Grim Truth 92/17/10

[alt_sirius]

Greetings, British Wizarding World!

Like many of you, I’ve been reading with interest the discussions among Hogwarts students (and parents) who bemoan the state of their education and have determined to take their future into their own hands.

I think any of us who have passed through Hogwarts’ halls in the past several generations can attest that there have always been unpopular subjects and professors. It’s the prerogative of all students to grumble about their schoolwork.

I am forced to agree that there are significant problems with the current slate of faculty, as well as the quality of certain subjects as they are being taught. In all fairness to the Headmistress, some of the deficiencies have been inherited, and some doubtless forced upon the school — and whether that can end anything other than badly is yet to be seen. Were I a parent with children at Hogwarts, I should be alarmed and worried not only for their educations, but their safety — as the events of this week show with painful clarity.

But the less said about Amycus Coward the better. It’s on something a little less drastic that I write currently. I’m pleased to see that Hogwarts’ students remain as resourceful as ever, providing their own solutions to the limitations of their tutelage. But where those solutions touch on our history, our social order or our race relations, the new lessons bear particularly careful examination.

A wise man once said, ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ It seems to me that the problem facing all British wizardom right now is its willingness to ignore history. Perhaps even more disturbing are the revisions to history taking place with governmental encouragement, and our children’s willingness to absorb as much of this alternative history as they can amass.

We all remember our past experiences differently. Recent conversations I’ve had have made that fact abundantly clear. But when we deliberately revise history, we actively alter our perceptions of the past, our role in the present and our options for the future.

Take History of Magic, for example. While it may be difficult to focus on the lessons of a teacher who, let’s face it, wasn’t that engaging while alive, and is even less inclined to be dynamic or exciting now that he is vapourous, it is nonetheless important to remember that there is another reason the so-called ‘Council’ object to his teaching. That reason is that his version of history predates the lies and propaganda that the Ministry wishes to force upon the whole population. They would have your young people classify his teaching as merely an annoyance to be endured, learned by rote, spit back for the purpose of exams, and set aside in favour of the ‘definitive’ new timelines. But these are in themselves nothing more than alterations of the facts. And Professor Binns, if nothing else, has always prided himself on his reverence for facts.

Now, let’s not take that argument too far. History itself is a flawed and evolving picture, too often written only by the winners. Benjamin Disraeli said, ‘Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is history without theory.’ What he meant was that every historian brings his own perspective to the story he tells. How does one evaluate the stories one hears, separate the appeal of the poetic from indifference to the mundane, read between the lines to guess at what is not being told?

Statistics and facts can be manipulated. Theories can be spun from nearly any angle to support nearly any hypothesis. Even photographs and interviews may be staged so that they become as much theatrical exercise as a Christmas concert. The single best method to distill the past is, simply, to examine it from more than a single point of view. No one person is the sole arbiter of the Grim Truth: only collectively, taking all perspectives into account, can we fully understand and decide what is best to believe.

In conclusion, parents of Hogwarts: Think twice before you tell your children to discount their History of Magic lessons – or the older ‘arcane’ texts available in the library. Remember how it was before you each became an agent, willing or unwilling, of oppression and subjugation. (Here’s an exercise for you: This holiday, drag out your old books from your attics and cupboards and compare them to your children’s. Just how different are they?) And students: Think twice about what your textbooks tell you, especially in History, Muggle Studies and even Defence Against the Dark Arts. Anything written within your lifetimes is subject to revisionism on the scale of the most infamous governments in, well, in history. Consider not only the point of view of the winners, but the losers. And never, never accept what you are told just because you are told it is so.

Comments

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[alt_sirius]

Quidditch match only lasted about an hour.

Anyway, I didn't want to harp on Carrow too much, for fear it would influence the Governors to maintain him just to be contrary.

Sorry, Minerva, but I did try to emphasize that Hogwarts is no longer under your sole authority and that you're not entirely responsible for the problems you face. Still, by all means, jump in and defend yourself - and excoriate me in the process!

[alt_amycus]

Tongue and Quills are no sharper than knives, Black. Knives with your name on them.

Don't listen to the scold, Justine. Break its quill, cut off its hands, silence its tongue. Sharpen the blade and reap the harvest of blood.

