RP and OWL: At the libarary, and to Minister Hopkirk
Date: 14 June 2005
Characters: Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, Mafalda Hopkirk
Location: The Library
Status: Private
Summary: Willa visits the library, then sends an owl to the Minister
Completion: Incomplete
Wilhelmina had finally pushed herself into completing her research. It was an eternal problem with people like her (Ravenclaws, to be precise). She wanted to research everything, get everything perfect, and more often than not that was counterproductive to getting anything done.
But Mandy had been sending owls to the magical creature experts and enthusiasts of Britain, and those who had survived the war were responding eagerly. Not all of the surveys were back, obviously - observation would take time to complete. But the preliminary information was quite clear - many of the habitats were unstable, and many animal populations depleted. And that, for Wilhelmina's purposes, was enough.
She'd written a draft proposal for her idea and sent it off to many of them. Quite a few of them had suggested changes - inserts of information here, removals there, but none of their suggestions had changed the basic thrust of her idea - that Things needed to be Done about magical creatures, especially intelligent ones.
It was immediately obvious that their first concerns were the ones Willa had expected - centaurs, dementors and merpeople. In that order, or perhaps with the first two switched around, though information on what Dementors were doing these days was virtually non-existent. Quite a few rumours suggested they hadn't even survived the war.
There were no books in the public library to do with dementors, but Wilhelmina wasn't sure that mattered, terribly. Everybody knew what they could do. Everybody knew they were fundamentally dark and infinitely dangerous. Willa suspected the reason there were no books had something to do with the fact that they had once guarded Azkaban, and public information on their weaknesses and strengths would of course have been a security issue. In that case, it was probably likely the Ministry would have information on them available far more readily than Wilhelmina did.
Merpeople were easy enough. Plenty of people were fascinated by them, and although they were to be respected and treated as equals, they were generally fairly open to communication, and several anthropological studies had been carried out on their cultures and ways of living. Centaurs, though, were another story. Books on centaurs were hard to find, because while the centaurs of Britain spoke mainly in the same language as wizards, they were fiercely protective of their culture and very rarely let researchers close enough to observe them. There was, however, one book in the Stoatshead Hill library, gleaned from merlin-knew-where, that dealt with their customs, traditions and beliefs. Most of what was said chimed with what Wilhelmina already knew, so she decided to trust the information.
She worked for most of the morning, taking what was useful and adding it to the proposal, so the Minister would be able to see the kind of creatures they would need to be interacting with. As Mandy had said, it wouldn't do to have the Ministry think it would be an easy take and send emissaries without advisers.
Quite a few scribbles, erasing charms and copying charms later, Wilhelmina was finally happy with what she would be presenting. As happy as she could be, anyway, without spending the rest of her life agonising over wording and finding one last fact.
It was time to write an owl.
Dear Minister Hopkirk,
My name is Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, and I am writing to you in regards to a proposal I have put together for your viewing, to do with the magical creatures of Britain.
I am concerned about the destruction of habitats during the war and the effect this has had on the relationship between Britain's wizard-folk and her intelligent magical creatures, with particular emphasis on centaurs, dementors and merpeople. I believe official emissaries need to be sent to meet with these creatures in order to rebuild our peaceful ties. I have been in contact with creature and habitat experts and enthusiasts throughout Britain, and have obtained their input and support for my proposal.
My own background is as a Unicorn Tender - I am responsible for the herd located in Devon, and was involved in the rescue and relocation of the Hogwarts herd following the attack on the school. I have also done occasional teaching, mostly at Hogwarts.
To that end, I hope it is possible to arrange a meeting at your convenience.
Regards,
Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
Characters: Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, Mafalda Hopkirk
Location: The Library
Status: Private
Summary: Willa visits the library, then sends an owl to the Minister
Completion: Incomplete
Wilhelmina had finally pushed herself into completing her research. It was an eternal problem with people like her (Ravenclaws, to be precise). She wanted to research everything, get everything perfect, and more often than not that was counterproductive to getting anything done.
But Mandy had been sending owls to the magical creature experts and enthusiasts of Britain, and those who had survived the war were responding eagerly. Not all of the surveys were back, obviously - observation would take time to complete. But the preliminary information was quite clear - many of the habitats were unstable, and many animal populations depleted. And that, for Wilhelmina's purposes, was enough.
She'd written a draft proposal for her idea and sent it off to many of them. Quite a few of them had suggested changes - inserts of information here, removals there, but none of their suggestions had changed the basic thrust of her idea - that Things needed to be Done about magical creatures, especially intelligent ones.
It was immediately obvious that their first concerns were the ones Willa had expected - centaurs, dementors and merpeople. In that order, or perhaps with the first two switched around, though information on what Dementors were doing these days was virtually non-existent. Quite a few rumours suggested they hadn't even survived the war.
There were no books in the public library to do with dementors, but Wilhelmina wasn't sure that mattered, terribly. Everybody knew what they could do. Everybody knew they were fundamentally dark and infinitely dangerous. Willa suspected the reason there were no books had something to do with the fact that they had once guarded Azkaban, and public information on their weaknesses and strengths would of course have been a security issue. In that case, it was probably likely the Ministry would have information on them available far more readily than Wilhelmina did.
Merpeople were easy enough. Plenty of people were fascinated by them, and although they were to be respected and treated as equals, they were generally fairly open to communication, and several anthropological studies had been carried out on their cultures and ways of living. Centaurs, though, were another story. Books on centaurs were hard to find, because while the centaurs of Britain spoke mainly in the same language as wizards, they were fiercely protective of their culture and very rarely let researchers close enough to observe them. There was, however, one book in the Stoatshead Hill library, gleaned from merlin-knew-where, that dealt with their customs, traditions and beliefs. Most of what was said chimed with what Wilhelmina already knew, so she decided to trust the information.
She worked for most of the morning, taking what was useful and adding it to the proposal, so the Minister would be able to see the kind of creatures they would need to be interacting with. As Mandy had said, it wouldn't do to have the Ministry think it would be an easy take and send emissaries without advisers.
Quite a few scribbles, erasing charms and copying charms later, Wilhelmina was finally happy with what she would be presenting. As happy as she could be, anyway, without spending the rest of her life agonising over wording and finding one last fact.
It was time to write an owl.
Dear Minister Hopkirk,
My name is Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, and I am writing to you in regards to a proposal I have put together for your viewing, to do with the magical creatures of Britain.
I am concerned about the destruction of habitats during the war and the effect this has had on the relationship between Britain's wizard-folk and her intelligent magical creatures, with particular emphasis on centaurs, dementors and merpeople. I believe official emissaries need to be sent to meet with these creatures in order to rebuild our peaceful ties. I have been in contact with creature and habitat experts and enthusiasts throughout Britain, and have obtained their input and support for my proposal.
My own background is as a Unicorn Tender - I am responsible for the herd located in Devon, and was involved in the rescue and relocation of the Hogwarts herd following the attack on the school. I have also done occasional teaching, mostly at Hogwarts.
To that end, I hope it is possible to arrange a meeting at your convenience.
Regards,
Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank