Letter to the Editor - October 2017

I recently attended a Harry Potter concert put on by a local symphony. Sitting in the dark, I just closed my eyes and listened to the music as I was flooded with memories and emotions. I remember having the first movie on VHS and taking it with me every time I went to a friend’s house.

Prof. Kyrie Adderholt
Head of House, Ravenclaw

I recently attended a Harry Potter concert put on by a local symphony. Sitting in the dark, I just closed my eyes and listened to the music as I was flooded with memories and emotions. I remember having the first movie on VHS and taking it with me every time I went to a friend’s house. I knew every line of the movie and as I listened to the orchestra play the score from that movie, I remembered the lines and the scenes of the movie.

On my way home afterwards, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling. It was a mixture of happiness and sadness and it took me a while to really put my thumb on what had caused it. Hours later, I finally realized what made me feel that way: HOL.

I was happy because listening to the music and focusing just on the books and the movies was like discovering an old friend…an old love almost. The sadness came from realizing that I had allowed this feeling of love and appreciation for the series to be marred by some of my experiences on HOL.

Don’t get me wrong. Even as I write this, I’m on irc having a conversation with Alte’s newest editor, Gail Allen. Without HOL, I would have never met her. Without HOL, I would have never met my best friends in the world, Prof. Silmarien Szilagyi and Edmund Smethwyck. I will forever be grateful to HOL for them and for all of the other amazing people it has brought me into contact with over the years.

However, it is sometimes easy to allow the drama that accompanies HOL to overshadow the good of it. The fact that we are online allows people to feel free to say things and treat people in ways they wouldn’t otherwise. Although we are online and it is easy to hide in forums, private messages, and p2ps, we should remember that we are all here as fans of the series. Now you will never hear or see me saying that we should all get along, love each other, and sing kumbaya, no matter how much Shiloh Adlar tries to tell me it’s the way to go. We all come from different backgrounds with different personalities and sometimes we are just not destined to get along.

That being said, there is a difference between not getting along and treating others badly. I am not a saint when it comes to this, and I sincerely doubt many on HOL are…save for maybe Shiloh. But when actions on a website that was created and meant to be a fun way to unite fans start to tarnish the memories of the series it was meant to honor, it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate our actions. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes to come from Harry Potter and one that I want to include before I end this:

“Besides, the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters. We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

Because I don’t want to end this without a more positive note, I want to commend my Ravenclaw staff for working so hard over the years to make our house a positive and friendly environment. When I became HoH, I truly hoped that I would have a staff that would treat each other with respect and welcome others with open arms. I’ve not only found that I have such a staff, but I have a staff that often exceeds my expectations. So to end this letter, I want to say thank you to Ariella, Astrid, Gail, Hannah, Kendra, Polaris, Scarlett, Shiloh, Arielle, Gustavo, Limine, and Ryan, for all that you do.