I wonder, will your blood still run pure, after so many years of taint? Rivulets of tarnished blood, still red, still red my lovely

I'll certainly relish finding out

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[alt_sirius]

Temper, temper.

Could it be something I said?

(I only hope he doesn't lash out at Terry while he's so brassed off with me.)

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[alt_poppy]

I have the boy with me, Sirius. I believe I will be able to shelter him here through the weekend, at least.

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[alt_sirius]

That's a comfort, cheers, Poppy.

[alt_lucius]

You know, you'd further your case better by selecting wizards as your worthies, rather than relying on the words of hapless Muggles, one of whom spent much of his career in the pursuit of so-called 'reforms' to steadily worsen the spread of power into the hands of Muggles of the meanest classes. You only make yourself more ridiculous every time you write, knowing nothing you say can change the proper order of things here.

Nonetheless, rail all you like, Black. Write every week, if you wish. You shall soon find that Our Lord has no rival in matters of due justice. For every invasion into our peace, He shall see to it that you regret your decision. If you cannot be silenced, you can be turned into your own worst weapon against the very kine you would incite to action.

What will you do, I wonder, when the mere mention of your name inspires fear of reprisal? When the appearance of one of these towers of lies results in a widespread clamour to rid innocents of the scourge of your words? When you see what your arrogance brings?

When will you realise that the more you seek glory as a bold hero, brave enough to speak your misguided version of 'truth,' the more you instead establish yourself as a conceited profligate, deriving satisfaction only from the sound of your own discord?

You are nothing, Black. Nothing but a tool Our Lord can put to use in His own way. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you will cease your infernal disruptions.

[alt_percy]

So you admit you're on the losing side, then?

[alt_sirius]

Oh, I wouldn't put it quite like that, Mr Weasley. My 'side' may be struggling, oppressed and for the moment, at a disadvantage. But to lose, one has to stop fighting, don't you think?

[alt_percy]

Even if you're hurting the ones you claim to champion?

[alt_sirius]

Well, that does present a conundrum, of course. I'm sure you've done things in your young life that have had unintended consequences.

Still, direct and indirect results are very different things. If the Death Eaters take it into their heads to hurt an innocent bystander because they can't reach me directly, that's regrettable and extremely distasteful. But it's not my wand casting the curse, nor my intent that causes them harm.

[alt_percy]

I don't have time for nonsense like this. I have to get to class.

[alt_luna]

I always think that the one with the truth is the winner, no matter what other people think.

[alt_terry]

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up to No Good

Wish that was true. But not always, I don't think.

[alt_sirius]

Hm. You may have something there, Miss ... Lovegood, is it? It is said that the truth will out, sooner or later.

However, in this particular struggle, we must hope the truth reaches us all rather sooner, if we have any hope of repairing the damage that has been done so far.

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[alt_molly]

Oh, do be careful, Sirius. Don't lead her on in too much of a public manner, please.

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[alt_sirius]

I know, Molly.

[alt_lana]

Lovegood.

This is not a person with whom one speaks. Better not to read the things he writes at all.

[alt_luna]

I'm not speaking. It would be rather difficult for him to hear me from wherever he is. I'm writing.

(Why, though?)

[alt_lana]

Two points from Ravenclaw for your ludicrous misconstruction of the point, Lovegood. Don't be thick. This man is a blood traitor and a named Enemy of the Protectorate. Contact with him may be taken as a sign that your allegiance is not firmly rooted.

[alt_padma]

Mr Malfoy said something though. And he said that we should tell Black off, or something. Didn't he? I mean, I did read that right, right?

Still, Lovegood, it's one thing to tell him off and it's quite another to actually think about what he has to say!

[alt_luna]

How can you tell someone off without thinking about what they say?

[alt_padma]

Honestly, Lovegood, can't you figure it out for yourself? You don't have to actually pay attention to this maniac. When you see his name, you just tell him to go away and leave us alone!!!

Although Sandoval says we oughnlt even do that, and just ignore him. I only stopped to look because I saw Mr Malfoy had written, and it's worth seeing what Mr Malfoy says.

[alt_lana]

Mr Malfoy was in no way calling on us to engage with blood traitors, Patil. If you must know, I believe his point was that Black's screeds will make matters ever worse for the filth with whom he claims to sympathise, until they cry out against him, begging him to stop lying on their behalf.

