A Summer day PV Aida Finished

As Alexander listened to Aida he began to slowly nod. Looking intrigued as well and said. "You might be on to something there. It can be that the professor understands that there is a threat, but does not know what that threat specifically is. Furthermore, if news gets out that the school can not protect its own students even more criticism will fall upon it."

He leaned his head back against the tree before responding further.

"I think they are perpetuating dishonesty and distrust because they might fear what happens if people en masse realize the teachers might not control the situation. It could result in anarchy, chaos and even more danger for the student.
That does not mean I agree with them but I can see where they are coming from."

Then, as Aida went still Alex tensed. It was clear that he had triggered her in some way, how he did so became more clear as Aida continued to speak. He then mentally cursed himself. He had likened the students to pets whilst his point was to illustrate the behavior of the teachers. Yet he had to say so gracefully, not triggering Aida anymore.

Whilst he thought this Alexander gained a clear panicked look, and unknowingly fidgeted with his hands and twisted his thumbs. Before calming down and becoming more still. Though his whole body was shaking a tiny bit, perhaps out of nervousness.
"We are not pets, we are students. I am sorry that I made that analogy, it was more to illustrate the behavior of the teachers."
He then let out a tense breath.
"What I was trying to illustrate was that the teachers were like ignorant pet owners in how they behaved. They are ignorant of how their 'pet' (which we are definitely not) will behave."

He then shifted himself his body still tense. He then let out a shaky breath and spoke once more. Feeling as if he was on the metaphorical conversational edge.
"As for what I would do if I were the teachers. I would create the illusion of control." Alexander said this, seemingly unaware that he had interpreted Aida's question wrongly.
His legs then twisted over each other.
"This would be done by creating smaller-scale group events rather than a single large one. Perhaps parties for clubs or specific houses. Possibly in a location as the ballroom."

Alexander then froze as he realized how he sounded. Almost cruel or cold. He then let out a tense breath.
"Sorry if I sound, cold, I just........" Alexander tapped with the fingers of his right hand against the roots of the tree. He then let out another tense breath.

He then gave out a nervous laugh.
"I am sorry I am not good with this. Or relations in general"

Alexander then cautiously glanced towards Aida. Then with an almost fake upbeat tone, clearly intending to diver the subject and seeming to be uncomfortable.
"So how did you make your breeches? Did you tan the leather yourself and if so how does that work?"

Aida watched as Alexander became tense and began to fidget nervously, even beginning to shake a little. She had failed. Failed Griffith. She was no good at being deceptive, and hiding her feelings made her sick. As panic overtook Alexander’s speech, Aida felt a darkness descending upon her. A fresh breeze blew by and Aida felt instinctively that she was reaching a turning point. She had not expected this to happen during some student conversation. She thought back to her interaction with @Ivy Bellamy and knew the same darkness from that time was maturing inside her. What it would culminate in, Aida couldn’t say. The events of the letter, the nightmare at the hospital, her discovery at the Ministry, and her interactions at the CoMC office… they felt as if they were leading to a decision. Clarity. No, no one would ever need to know about the recurring nightmares, but it wasn’t because she would bottle up her feelings anymore. Aida made a decision.

“You know, Alexander,” she said cheerfully. “I think you were onto something. I know you’re backpedaling now but you were right. I think we are pets to them. Why are they doing this? Why would they spend so much of their lives on this pet project of baby witches and wizards? They are amused by us. The way a cat chases a laser pointer even though it can never catch it, our owners are entertained by our pitiful capabilities. Surely at their meetings they laugh about us and share stories, and I suppose we give them some sense of companionship when we are good little students, doing all these tasks with the hope that we might be patted on the head or given a treat. It makes them feel powerful to withhold information, to punish us, to laugh at us when we fail, to smile when we make some cute but trivial accomplishment. They keep saying that all of these tasks are kept trivial for our safety, which I am sure is true. They wouldn’t want their pets to die, even if they enjoy that we are powerless to fight back when they take out their frustrations on us. Rather, we will always be kept from our deepest potential because they are afraid of being surpassed. They will hold us down when their egos feel threatened or they feel like they could lose control. This school will always strive to limit us, make us grow into what they deem appropriate.” A light was shining in Aida’s pale eyes as she smiled at Alexander. “We cannot allow this school to get in the way of our education. We must learn the risks of all of these dangerous things that we are sheltered from and then slowly become strong enough to handle them, even if they are and will always be forbidden.” Aida stood up and stretched her arms over her head, pulling out the kinks in her back as she clasped her hands together and pulled up.

