Going to Hogwarts Open Finished

"Definitely!" Miranda exclaimed, her eyes wide and her gaze fixed on the window, where the terrain was steadily growing darker. "We're almost at Hogwarts! I know this is your first time, but it's amazing there, really. You'll feel a bit lost for the first few weeks, because there are no joke hundreds of rooms and corridors and passages, and then there's even the secret areas, just to make it more confusing." She grinned over at Summer. "Don't worry, though If you get lost, someone will show you the way. Maybe even one of the school ghosts!" Miranda couldn't help snorting at that, because wouldn't it be perfect if Summer - who seemed to be a bit obsessed by the spectral creatures - were to use them as guides.

She glanced out the window again, then back at Summer. Then at the window. What had been rolling hills moments before was becoming steeper and rockier, with an occasional tree. Miranda knew that that meant they were really close to the school. At last!

"If you ever need helping finding your way around, though, I can help," she added kindly, her excitement fading temporarily. "I won't lie, it's really confusing at first, but once you get the hang of things, you'll be fine."

"I won't lie," said Miranda, "it's really confusing at first, but once you get the hang of things, you'll be fine."

"Thank you," said Summer, nodding. "I appreciate your help. And don't worry, I'm not scared or anything." In reality, Summer was suppressing her fear. It was a common pattern for her. At the end of the summer season, she was so used to being idle that the idea of going to a place routinely to do work, let alone a magic boarding school, was a little intimidating. (Not to mention how easy to get lost Miranda made it seem - that was something to be a little concerned about).

But Summer didn't think of herself as the kind of girl who let fear overtake her, so she put on a smile and a brave face. One could call it a very "human" characteristic of her. Always trying to be "the strong one" but deep inside, facing insecurity.

"What do you think your favorite part about Hogwarts is?" Summer asked.

For herself, Summer thought that perhaps her favorite parts would be "all the magic parts". That's often how it must have been seen to muggle-borns, magic being something wondrous and new. But Summer also supposed that as a good student, she should also be looking forward to the academic parts. But it was often hard to live up to those expectations. Summer's emotions sometimes weren't what she wished them to be.

"What do you think your favorite part about Hogwarts is?" Summer asked after a quiet pause in their conversation.

"Well now," Miranda began thoughtfully. "That's not an easy question... there's so much to like!" She shot Summer a grin, her eyes dancing in excitement. "There are the classes and the freedom and the students. Actually, for me it's mostly the students. I've lived my whole life with only my brother and one or two intelligent magical beasts as my friends. Other than that, the only other people I normally see are my parents and a few muggle kids from the city or nearby towns. And not all of those are nice to us, the 'freaky hermits with the mysterious yard'." She winced as if she were reliving bad memories, then shook herself - almost like a dog shaking off water - and smiled again.

"That's the price you have to pay when your parents don't like interacting with Muggles. I mean, if they came into our yard it would be a violation of the status of secrecy, and we'd have to obliviate them immediately, per Ministry orders." Miranda sighed. "I've only seen it happen once before, when some stupid kid climbed the wall that encircles our property on a dare."

Miranda sighed. "I've only seen it happen once before, when some stupid kid climbed the wall that encircles our property on a dare."

"Oh," said Summer. "That-that reminds me, do you think the Statute of Secrecy should exist? Because I don't really think so. My dad doesn't either. He says if you have a power, you have a duty to use it to help people, and that includes muggles."

"With great power comes great responsibility," went the famous saying. In more philosophical terms, this is part of the ideology of utilitarianism, something Summer's father believed in very strongly. It tells us that each and every action has a measurable effect upon the world in terms of the amount of happiness or pain it causes. The consequences of actions can be quantified, and assigned a positive or negative value. According to utilitarianism, one should always take the action with the highest positive value. (Summer's father held to a particularly extreme variant of this philosophy - he believed that it was better for one person to be tortured for their entire lives than for an innumerable amount of people to experience a mild, momentary itch.)

Peter Singer was another proponent, and one who influenced the ideas of Summer's father on the topic. Singer said that if a person could commit almost all of their money to helping people in need, then they had a moral obligation to do so.

In practice, Summer's father didn't exactly organize his life according to this idea. But if an entire civilization collectively had the ability, then in his point of view, that was a moral obligation.

Miranda considered the question, then shrugged. "I think your father has a point about that. But, there are also some really good reasons for it to exist." She paused, as if collecting her thoughts before continuing. "So, if the Statue of Secrecy didn't exist, well, Im sure Muggles would be jealous of wizards. The children, especially. I've heard about how Muggles kidnap and then sell children of their own kind, which sounds horrible, but then they might try to capture wizarding children only so buyers can use their power. Or turn them into an Obscurus." Miranda winced audiblyat the mention of the dark creature.

"Anyway, there's also good reasons for it to remain as a way to protect Muggles. You see, some wizards and witches... well, they think that because we're more powerful than muggles, we should rule over them. Without the excuse of the Statue of Secrecy, a lot more might act on that idea. Which, for the record, would not be a good thing."

Miranda's thoughts cycled back to the stories she'd heard about Lord Voldemort and Grindelwald. Both of them had tried to reveal wizards and witches in the hopes of dominating muggles. Fortunately, both had been foiled.

"I'll have to think about that," said Summer after a second.

Both of the points Miranda made were pretty good points, and Summer couldn't honestly deny that those possibilities seemed likely if the Statute of Secrecy were repealed. But then again, what about the utilitarian calculus? Did the costs outweigh the benefits?

On the one hand, wizards might be able to treat illnesses and injuries beyond the ability of modern muggle medical science to help, and who knows what knowledge might be revealed if physicists learned of the existence of magic? (This may not seem like much, but muggles had learned a long time ago that what was true mattered in tangible ways that affected people.)

On the other hand, some children might go missing occasionally and some dark wizard might try to take over the entire world. Okay, the second one might turn out really bad if it happened. But then again, some dark wizards already did try to take over the entire world. The ones who came really close to doing it probably would have done so whether a Statute of Secrecy existed or not.

Summer's thoughts were interrupted as the train slowed down and finally came to a stop. She heard the commotion of footsteps as people walked toward the exit.

"Well, you've given me a lot to think about," Summer said after the several-minute pause. "I hope we can see each other again some time soon." Summer smiled and offered her hand for Miranda to shake.

Miranda waited in silence as Summer seemed to digest that, and passed the time by staring out the window in hopes of spotting the school. She knew they had to be close now...and there! A faint glimmer of lights on the horizon alerted her to the fact that they were nearing the Hogsmeade station, and a slow smile spread across her face.

Even as she spotted it, Miranda could feel the train slowing and then gliding to a gradual stop. Then there was the sound of rustling in the hall as students got ready to leave. She stood up quickly, almost slamming her head into the overhead racks.

"Well, you've given me a lot to think about," Summer suddenly said. "I hope we can see each other again some time soon." She smiled and offered her hand.

Miranda reached over and shook it. "I hope so, too," she replied, before reaching up to tug her trunk off of the luggage cases at the top. It came down heavily, and she staggered sideways slightly before regaining her footing and setting it on the ground. The with a final wave and smile in Summer's direction, she made her way out of the compartment and into the bustling hall in the center of the train. Within moments, she was swept off by the crowd. It was time for her second year at Hogwarts to finally begin.

Miranda has left the thread