[alt_sirius]

You're quite right, Miss Sandoval.

Miss Lovegood, I'm far too dangerous. Best learn to speak in code and keep your private doubts tucked deep in your robe pockets.

After all, if you thought too closely about what I write, then soon everyone might be talking about equality and social responsibility, and then where would the rich and powerful be?

[alt_lana]

Are you honestly so bereft of allies that you must resort to temptation and trickery in order to lure first-year students into traitorous declarations? You would have yourself thought to be a champion of the powerless, and yet you expose the hollowness of your ideals when you show yourself so ruthlessly willing to corrupt children, twisting them until they bring shame and ruin on themselves.

[alt_sirius]

You tell her to keep clear of my 'sedition' and then you get cross when I send her away. Are you saying you don't want me to agree with you, and should entice her to stay?

Too many adults or would-be adults, such as yourself, are far too zealous to reach. I'm living proof that prejudice is taught, Miss Sandoval, not inherent, and can be unlearned with a little effort. You stand as an example of one who has dedicated herself to the lessons, without considering their true meaning.

My allies grow every time the scales drop from another person's eyes.

[alt_lana]

It is a common theme of yours that we should consider the sources of those things we read. Two things convince me that what you write should be dismissed as corrupt: first, you are a sworn enemy to Our Lord, who makes no effort to hide his aim of subverting the good and gracious life we enjoy in this Protectorate; second, you spin your web of words with rhetorical slight of tongue as in your first paragraph here: You tell her to keep clear of my 'sedition' and then you get cross when I send her away. Are you saying you don't want me to agree with you, and should entice her to stay? There is no good faith in your method to recommend your writings to my trust. Twist and spin them as you will, your words remain treason.

[alt_sirius]

Ah, I was hoping someone would pick up on that - the fact that my own statements ought to be subject to the same scrutiny as I am asking you apply to those of your government.

On the other hand, statements from your government ought to be subject to the same scrutiny you level at my posts.

As for what I wish to subvert, you're not quite on the Galleon; I have every wish for the prosperity and health of all the people in the realm. It's simply that Voldemort and I have different definitions of who counts as people. It's not acceptable that some are considered human and others treated no better - or even worse - than animals.

Do you know who William Wallace was? There's an old ballad that quotes his supposed phrase: 'How am I a traitor when England is foreign to me?' I may be a proud Englishman and no Scot, Miss Sandoval, but your precious Protectorate is as foreign to me, and as anethema, as the oppression of Edward Longshanks was to the Wallace.

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[alt_arthur]

I do believe you're rather enjoying yourself, dueling with her, Sirius.

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[alt_sirius]

Well, Arthur, I do have to admit that it gets boring, sometimes - posting these columns and getting next to nothing in response, nothing I can begin to rebut, that is. Even the opportunity to argue affords a certain pleasure, if for no other reason than to indicate that what I'm writing is, at least, being read, albeit not necessarily being believed.

Ideas are insidious creatures. That's why he's so afraid of them, after all. Once you get an idea in someone's head, it's deuced hard to get it back out.

Of course, that's the same problem I'm facing in reverse! Oh, well. One step at a time.

Your boy got scared off quickly enough, when I mentioned indirect consequences. Perhaps it's a good sign that his experiment over the summer hasn't left him completely unaffected?

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[alt_molly]

About Percy: perhaps. I do hope you'll be proven right, in the end.

His letters home have mentioned the Head Girl. He has a grudging admiration for her energy and ambition, but he does not like her. I get the impression, from what he says, that most of the students are more than a little afraid of her. He apparently crosses wands with her in almost every other Prefect meeting, and I think that's mostly because he's one of the few who will. And he says ruefully that he doesn't win very often.

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[alt_sirius]

She doesn't seem a likable sort. Encourage him to keep up the good fight, though. Someone ought to give her a run for her Sickles. She reminds me of Bella at her age, actually - and that's not a comforting thought at all!

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[alt_molly]

One advantage, I suppose, is that appointing someone like her to the position of Head Girl provides very good cover for Minerva. Although that's cold comfort when I see her abusing poor Luna.