Private Message to Percival Weasley
Sep. 8th, 2012 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_antoninMr Weasley --
First, allow me to say I am quite touched by your comment of the other day in my defence. I do not wish to give the impression I am not grateful for it: indeed I am, the more so for its unexpectedness. That having been said -- your Gryffindor boldness and valor is perhaps best applied elsewhere.Black Whomever is using Black's journal is clearly beyond shame, and public excoriation is a tool best saved for situations and individuals who have not renounced the benefit of the social contract that binds us all. There is a Russian proverb that applies: «в до́ме пове́шенного не говоря́т о верёвке» (roughly rendered, "don't talk about rope in the house of a hanged man") -- some things may be wholly true, but best not spoken. Dignified silence is often the best retort, and while it is always possible to choose to speak after a period of silence, the reverse is rarely true.
(Too, I have never pretended to wholly clean hands. The fable in question was full of maudlin emotion and sensationalist slant, designed to cast me in the worst possible light for some unknown reason, but I have certainly been servant to Our Lord's vision for long enough that anyone determined enough could no doubt assemble a list of my supposed sins enough to fill a whole book of such tales. There is a grain of truth behind the glut of lies: it was a war, and we the warriors. My brothers and I once shared a dream that our actions might allow our children and our children's children to grow to adulthood as strong, proud wizards and witches, able to take pride in their magical heritage without ever having to contemplate the same dreadful choices. Seeing the results of that effort in you and yours has been a delight for so many reasons.)
I do not mean to make mock of the strength of your conviction: it is rewarding to see, more so than you might imagine. I only mean to suggest that perhaps those convictions might best be expressed elsewhere. Subtlety is not a young man's art (and I've tales and tales from my own youth of my temper getting the better of my common sense that you may be able to tempt me into telling someday!) but it is never too early to begin learning to channel one's anger into concrete action -- and though it is not a common technique among those of the Lion's den, the ability to keep pleasant or silent until exacting payment for an offence is likewise well worth cultivating, and will serve you in good stead.
To happier topics, and so that the entirety of my note is not an old man's meanderings: I hope this message finds you well. My first week of teaching has gone better than I'd feared, though of course it will take time for them to begin to trust I've their best interests at heart. Returning to Hogwarts has been quite the delight; I have such fond memories of my student days.
I did discover in reviewing recent Hogwarts history that you had been too modest to mention you were Head Boy of your year! I'm certainly not surprised by the discovery -- not only does my old friend have a tendency to hire excellence, our conversations thus far have made your academic gifts quite apparent -- but please allow me to extend my belated congratulations.
I am pleased my loan of my elf's services came at a felicitous time -- setting up housekeeping when one is just beginning one's journey into adulthood is a daunting task indeed. (About as much as returning home after so long living out of trunks and hotel rooms and hired apartments -- I have packed-up boxes I've likely been toting around longer than you've been alive!) If you'll permit me another piece of unsolicited advice: boxes of books make excellent furniture in extremis if you can't figure out where else to put them, although it is wise to catalog the contents first to avoid the trouble of shifting everything aside and only then finding the desired volume is not there after all.
With regard,
Antonin Dolohov
First, allow me to say I am quite touched by your comment of the other day in my defence. I do not wish to give the impression I am not grateful for it: indeed I am, the more so for its unexpectedness. That having been said -- your Gryffindor boldness and valor is perhaps best applied elsewhere.
(Too, I have never pretended to wholly clean hands. The fable in question was full of maudlin emotion and sensationalist slant, designed to cast me in the worst possible light for some unknown reason, but I have certainly been servant to Our Lord's vision for long enough that anyone determined enough could no doubt assemble a list of my supposed sins enough to fill a whole book of such tales. There is a grain of truth behind the glut of lies: it was a war, and we the warriors. My brothers and I once shared a dream that our actions might allow our children and our children's children to grow to adulthood as strong, proud wizards and witches, able to take pride in their magical heritage without ever having to contemplate the same dreadful choices. Seeing the results of that effort in you and yours has been a delight for so many reasons.)
I do not mean to make mock of the strength of your conviction: it is rewarding to see, more so than you might imagine. I only mean to suggest that perhaps those convictions might best be expressed elsewhere. Subtlety is not a young man's art (and I've tales and tales from my own youth of my temper getting the better of my common sense that you may be able to tempt me into telling someday!) but it is never too early to begin learning to channel one's anger into concrete action -- and though it is not a common technique among those of the Lion's den, the ability to keep pleasant or silent until exacting payment for an offence is likewise well worth cultivating, and will serve you in good stead.
To happier topics, and so that the entirety of my note is not an old man's meanderings: I hope this message finds you well. My first week of teaching has gone better than I'd feared, though of course it will take time for them to begin to trust I've their best interests at heart. Returning to Hogwarts has been quite the delight; I have such fond memories of my student days.
