caged npcs (keymasters) wrote in caged, @ 2013-11-01 13:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-11, [ log ], [ muggle studies ] |
Muggle Studies Surprise Special Guest Speaker
WHO: NPC!Percy Weasley & you! (NPC!Percy and the following is written by the lovely acejillian).
WHEN: Muggle Studies class time.
WHERE: Muggle Studies classroom.
SUMMARY: Percy gives a lecture on the Ministry's policies.
RATING: PG.
STATUS: Narrative.
NOTE: NO Q&A SESSION FOLLOWING THIS, but feel free to post any reactions.
There is an undeniable stiffness that is both familiar to anyone who remembered the Head Boy in their second and third years, and by the same token, also slightly off. He's introduced as being an Assistant to the Minister and when he begins to speak, standing at the head of the room, he has a thoughtful, deliberate air to his decidedly clear and professional tone. "A dear friend of mine is a Muggleborn. She took to magic well, was exemplary in her studies. Plenty of OWLs, plenty of NEWTS. Head Girl from Ravenclaw. She had her pick of professions coming out of Hogwarts and settled, though she wouldn't use that word, on government service. A lot of students do. A lot of you will. She believes, like I believe, that it is through cooperation, dedication, and hard work that our society advances into a better world, and it is through government that these ethical pillars are transformed from mere ideas into the practical changes that will move us into that tomorrow." Percy pauses, pushing his spectacles up his nose as he continues solidly. "There is a lot of speculation being bandied about in the press that has weakened the confidence of many in the power of government to propel us through the modern challenges that we face. This shouldn't surprise any of you. After all, their intent is to make a profit. Sensationalised headlines are built from bits of information carefully crafted to incite emotion in the hopes you will be titillated. But like most things that are flash, they have very little substance carrying them." "For instance, Azkaban. The facility currently housing the Muggleborn population. As most of you may have experienced at the last World Cup, finding space for massive amounts of wizards is an extraordinary challenge while staying in the boundaries of the Statute of Secrecy. Simply put, we are space constrained to quarantine off a moderate percentage of our population. It's a matter of logistics. People are being cared for, their needs met. In the future, as this development is better understood and alleviated, such a large space will become unnecessary. See? Much more boring than the headline would have you believe. Same with the reports of Obliviation. I can't claim to have a full understanding of the uses, but I do know that for some of people that were unfortunately exposed to Dementors, this was deemed a medical comfort rather than a forced extraction. Also less exciting than the headlines. And then there are the Muggleborns themselves." Another pause, the tone now a little less strident and a little more personal. "This is the world that I know. This is the world that you all know as well. No matter what contact we have with Muggles, the Magical World is ours and the Mundane is theirs. We see both of them in parallel. And so, no one in this room knows what it's like to have another world suddenly appear and to be drawn, dragged really, into it. We've done it for centuries and we've done it for their protection as much as we've done it for the greater society as a whole's protection. But I want you all to consider not just what it must be like to come into a new world - the challenges of the first year at Hogwarts on top of acclimation - but what it must be like to leave one behind. This same intelligent, well-respected, successful friend found that she had little in common with her Muggle cousins lives, little to talk about. Her aunts and uncles didn't know how to measure success that didn't come with a Muggle university degree. And then there are the unending lies. This is the world she knows. But if she could do it all over again, knowing the strain it put on her family, never being able to fully connect with their lives..." he tipped his head regretfully and said, a little more resolutely. "She didn't have a choice. Hundreds of Muggleborns did not have a choice. But they may have one now." Back to the more solid, forthright cadence. "Put aside the flamboyant language and the prejudices and see this for what it is. This is the largest, most drastic change in our society since the Statute of Secrecy. We have an obligation, not just to ourselves, but to the future of Wizards AND Muggles to explore these new developments and secure ourselves in both the immediate and years to come. These are challenging times, but we are the generation to rise to them." His eyes rest briefly on Ginny before looking to Professor Carrow, the back to the classroom as a whole. "What we do here, in this time of great upheaval, will shape every piece of your life going forward. You owe it to the adults you will become to be a part of this change now, because it's only through the cooperation of us all, through our combined might, that we will see this better world come to fruition. Your Ministry thanks you for your attention, and your service." |