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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 17:40:48 GMT -5
"I've written off anything I've gotten to my being new blood for the students. I figured it would stop soon enough," Keith said. He thought he would just have to prove that he was worth the respect he deserved in his position. He hadn't gone into this work to be looked down on by the very people he was supposed to teach. "The professors here seem to be younger in all, though."
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 18:00:26 GMT -5
Rowan nodded. "But they still keep to themselves," he said. "You'd think they'd talk more, it always seemed like my professors did, but I didn't pay any more attention to their private lives than my students pay to mine, so who knows? The only ones who seem to leave the castle regularly are the Blackwood-Hardts. One of them graduated last year, and the other just before I arrived," he added, glancing aside at Keith. "But then, they've been in the Prophet since it outed them. Apparently Hogwarts had never, in its history, had a same-sex relationship before, and it was all anyone could talk about for the next year."
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 18:06:25 GMT -5
"Well, same-sex relationships are rare even now, they're barely tolerated as it is." Keith couldn't understand why anyone would be so intent on hating another person's personal life, but the wizarding world always seemed to be decades, if not centuries, behind the muggle world when it came to being open to new things. "I'd heard of them, it's big talk even outside of Hogwarts. I'm going to have to meet them sometime."
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 18:12:46 GMT -5
"They're not hard to find," Rowan said, then looked back out the window. "The Transfiguration professor is the one with the colored hair, you probably saw him at supper, and the Defense professor was the overweight redhead to his left. They aren't the only ones out anymore. Afer them, others took a chance and now it's a lot more open here. The Headmistress put full support behind them."
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 18:21:36 GMT -5
Keith nodded as he pictured the two in his head, he would definitely have to look them up. "That's nice to know, there needs to be some kind of support in place for it. There wasn't anything at my school, it was a lot like a don't ask, don't tell policy on that kind of thing." So if something bad happened, the school really did nothing, claiming their hands were tied.
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 18:54:28 GMT -5
"That's bullsh~," Rowan said, his brows drawing together. "People are so determined to be on top that they'll ignore discrimination based on anything that hasn't already been determined normal. They'll swear it's something new instead of accepting that maybe they just didn't know, maybe it was hidden for fear of persecution." He shook his head, then glanced aside at Keith. "Sorry, it's just... I have a lot of friends who have to deal with this every day."
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 19:02:40 GMT -5
Keith hadn't expected to hear all that. "No, no, it's fine. It's nice to hear someone that feels like that," he said. "I didn't have it as bad as some, but I've gone through some things before." There were always worse, though, he hadn't ended up in the hospital or in detention. He almost wished he had, words seemed so much worse sometimes, they could sting as badly as a spell.
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 20:08:07 GMT -5
"And you said your school ignored anything that went on," Rowan said, reabsorbing the information now that he knew how it applied to Keith. "Well, welcome to Hogwarts. Purism still runs rampant, but we're ahead on some things." He wondered vaguely if things would have happened sooner if Albus Dumbledore hadn't kept his own life secret. It had been over a decade after his death before his granddaughter had started a change that would have made a difference to his life.
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 20:16:14 GMT -5
"Well, it's a hell of a start, at least," Keith said. He doubted purism would ever go away entirely, it was etched deep into every nook and cranny of magical memory. "At least with the headmistress on our side no one truly needs to hide." Even if something bad happened, having the faculty on their side would be an incredible safety net, it wouldn't just go ignored.
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 20:54:48 GMT -5
Rowan nodded and looked away. "If only the students realized that." If only they'd realize that they could have as much fun and that sense of freedom they wanted without going to dangerous extremes. He knew what adrenaline was, but not why it had to be found with strangers to be good enough. What was wrong with a group of friends partying together? He wondered if Jory would just go out and do what he'd been doing, forget what Rowan had tried teaching him while trying so hard not to cross any lines. Either way, he hoped they didn't run into each other again.
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 21:03:52 GMT -5
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, tilting his head and turning his eyes on Rowan. "Are they still afraid or something?" It was understandable, even with the administration keeping an eye out things could happen, and the headmistress had no pull in the streets of the town. He had no doubt that the students visited Hogsmeade if they went as far as London.
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 22:27:49 GMT -5
"Some are," Rowan said. "They seem to be pairing up, someone strong taking on a student who's set himself up as a victim. There's little social interaction outside pairs, they feed off each other, retreat, and put themselves into dangerous situations to fill their social needs." Rowan gave a sharp sigh. "I'm too young to be this old."
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 22:36:23 GMT -5
"You can't help it, not in this job. As long as you can get out and you know, act your age every once in a while, you won't get too old, though." It was something Keith was hoping he would get the chance to do more often now, he hadn't had the chance before. "Maybe those kids just need somewhere here they can go to, a safe zone."
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Post by Rowan Trace on Mar 8, 2011 22:53:24 GMT -5
"They have somewhere," Rowan said, frustration edging his voice. "There's an all-ages club in Hogsmeade, but the students avoid it. There's no alcohol, no casual sex in darkrooms, no strangers to flirt with, to get a rush from getting away from at the end of the night. They ignore it and take the Knight Bus to London."
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Post by Keith Evans on Mar 8, 2011 22:59:06 GMT -5
Disbelief spread across Keith's face again. "What the hell is wrong with these kids?" he asked, shaking his head, then looked out across the table. Sure, he had done some stupid things before, but he had the experience to know what was safe and what wasn't, and he rarely had ever done anything alone. "Maybe they do need to be locked up."
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