I did discover in reviewing recent Hogwarts history that you had been too modest to mention you were Head Boy of your year! I'm certainly not surprised by the discovery -- not only does my old friend have a tendency to hire excellence, our conversations thus far have made your academic gifts quite apparent -- but please allow me to extend my belated congratulations.
I am pleased my loan of my elf's services came at a felicitous time -- setting up housekeeping when one is just beginning one's journey into adulthood is a daunting task indeed. (About as much as returning home after so long living out of trunks and hotel rooms and hired apartments -- I have packed-up boxes I've likely been toting around longer than you've been alive!) If you'll permit me another piece of unsolicited advice: boxes of books make excellent furniture in extremis if you can't figure out where else to put them, although it is wise to catalog the contents first to avoid the trouble of shifting everything aside and only then finding the desired volume is not there after all.
With regard,
Antonin Dolohov
no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 05:31 am (UTC)I am gratified that at least the spirit of my defence was appreciated. I also appreciate your tact in kindly pointing out, however, that the hastiness of my words undercut their effectiveness. Mr Malfoy, who has been labouring for a while to teach this Gryffindor a modicum of subtlety, has already pointed this out to me, I assure you. I do have a temper, I'm afraid (the famous Weasley temper, shared by my parents and all my siblings. In our weaker moments, we blame our shared heritage of red hair.) It is a young man's tendency, as you note, and I will continue to work at it.
While I understand that my reaction seemed excessive, perhaps it will seem more proportionate if I point out that I wasn't simply reacting to just this most recent screed. That renegade journal (or whoever is posing behind it) has been spewing its disgusting bile for months now. I suppose my outburst was the accumulated frustration of reading this as just the latest example of every sort of intemperate accusation.
Yes, I suppose I should have trusted more in the utility of dignified silence (my brother Bill, who worked in the Communications department before switching to his current position as Mr Rosier's aide, has often given me lectures on the proper use of press and public statements). After all, you do not need to be defended by the likes of me. Yet it did irk me that no one else was speaking up for you publicly.
Because I do realise that you have doubtless been forced to do difficult things, in times of war, in our Lord's service. I respect you all the more for admitting it. I share your hope that as the Protectorate grows stronger, those awful times will recede into the past. Yet those times cannot remain in the past if we who are young (brash and imperfect as we are) refuse to learn from those who kept the faith with Our Lord during those difficult times and coped with making those sometimes brutal choices.
In that spirit, I hope you will be pleased to hear that I have been avidly working my way through the books you kindly gave me. I confess I find some of the exercises in Mastery Over Self exceedingly puzzling, but I am persevering.
I do find myself becoming nostalgic, at this time of year, for the halls of Hogwarts. I am sure the new Head Boy will do well; Diggory always seemed to me to be a good sort, very confident with his spellwork. I trust the teaching is going well. I gather from the chatter on the journals from the students that they are finding it a vast improvement. (But I'm sure that is hardly a surprise to you, given the unfortunate nature of the previous instructor!)
Thank you for your note.
I remain, etcetera,
Percy Weasley
no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 06:04 am (UTC)I should have known that of course my old friend would have taken the chance to caution you, and held my tongue (quill?) at the lessoning. You've my apologies if I seemed to be repaying your defence poorly: truly, I was touched to read it. And of course, I haven't been here to weigh the effects of those months of frustration, so forgive me once more: of course the accumulated effect is more enraging than a single message can be.
Do not apologise for standing my champion, either, nor downplay your valour in doing so. I will gladly appreciate an honest sentiment from any corner.
Your point regarding our recent history, meanwhile, is excellently made, and one I will confess I had not thought about. There is a tendency, one supposes, for those of us who fought the war to wish for the next generation to cherish the peace and security we won, but perhaps we go too far from time to time in seeking not to disturb that sense of peace. It is tempting to say that the world is different now, and the days of those brutal choices are behind us -- yet of course that would be wishful thinking of the utmost degree, and you are quite correct in reminding me so. Do please repeat the reminder in future if you feel I forget once more -- and should you ever wish a more personal view of those struggles, I could be persuaded to provide.
To happier matters: certainly you can't mean to suggest Korovin's exercises make no sense. (That is teasing, I assure you. The work is notorious; I cannot count the number of times I've had to promise a student there is value in following its dictates.) It will be several months at minimum before you begin to see its utility, or its relationship to the Noble Arts -- but once you reach that happy point, all will fall into place. The Arts answer best to the hands of those who hold no illusions about themselves, no matter how flattering or not the picture thus painted might be; the whole of Korovin's exercises are designed to lead you to those realisations, even should an individual exercise be less applicable.
Still, if you feel you are stuck, do not hesitate to write to me: I will be happy to tutor. There is a limit to how far reading can take anyone in learning the Arts, and I would hate for you to struggle for weeks on something I could clear up for you more quickly.
And please -- do call me Antonin. If I'm to be a resource for you in future, formality will only stand in the way.
With regard,
Antonin