“You’re right, students organizing the Blossom Ball are asking for it. They’re asking for danger because they are not being challenged enough. This isn’t the right way to do it, and people are probably going to get hurt or even killed. We must do it much more intelligently, Alexander. We must not let our reach exceed our grasp, but we must never cease from reaching just because we are told not to. Let’s become strong so that we can learn everything without killing ourselves in the process.” Aida squinted and smiled sidelong at Alexander. She both loved and hated when he sounded cold in his descriptions of how the teachers would control the students. She loved the honesty and the cleverness of these words. She hated the idea that he was probably right on some level, and that there were systems of control on her that she had no idea about, both at the school and at a much larger scale. Even if his examples were not accurate, there were certainly systems of control that they could only guess at. Aida understood that the topic had been making Alexander uncomfortable, but she also felt that if he was responding in such a flustered way then he must not have felt free to speak his mind. Aida wanted Alexander to speak freely. Aida didn’t simply want power for its own sake. Aida wanted to be free, and to see things she liked able to be free again.

As much of a strange transition as it posed for the conversation, Aida hated for questions to go unanswered. “I’d be happy to show you how to make breeches one day,” said Aida with wide, happy eyes. “Usually you take a deerskin, scrub and scour it clean using soap and water, salt it, tan it, cut it to shape, and then sew it together. I did tan these. Tanning usually uses tannins, which are what make these acorns inedible in their current form. To eat the acorns you have to boil the tannins out before roasting them. You can also remove hair from your leather using a variety of alkaline solutions, and there are a number of ways to soften the skin. Some people still use brains to soften the skin, but you can also just buy a bottle of industrial product if you’re squeamish.”

Alexander was pretty stunned as he listened to Aida speak. What his eyes were telling him and what his ears were telling him were two very different things. And even his ears confused by what he was hearing.

On the one hand, Aida sounded and looked perfectly happy as if she was talking about her favorite subject or something she enjoyed. Yet the words she said were quite.... dark. He was no steadfast proponent of authority, by any means, but what Aida was saying was a whole other type of resistance to authority.

It almost caused a small headache for Alexander. Differentiating between what a body tone and the tone of voice were saying and the actual meaning of the voice. As he stared at Aida when she started speaking he at one point almost saw light reflecting off her eyes. (Or at least that is what he thought)
Yet he did not know was the light of fascination and liveliness or something else staring out from the eyes of a young girl.

Even after she finished speaking Alexander was still thinking. Trying to remember and think about what she said. Which was quite hard considering the general contrast. If anything this sequence of events almost seemed like they could have occurred in some weird dream of his.

As he reviewed what Aida said he had to admit whilst some parts could be considered extremely cynical, and perhaps paranoid, the large majority of what she was saying had a point and was probably true. What she was saying about the professors was probably true, they probably did share tales of the students in their meetings. And to a degree, they are amused by the successes and failings of a student. Aida was also right in that the professors made the students mostly into what they wished.

Yet the professors did it for good intentions, right? They enjoyed teaching children, seeing them grow, right?

But Alexander could not stop the little voice in his subconscious. The little paranoia that had long been present in Alexander's head. Which told him to suspect those who were against him or who he suspected were again him. Either by helping people torment him or just doing nothing to step in.
'They enjoy seeing you grow yes. They enjoy it when we fail or succeed. Like a pet owner teaching a dog to do a cute little trick. Giving them treats when they succeed. But do they actually care about you? Care as a person?'

Alexander's hands reached for the front of his head as he thought.
This was all so dang complicated, on the one hand, quite a bit of what Aida said was right and he generally liked hanging around with her, at least from what had happened until now, but what she said. It was against what he had assumed for most of his life. Against what his subconscious and upbringing were saying was right.

Then his thoughts shifted to the latter bit of what Aida had said. To search for danger to challenge themselves.
He could not help but think of the quote

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger

He could not help but think of the great people in history.
Were there any great historical figures who had not faced crisis and adversity? Napoleon, Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great. His own namesake.
None of them would have risen to the height that they had without facing their challenges and rivals. They would not be remembered if it was not for the adversity they faced.

