He nods. Still matter-of-fact, "I think it was a relief to many of them. The use of my degree title was never going to happen, my surname is a curse in pureblood ears, and of my friends, only Narcissa and Rodolphus survived the '70s."
"Hear, hear," he nods. "It could be replaced by the Hufflepuff minority who belong elsewhere but have an instinct for using that system. I hear there's an excellent fudge shop by the water, apropos of nothing." Nodding again, gravely, "I can see the point of that. As long as we value teaching the four outlooks towards problem-solving, though, it might only confuse matters. I used to argue for a rotation of some sort, but your counterpart looked as though she wanted to throw an inkwell at me and explained in a very calm voice exactly what sort of logistical nightmare it would be."
Tangenting from Val and his snobbery about minion-extermination (it's complicated), Xel thinks Donata is actually Dolphin. Aww. ^,^ He says But doesn't she want to make War DIE??? Look, it's walking around in a big yellow jacket! Making a target of itself! There must be a way to DESTROY IT AND MAKE IT BE NO MORE!!!!