything arise. I know he’s spent quite a bit of time talking to Rabastan and Aurora, but neither of them can be considered an unbiased evaluator of his skills.

Now, on the observations, I am glad you didn’t take offence, my dear. You know I have to have something to share with Latimer and with the Board. And Gwendolyn is the same, nothing at all to worry about, though we’ll go through the formal process. I am going to be quite curious how Wilhelmina does, on Friday. (And of course I'll continue to share my notes with you.)

Aurora, well, she does know her field to all accounts, but she does overcomplicate things for herself, doesn’t she? (I do hope she sees reason soon and actually plans for a successor, whatever her Guild Master implied about her being difficult to replace.) At any rate, she’s made a strong enough objection about most of the points I raised that I will let it be for now. No sense wasting too much energy in pointless back and forth. She does get defensive, doesn’t she?

I would love time after supper tomorrow, just the two of us, to chat. I learn so much from you, my dear, about what this school could become, given the right direction.