Legends Among Us
By James Rowle XI
Hello readers to another magnificent article by I, rowle11. Once more I have the benefit of being able to match the theme to the article, I feel like the editors are making this way too easy for me. Hopefully they ignore that comment though, I'm not keen for too much more hard work. Anyway, moving on, the theme this month is Egypt and everything around that. Now if you were too look at ancient Egyptian culture you would see a large amount of respect given to those of higher station than themselves. Let's just ignore the fact for a moment that most of that respect was forcefully taken through slavery. That little tidbit of information isn't important to my awesome article.
So whilst this article isn't calling for you to count Order of Merlin, and Heir of Slytherin, recipients your betters we should all respect the achievements of such people. We shall start once more with October's Heir of Slytherin, Morgana Malipiero.
Morgana has been a part of Slytherin, and HEX, for just over a year but I personally struggle to remember a time without her being in our House. I don't believe a day has gone by without seeing Morgana encouraging another Slytherin to participate. From activities in the common room to threads in Site-Wide Events, she is seemingly everywhere providing support and fun for all Snakies in the house. In the past academic year, Morgana came second of all people on HEX in most points earned through all things, not only homework. This is a massive achievement for anyone on the site and just goes to show the dedication, ambition, and effort, put forward by this very talented Slytherin.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances in SOUP Headquarters, I was unable to get any comment from Morgana herself. I shall go into the circumstances later in this article.
Now we move onto the Order of Merlin recipient, Alisyn Malfoy. Alisyn has been a member of Hogwarts Extreme for just under nine years, and what a valuable member of Slytherin House she has been. I could go into her individual achievements, her hard work, and her overall impact on our house as a whole, but yet I believe her own written piece describes her HEX journey better than I ever could. Here is what Alisyn has to say:
Ah Slytherin, how do I describe thee? It has been nearly ten years since I first entered thy hallowed halls, bright-eyed and eager.
In any case, HEX was originally just one of my dozen Harry Potter roleplay forums that I skipped around as they kept emerging and shutting down. The stuff that I posted back then was pretty embarrassing, but at the same time, it's a little bit inspiring to look back at it and see just how far I've come in my writing. Only a bit, though; I'd be much happier if they were deleted from existence because, even though I was super casual back then, the one-liners and Mary Sues make me cringe.
Still, for five years, I continued to work hard on my writing and improve, becoming what I considered a decent writer. It was never going to be anything more than a recreational thing (mostly because I tend to lose my patience after some point), but it became something I was proud of. So when Project Ink rolled around that year, I submitted an application mostly as a joke, convinced that I wouldn't be chosen to participate among the other great writers of HEX... but I was. My eventual second place finish was a validation of the efforts I had been inconspicuously putting in until then, and high on that sense of accomplishment, I finally threw myself into competitions and supporting Slytherin in the house cup race.
Since then, I've participated in Project Ink, Hex's Next Top Graphic Designer, and RP Factor; through these and other competitions, I've won an immense number of house points that contributed to at least one house cup win. I have been the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch and Dueling teams, the latter of which enjoyed an undefeated record during my tenure. I have always been someone who valued competence and intelligence, refusing to accept favors that I did not earn and respecting those who could meet those standards. To many, this would be an inspiring success story about the power of hard work and persistence... but that's not true.
I was successful, yes, but talent and success attract resentment and hatred. As my star grew brighter, more and more people sought to undermine me, even within Slytherin. Other houses accused me of cheating when my dueling strategies trounced them again and again. Those in my house, who I thought would support my efforts, complained about all the points that I was winning since it meant that there were less chances for them to do so. My point that if they worked to improve and beat me, we could all earn points for Slytherin was shouted down. In that environment, I grew bitter and defensive, relying on a very close group of my friends to keep me sane while cultivating a reputation of being a cutthroat bitch. In the end, when one of my strongest supports fell away last year, I collapsed with it, spiraling into depression and a vicious cycle of self-destruction.
Even to this day, more than a year after I dropped everything on HEX, this attitude toward me has persisted. To those who supported me and tried to understand me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To all the rest, I hope you're proud of yourselves. And for everyone, let this be a lesson. On the internet, it is much easier to be cruel and fall into mob bullying. Whether this is overt such as sending rude owls attacking someone or more subtle as in encouraging people to ignore the target of the bullying and isolate them, it is just as hurtful as it is in real life, if not more so. Many people who seek refuge in the online world suffer from trouble in their real lives, and to take that away from them and leave them nowhere to turn is the work of a coward.
I have never been optimistic about mankind and its so-called humanity and morality, but my experiences have only made me more cynical. However, I have always been proud to be a Slytherin and would never move to another house. I'm not some idealist who believes that everyone can get along and be friends, but at the very least, I believe that we can refrain from hurting others, even if we dislike them. And my greatest wish for this house is not that it will win more house cups, but that we will grow into a better, stronger community that supports each of its individuals rather than trying to cut them down for their achievements.
Unfortunately as soon as Alisyn handed in her statement I had to rush her out the door. As some of you may remember, from last months article, I had hoped to get a pay rise from Nicole for my brilliant compliments towards here. It was at this point in time that I had finally received my response. Everyone here knows the saying 'I was getting paid peanuts'? This was worse, the editors offered me a single solitary Bertie Botts bean as a pay increase. Now for this reason I barricaded myself in my office as a formal strike against these terrible work conditions. This is obviously the reason why I could not interview my colleague Morgana Malipiero.
So before I slip this article under the door to get published I shall make my final comments. I believe it shows through Alisyn's story that even welcoming and open sites such as HEX can all have their problems, that even our own house can sometimes struggle to act like the family we are. Fresh blood in the Slytherin Staff, and newish members to our great house(such as Morgana), have all shown good progress. Relatively new forum additions of Merlin's Alcove(a warm and accepting place), and the Slytherin Art Academy(a great place to teach and learn) have been welcome additions to Slytherin. We must all remember that if we do not constantly strive to get better, to be better, and to progress forward, we are doing nothing but moving backwards. I thank Morgana and Alisyn for their contributions, and look forward to seeing Novembers recipients.
Now I fear this article has gone on long enough, I shall slip it through the door now. Wish me luck in my quest to be paid more than beans! Until next time my loyal readers.