It was one fine day where everything ran smoothly. But it was Monday, the day all the young wizards were gathered at a new building called the Cedric Hall to learn more about magic. A female young wizard had finished off all the works required in the main magical infirmary that morning. Off she went to the dining hall with another female wizard to fill her stomach up then to a room to commit herself to God, the One she believes in, before going to the lessons of magics.
The sign on the heavy, bulky door reads ‘staff room’. They very rarely went there before but it was one of the nice rooms in the hall for a prayer.
Suddenly the head of the fairies named Bathilda looked at them in a suspicious way, asking “which department are you in?”
“The art of human carpentry”, the young wizard gave her a short and honest answer.
“There is a room just outside here if you would like to do your prayer, you know”, said Bathilda, pointing towards a general room, probably at the back of the room they were in, where anyone with the same beliefs who came to the magical infirmary would perform their prayers there, as the main means of submitting themselves to God.
Of course, the young wizard already knew where the room was. And, of course she understood what Bathilda was trying to hint them both.
“But this one is more comfortable. It has the restroom inside here, you see”, again, the young wizard tried to reason herself. ‘After all, we are still staffs, are we not?’, she whispered.
“Even when we were treating the humans with potions out there, we still go to the outdoor restrooms”, replied Bathilda with a mean look, and as she was on her way out of that so labelled as ‘staff’ room, she took out her wand for a jinx to switch off the room cooler, making the room warmer than it had already been – that was after Bathilda started talking.
Speechless, the young wizard was reminded of Hogwarts. She used to study magics in Hogwarts before being awarded to become a wizard. In Hogwarts, things were very different. The welfare of the wizards in Beauxbatons, her birth country was comparatively horrible.
In Hogwarts, let alone the young wizards, even the students who were not considered staffs were being treated nicely. Tea was pouring endlessly in their cups during the hand-overs, a session where the switching team of wizards, witches and fairies gained information about the humans retained in the infirmary, their illnesses and the potions that worked well for them. Again, let alone the young wizards, those students of magics – mind you, who were not the staffs – were given a small cupboard where they can use a unique enchantments to lock up their valuables so they were not lost to the abusing power of black magic. And these students of magics were entitled to use the big, huge staff room that was equipped with a magical entertainment box that enabled them to watch news from all over the world, nice and comfortable seating and many more.
The young wizard never had these advantages of being a staff in Beauxbatons. At least, that small cupboards for wizards would do, coz all fairies had them, but not the wizards. And they even had them placed in wizard's rooms. What more can you say of a wizard being chased out of a staff room (which I supposed was meant for any staff) when a fairy could have their belongings in the WIZARDS' room?
Even though there were not many people who shared the same belief in Hogwarts, most of the people there would respect the young wizard when she had to excuse herself to a room – any room – so that she can perform her prayer wholeheartedly. Some of them kindly showed the way to the nearest quiet room where any believer from different religions were welcomed to perform their prayers. If there were no quiet room, the fairies, and sometimes the head of fairies would put an unlock charm to a locked room for her so she can submit herself wholely to God without any distraction. And these people did not share the same belief in the same God as she did.As Bathilda did.
And rumours say that the Beauxbatonians who used to study magics in Hogwarts not coming back to to serve their own people because of the higher rewards they gained in lthe atter. Nonsense! Well, it was true indeed that they gained extra galleons there – but that was only the benefits of staying in Hogwarts, not the reason. The young wizard can clearly see now that welfare might be one of the issues.
Not that she wanted the endless cups of tea or coffee, no. Not that she was so arrogant, being a wizard, who supposedly by hierarchy was higher up than the fairies, wanting to be respected too much like she had been a staff for long and knew everything about magic already. No, not that. (But sometimes even those higher up in hierarchy, the witches were outruled by the fairies in the infirmary, let alone the level 2, 3 or young wizards). On the other hand, of course those fairies were mostly more experienced and hence, the same respect that the wizards deserved for should be given to them too, no. So in the end, it was not a question of who should be respected by whom, but a matter of respecting each other even if you were just a house elves who served diets to the humans.
The young wizard was helpless and hopeless. She could create a parchment of complaints to King Arthur or Lancelot or even the witches - she might, but this might well get back to her as witches sometimes like to compare the way the were being treated when they once were the young wizards – those times where she assumed the welfare were never thought for or fought off. Time has evolved and people are more educated about their rights and it was never fair for people to let you being treated as they were before. If this still occured, then why use the apparation, the latest means of transportation, and not the old conventional broomstick?
As for Bathilda, the young wizard thanked her for finally triggered her to do something about the welfare of the wizards. A parchment of news would do, maybe? It might be the time to start fighting for the right. And hey, wizards are staff too, they do work for the infirmary!
*original idea taken from OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
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