Then after sitting still for what was almost a full minute after Aida spoke Alexander himself spoke. Uneasiness, nervousness but also curiosity and some small glitter of determination in his voice.
"I...." He gulped. "I have to think more about this later. But one can not rise to improve oneself, one can not grow stronger without adversity. I will have to think more about this because it is a lot to process right now. But I think" Alexander's own face scrunched up as he thought about how he sounded saying 'I think'. So he corrects himself

"I am mostly certain... I agree. To protect ourselves we need to know what is threatening us and need to rise to the challenge." As he said this Alexander felt goosebumps across his body and how his hair across his body would tense up. He could not help but think he had made a decision that he did not yet know the repercussions of. Like making a deal with the devil without knowing what the contract entailed.



Even as he watched the cheerful face of Aida. Alexander did not know of the cheerfulness was a mask or something else.
Yet the contrast and mystery could not help but intrigue him. To find out what was behind this anomaly.
His mind reminded himself that he had talked of how the breaches were made and he spoke once more. His voice was still tense but less so than before. Less like he was making a life-altering decision.

"That sounds fun and relaxing to do sometime. As for brains" Alexander shrugged. Though he still had a leftover shudder from earlier. "It is just a part of a body. Just like when you eat the meat of an animal. It is a waste not to utilize every part of its body." Alexander thought about the process of creating breeches. Trying to distract his mind from what was said earlier.

Aida watched Alexander as he thought, eyes showing genuine care. She listened very carefully to him, and she could almost feel electricity crackling off the intensity of the moment. This is like that time with Griffith, Aida thought. ...This is a moment of real connection where hearts speak directly to one another. A powerful moment when one’s choice could greatly impact another person. A crossroads where one can either follow the pattern laid down by history, or when one can transcend their past with a choice. The thrill of the moment rushed through her, as if she were straddling a galloping, powerful, willful horse. The air felt supremely fresh and cold in her lungs and Aida gazed out at the furthest horizon, feeling as if it were such a clear day that she could see distant mountains there for the first time. These metaphorical mountains, she knew, were incredibly high, and dangerous, and beautiful. They called to her.

OOC: The following segment contains spoilers about Grindelwald. Sorry for any inconvenience.

“I remember, Alexander, when we first met… you mentioned that you had read A History of Magic. That book was written by Gellert Grindelwald’s great aunt. Do you know very much about Grindelwald?” Aida listened to Alexander’s reply, if he had one, and then continued. “Grindelwald was absolutely brilliant and fought very hard to bring down the apartheid between wizards and muggles, which still stands today. The problem with Grindelwald was always there, however, from his early youth. He was cruel and cared more about his objective than the people he impacted. He grew corrupted by his incredible power because his hatred for oppressors spread into a hatred for anyone who could oppress him. Reading towers of books about how so many muggles had abused wizards, he could no longer tolerate the possibility of muggles abusing wizards – so Grindelwald decided to oppress muggles instead… However, some part of Grindelwald really just wanted to be free.” Aida stretched and rolled up her sleeves in concentration. A number of pale scars were visible on parts of her arms that were usually concealed. On her already white skin, the scars looked strange, visible mostly from the tiny shadows they threw.

“You read your history, and I respect you for it. Grindelwald also read of history, but he failed to learn to respect the power of others. Instead of becoming a force of freedom, bringing muggles and wizards together, he was obsessed with his fear. Obsessed with power. I don’t know if he ever regretted becoming what he hated.” Aida put stray strands of hair behind her ears as she alternated looking at the tree and at Alexander.

