New York, Veterans Day, Story

[kizzy7]

I’ll tell you, now. When I fist discovered his… indiscretions.

It was earlier, much earlier than I’ve ever admitted before. Yes, I know what you will say. To save myself, my job, I lied. Yes. I did. Hogwarts is my home. Was I complicit, then, in his wrongdoings? I think not. I was more of a… secret confidant to a troubled soul. But I’ll tell you

Comments

[redskyatnight76]

Very good! I love stories with the 'unreliable narrator' type device, where the person telling the story is relating it from a twisted perspective. Very sinister, a great take on the character of Trelawney, and I also really like the way you've written Snape. Excellent stuff! Really chilling, actually. Hurrah!

Have you ever read "Notes On A Scandal" by Zoe Heller? This reminds me of that in a way - it's also about a prim, bitter teacher who finds out that her colleague is having an affair with a pupil, although in that story the two teachers are both women and the student is a boy. It's quite a short book and a great read; I recommend it!

One really small thing though - you've referred to affairs with 'prepubescent' students, but they aren't really prepubescent, they're either hitting puberty or have passed through it. Prepubescence would be, say, ten-year-olds. Lusting after a prepubescent student would be full-on paedophilia, rather than affair with a girl very slightly under the age of consent (the age of consent in Britain being 16).

The only reason I mention this is because people might hit you with a barrage of angry emails over that one word if you post it to an archive. ;-)

[kizzy7]

Thank you, glad you liked! And found it chilling!!

So I watched the movie Notes on a Scandal a few years back when it came out, and I recall loving it, loving Judi Dench's performance, but I haven't read the book. And I always hate it when I somehow manage to see the movie first! But I'll have to pick it up--so many books, too little time.

Changed it to, 'pubescents,' thanks so much! Like I said, I wrote this frantically on a bus without much thought at all. Question. In Britain, how big of a deal would it be if a teacher had an affair with a student who was of age, say 16 or 17? The reason I ask is that you know, you read so much of that in our ship. Here (well, the age of consent is 18), but teacher/student causes outrage. The morality of this intrigues me, as I've written and certainly read and enjoyed teacher/student fics. The thing that is tricky is the power dynamic. You can say, 'Oh, Snape looked into her mind and saw that she loved him,' all you want, but you can never separate the disparity of power inherent in their professional relationship from their private relationship. Sooo interesting!

[redskyatnight76]

Regardless of the age of consent, yes, it would absolutely be a big deal if a teacher here had an affair with their pupil. The teacher wouldn't be able to keep their job and they would struggle to get another teaching job anywhere else. Even if the pupil was 16/17/18 and legally able to consent, it would be considered hugely unethical, a major violation of trust etc etc. It would be serious professional misconduct.

[kizzy7]

Yes, as it should be! It's interesting, though, because there is kind of this sense in our fandom that its not such a big deal, after all, and Snape always gets away with it. Rarely do I see him punished for an affair with a student, as he most likely *would* be, if and once details came to light.

Thanks!