Since term ended, I've had quite a bit of free time on my hands, and I think I've finally got the euphonium back in playable shape. The only problem is...I don't know how to play it. Does anyone else? I'd be happy to pass it on to anyone who can play and would like to have it. The tone is quite good.
Quite a bit of time has passed since the end of the war, and I’ve decided, without a doubt, that a normal life, albeit as normal a life as a werewolf can have, is boring. I love teaching. I love not fighting for my life. I particularly love not maiming or killing anyone on a regular basis or worrying about anyone doing the same to me, but I am finding a lower level of intense activity to be harder to adjust to than I ever could have dreamed it would be scant months ago.
I’m not having too much luck coming up with new interests to while away my free time, either. Joel suggested I start dating a plethora of interesting women. When I told him that wasn’t what I had in mind, he suggested I try a variety of interesting men instead. I told him there aren’t any men who are that interesting, and when I asked him if he had any, more serious suggestions, he became suddenly silent.
Mr. Atkins suggested I write a book about the real life of a werewolf. His reasoning was that there are so many misconceptions out there that someone should try to put the record straight. I can’t disagree with his logic, but I don’t really think my experience is typical, and I wouldn’t know where to start writing a book.
Besides, I was looking for something fun, not a second job. Since we have these computers, I looked into some of the more popular games out there, but they all seem to be some variety of war games. I tried a couple and found them to be well…dull. I guess I’ve had quite enough of fighting evil doers to last a lifetime, even the pretend version.
I can’t sing, I think it’s a bit late in life to take up an instrument, I can’t draw or paint, and I was bored with photography, at least the type of stuff Joel does. I’ve never been particularly athletic. I already read a lot and spend a lot of time outside walking, and I guess maybe, I’ll have to settle for that. After all, a hobby probably should come from an interest I already hold, right?
If anyone has any likely suggestions, I’ll certainly consider them. Am I the only one having any difficulty adjusting to a more sedate lifestyle?
Well, I have to say that a full moon wasn’t the best way to start the new year off, but fate deals the cards, I just play what I get. Brooding over the hand has never yet improved it.
In general, things have been going very smoothly since Voldemort was finally removed from our lives. The castle is almost completely rebuilt; just a few small areas continue to need work. The school has settled down into a regular routine. The students are relishing the new freedom they have now that we’re out of hiding, which has led to a few disciplinary problems, but nothing out of the ordinary. Classes go well and everyone seems happy to be back in the castle again. People have scattered widely and seem to have settled down into basically happy lives.
The hysteria sparked by the marauding band of werewolves that terrified the countryside after the final battle has dwindled to nothing finally, and I have hope for the first time in many years that we’ll finally get a lessening of the harsh rules put in place during Umbridge’s time in power.
I know all this should make me happy, and it does…and yet somehow, it doesn’t. It makes no sense. For virtually my entire life, I longed for a time without war and all the misery that goes with it. Now that I have what I wished for, I should feel content instead of restless, but I guess I just never gave much thought to how boring a normal life can be. Each day blends into the next in unending sameness.
I spent Christmas in Cantabile with Kate and Joel, which was pleasant, but again…dull. Now that the vampires have moved on, things are as quiet and boring there as they are here. I know! I know! I shouldn’t complain. Dull is good.
Maybe I need a hobby. I never had the time or resources before…now I do. The question is…what should I try?
Locked to Minerva McGonagall: I’ve been trying to overcome the claustrophobia I seem to have developed as a result of being buried in rubble, so I’ve been exploring some of the hidden passageways in the castle. The section that starts on the Fourth floor, the one you enter by grasping the empty torch bracket in the middle of the back corridor seems to have…changed. Was this done on purpose in the rebuilding?
Locked to Roderick Burgess: If you still need someone to work at the bookshop on Friday and Saturday evenings, I’d be happy to oblige.
Locked to Pomona Sprout:I have a large quantity of Cornish Pixie droppings that I need to dispose of. I was about to er… dispose of them when Hagrid mentioned that they make really good fertilizer for certain types of plants, so I thought I’d ask you if you could make use of them. Could you?
Why is there a giant chicken in the lighthouse garden? It seems to have uprooted some of the fencing that was confining the other chickens to the garden plots and now they're running wildly all over the grounds. The first years are terrified... Do the chickens have some sort of spell on them that you didn't mention? I figured I should ask before I go out and try to catch them all again.
I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise, but it's likely that I won't be able to teach this Wednesday the 11th of March. The moon will be at its fullest point the night before, or actually very early that morning, so I can't promise what sort of shape I'll be in that day. Shall I cancel my classes and give the students the pleasure of a day off, or will someone be able to take my classes for me?
Private
Fate has such a perverse sense of humour sometimes. Not that I had plans or anything. I imagine I'm done having plans.
Beginning Duellers
Duelling Club will not be held this Tuesday evening as usual. We'll pick things up again next week. Practice in the meantime.
Well, that's another one of my invitations that Luna has ignored. We never talk anymore. I really haven't seen much of her at all since she moved out of the Lighthouse and back to the Mill. I'm beginning to think her silence is more than simply being busy.
When I think back on things, I can see she's been pulling away for a long time now. She hasn't been herself since the Battle. I know what happened to her was traumatic, but because she wasn't seriously injured physically, I don't think she ever got the care and treatment that she really needed to deal with it.
My amnesia didn't help. I simply wasn't there when she needed someone to talk to about what happened. I failed her twice...once when her involvement with me made her into a target, and again by not being there to help her find a way to deal with the results of that awful time. Perhaps her family discussed things with her while she was in France, but if so, I don't think it helped her much.
I really hoped that my going after the last of Voldemort's werewolves would help put some of those demons to rest for her, but I don't think it did. She seemed supportive of the idea at first, but looking back on it, I don't think she wanted me to go. She promised to write to me while I was away, but she never did. Then when I returned and was so sick with silver poisoning, I rarely saw her.
I think the very fact that I was suffering from something that would never harm a normal person just brought it home all the more clearly that I am the very thing she's come to fear so deeply.
Whenever I try to talk about this with her, she always finds some reason not to discuss it. I think she was happy when school began and she could move away and throw herself into her work. I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to hurt her any more than she's already been hurt. Perhaps the kindest thing I can do now is bow to what seems inevitable and let her go.
Several of my students have expressed a desire to spruce up the Lighthouse gardens, by that they mean, pull out the weeds and plant actual flowers in their place.
Though I think this is a great idea, I tend to have a black thumb myself. So I'm not liable to be very much help in this area. Would you be able and willing to lend us some advice...and maybe provide a few plants out of the greenhouses?
I told them I think they need to wait a bit before it's really time to do much outdoor planting, but again, I don't really know when it's the right time to start a garden, never having attempted one before.
Climbing up and down the cliff face beside the lighthouse, other than on the marked pathway, is forbidden. The rocks are sharp and highly unpleasant to land on if you slip. Anyone caught breaking this rule will be subject to detention and a week’s extra weeding of all the safehouse pathways.
Locked to Chester Atkins:
Mr. Atkins,
Just because there is a conveniently placed overhanging branch next to the cliff does not mean you should tie a rope to it and swing around making those ridiculous whooping sounds. Such behavior is highly dangerous and unacceptable. I expect you to set an example for the younger students, not lead them into dangerous behavior. Remove the rope immediately.
Locked to Pari Patil:
Miss Patil,
I believe the familiar I found in my classroom today is yours. Please come to my office this evening. Familiars are wonderful companions, but they should not be brought to class. Thank you.
confused
sad