“We can’t repeat the mistakes of our parents, our predecessors, our teachers. We have this opportunity to do better – to make this world better without creating a Pyrrhic victory… or at least to slow down the rate that others are degrading it. Think about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911. After the wizards abused their gargoyles, what resulted? The Ministry destroyed the gargoyles and essentially outlawed them forever. For thousands of years, Alexander, people once lived with gargoyles. Now they are practically extinct and such relationships are now punished. Now, consider muggles. Throughout history, wizards and muggles have had their conflicts, but in the past wizards were not always so hidden away in fear. This segregation, the apartheid between us, is an invention of modern history. The Ministry is like the Berlin Wall, keeping people who used to be neighbors from interacting. Between wizards and muggles there have been abuses on both sides, but in the past we had the freedom to interact with each other without hiding our true selves. The Ministry is no better than Grindelwald. They both were so terrified of the possibility of conflict that they tried to strip away peoples’ freedom, as if that would make conflict no longer possible. When Europeans abused Africans in the slave trade, was the answer to maintain a segregated society, even after slavery was abolished? No, these people have had to learn to live together despite the ugly conflicts of their past. These people finally decided to transcend the power struggle by learning to respect the power of others. Not trying to suppress others, but accepting the risk of conflict inherent in allowing others to have power. Here, at this school, we are not allowed to make ourselves powerful to the point that we pose any risk to our authorities. Like the Ministry, like Grindelwald, this school fears conflict to the point that they will use their power to ensure that we students have very little.” Aida had begun pacing at some point but now stood still, looking down solemnly at her hands.

“The students here don’t know a better way to raise themselves up, so in their frustration they will throw themselves this secret ball… but the students must not learn the lesson that it was wrong to ever try to grow on their own. The students should learn better ways of attaining their own empowerment that are not so reckless. Neither the students nor the professors respect one another, but somebody has to break the cycle. We have to make the professors respect us. You are correct, we cannot grow stronger without facing adversity. The authorities want to crush any possibility of hardship, so much so that our growth is stunted. We must come to know our actual limits and acquire our own adversity, even if there is some risk. The trick is to be clever and wise about what our limits really are – not letting our reach exceed our grasp – or else we will be proving the authorities’ point for them. The dangers of this world are real, but if we do not grow strong and do not know our true limits, we are blindly waiting for harm to come to us.”

Once more Aida continued on. Speaking about authority.

When asked about if he had heard of Grindewald Alexander made a shaky hand motion. Indicating that he knew a little. "I have read a little bit about him. I heard how he was a dark wizard who wished to destroy the statue of secrecy."

Alexander then crossed his legs and kept listening. As he listened to her she gave a lot of context and examples but the points she was trying to make were boiled down to this. (or at least how he reasoned them):
-Aida was very anti-control. Believing it to be the most important thing to be free.
-That to protect oneself they needed to know what danger there was and face adversity. And through facing such adversity grow strong enough to protect themselves. Almost a paradox of sorts that did make a kind of sense
-Perhaps that she disagreed with the statue of secrecy. Or segregation in general.

As Alexander thoughts about these points, he waited a moment before responding.

"For the statue of secrecy I know where you are coming from. It is not a question of if the statue of secrecy would be broken but when." Almost to mirror Aida he sat up himself. Feeling how his body stretched and some tight knots he did not know were there were loosened across his legs and back. Then he spoke once more. Hands tied together as he walked and talked.
"With how quick information is spread it is inevitable that at one point the widespread discovery of magic amongst muggles will occur. But wizarding society is not yet ready for union with the muggle world"
Alexander's thumbs would now begin to twist around each other in circle whilst Alexander would look at the grass whilst thinking.
"Magical society is just now starting to accept muggle-borns completely by an large. With the worst blood purists being defeated after the second wizarding war. But I have read a little of the daily prophet and there are still other violent movements and moves for reformations. Movements for squibs amongst other things."

Alex then looked into the air, looking towards the shaded trees of the forbidden forest.
"As a wise man once said 'A house divided against itself cannot stand'. As it is the magical world is straining under internal pressure, it can certainly not withstand an integration with the muggle world."

Alexander then thought of the history he had always read. The Pogroms, racism, and genocides that were and still are prevalent. He then began to speak. A little more grave.
"People in general fear 'the other' something that is not what they know. Whether this is ideology, culture, or race. For such petty things, millions have been murdered."
He'd then stare at Aida, almost a little fear in his eyes. Not of her bot of the future.
"Now imagine that for such abstract things all that happened. Now imagine what would be caused by such an immense difference as magic. An entire society where people can easily reach every head of state and mind control them. They would fear us and from that fear would come war. A war wizards would probably lose. "

He then was silent and turned the conversation back to what Aida had said about the ministry and authority. "The ministry and authority as you said is often wrong. Certainly in the event of the Gargoyle strike. But upholding the statue of secrecy, even if it is for the wrong reasons, I believe is justified and logical. At least for the time being."

Knowing he needed some way or at least wanted, some way to make this clear Alexander thought of a good example. He then remembered a bit of history and spoke once more.
"Have you heard of smallpox? It was a virus that ravaged the Native Americans. Brought to them from Europe. Native American societies were not resistant to the diseases brought by the Europeans."
He then pointed at Hogwarts castle in the distance.
"Similairly wizarding society is not ready for full integration with the muggle one. Not for virus-related reasons but because wizarding society is not yet ready for true contact with muggle society. Which would result in almost surely thousands of death and anarchy. "

He then reminded himself to go back to the last point that was remaining. Knowing their limits and knowing what threats there were. This was the topic he was the most unsure about so he took the time to think.
"To make our reach not exceed our grasp we must know what we will face. For that perhaps to a degree it might be wise to observe the Blossom ball. Find out who is acting suspicious, stay percept and look for where the dangers might come from. Investigate what the various dangers are. But from a distance."

Alexander then rubbed his bare chin with his fingers before thinking of a good analogy.
"Like a ranger observing the wildlife. Finding out what predator is killing local animals by observing a likely target. Like a young deer with a broken."

"Though in our case we can most likely not yet completely face whatever might threaten the blossom ball. And the students will likely not actually be killed. Or at least that is what I hope." At the end, a bit of concern crept into Alexander's voice.

“You look at the Forbidden Forest a lot. Coincidence?” smiled Aida. “I agree that the Statute of Secrecy will inevitably be broken on a scale that will trigger widespread discovery of wizardkind. I also agree that the world would be brought substantial chaos and probably violence if the Statute were to be brought down now. However, I’m not sure if there is ever really a ‘good enough’ time to make such revolutionary (but necessary) changes without some unfortunate events occurring. To some extent, the possibility for conflict will always exist between people who are different, no matter how good conditions are. For peace to occur, people have to care more about what they have in common than what divides them. If there is to be peace between these two peoples the incentive for hierarchy of one group in control of another must be limited. This is how Grindelwald failed to create peace – demanding hierarchy. However cruel Grindelwald was, however, he knew that there was never a time for revolutionary changes without resulting in some unfortunate consequences. What exactly do we need in order for people to be ready to break down the apartheid? When would we ever be ready for something that will necessarily cause some ugly encounters?” Now Aida too was looking at the Forbidden Forest.

“Let me tell you a story about a time when people learned to care more about what they had in common than what divided them. Once there was a boxer named Johnson. You know, a professional fighter. He was black but he wanted to be world champion... and he was good enough to do it. The problem was that he wasn’t allowed to fight whites. The world championship was full of white people because blacks and whites were segregated. The then-world-champion refused to fight Johnson and instead retired, growing fat over the next few years. Everyone knew that if Johnson became champion, a lot of black people would gain the courage to fight to overthrow the apartheid, surely leading to violence. Undeterred by the possible impacts he could have on society, Johnson kept fighting and eventually beat everyone in the world championship except for the undefeated champion who had recently retired. During his last fight for the title, Johnson was winning so overwhelmingly that the fight was stopped in order to prevent a riot, although he was still given the title. A lot of white people got really mad and offered the equivalent of $3 million dollars to the retired champion in order to retake the title, who agreed saying it was only to prove that whites were better than blacks. The former champion had gotten fat and lost easily to Johnson. Again, everyone knew that this fight would have meaning for people throughout society, and after Johnson won again there were riots all over the country, so a lot of people died. However, a lot of people became inspired by Johnson’s championship and fought for equality, eventually bringing down the segregation. So my question to you is this. If you were Johnson and you knew you could win, inspiring a lot of other people to break down segregation, would you choose not to fight because you knew there would be riots and death?” Aida gave Alexander some time to think about this. “I think if people like Johnson hadn’t fought, racial segregation would still be normal in many places today. I don’t think a better time would have just come around.”

Aida had said a lot but she was watching Alexander the whole time because she really cared to hear what he thought. “As for the Blossom Ball, it may be dangerous for us to be isolated on the sidelines, but I’m not sure if there’s a better way. I’d like to talk on this more, but I need to get to class. Let's meet again soon, okay?”

Aida leaves the thread unless stopped.