OWLS: inquiries -- Bill, Hermione, McGonagall
Date: November 28, 2004
Character(s): Cedric, Bill, Hermione, McGonagall
Location: his tent
Status: Private
Summary: Cedric writes a series of letters to people about his museum project.
Completion: Incomplete
Dear Bill,
I'm not sure we've ever spoken more than in passing, although I know your wife from the Triwizard Tournament, and I went to school with several of your younger siblings. (Not to mention we grew up only a few miles apart.) I've certainly known of you, so I hope you won't mind this unsolicited letter from an old neighbor.
In the wake of the war, I've become very interested in rescuing, restoring and preserving our cultural artifacts from the London Gallery. Certainly the fact my mother's paintings were housed there is part of my interest, but it's more than that. I believe we understand ourselves better by remembering our past, and our relationship to the wider world. In the process of rebuilding, I hope we can preserve what's useful (and jettison what isn't), as well as look to other cultures to find new ideas. That's why I think saving and restoring the museum is more than just an antiquarian's interest. (Heaven knows, I'm definitely not an antiquarian.)
I understand from talking to Ron and Hermione, and from my own memory, that you have no little experience with ancient artifacts (and ancient languages) from your time working as a curse breaker for Gringott's in Egypt. I would greatly appreciate your assistance. I have no idea what records (if any) survived the burning of Diagon Alley, and the gallery. And while I did spend more than my fair share of time in the musuem, there are a lot of things I just don't and won't know or recognize, especially not if information about them is lost. The greater part of the damage to the museum lay in the forward galleries -- which is also where the offices were, as I recall. I'm not sure if the main records are there, or in the vaults below, but you can imagine the mess we've got if matters such as provinence, date, etc. are lost.
Please owl me back if you'd be willing to help. We could meet at your convenience to talk. This project will be much too extensive for any single person to manage alone. I work most weekdays and some weekends, but I'm free most evenings and often on Sundays. (Due to working weekends, I'm also able to take off the occasional weekday afternoon, if that would be easier for you.)
Sincerely,
Cedric Diggory
***
Dear Hermione,
I need to thank you and Ron again for fishing me out of the rain on Sunday, but more than that, for helping me find a new project. It's that project, in fact, that brings this letter.
You offered to put wards on my barn. I'd like to take you up on that, but not for my barn. After due consideration and on-going research, I've decided I'll need much more space even to store things, and have staked a claim on a building in Stoatshead, on the west end of D Street. Like your publishing project, this seems to have ballooned on me.
I don't believe I'm quite ready yet to move anything into the building, as I need to visit Diagon Alley to catalogue what's salvageable, and what kinds of protective and preservative charms I'll need. I also need to prepare the building properly. Right now, it's a former furniture store full of dust and old furniture that hasn't been absconded with yet by our new residents. (Oh, and it occurs to me that you might check there for bookshelves, and for display shelves that you could turn into bookshelves. Barter for the wards?) All of that needs to be moved or got rid of, and cleaned thoroughly, but I'd like to have the wards in place before I bring anything into Stoatshead. Given the attack on the 5 Alarm and, I understand, another store after that, I'm not about to leave anything open to vandals, so the stronger the wards, the better.
Please let me know when it would be convenient for us to meet. I work most days, and sometimes on weekends, but I'm free in the evenings. Also give my best to Harry and Ron. I hope your plans for your printing press are proceeding smoothly. If I can be of help with that, let me know.
Best,
Cedric
P.S. I'm owling Bill Weasley, and I also spoke with Professor Lupin -- you remember him? -- about preservation charms the other night. I plan to owl Headmistress McGonagall as well. If you happen across anybody else who might be interested, please point them in my direction.
***
Dear Professor McGonagall,
I hope this finds you well, and the school off to a good start. Thank you again for visiting with me the other night, and hearing out my ideas.
I'm writing because I have a new project that sort of fell into my lap, so to speak, or the idea for it did. I hope that it may eventually be of interest to the school, as well. As you know, when Diagon Alley burned, the London Gallery of Art and Culture burned too, although not everything was lost and in working at the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, I've come to realize just how much can be done with restoration. Obviously, I have a vested interest in the museum due to my mother's art, but my interest goes far beyond that. I'm going to work towards the rescue, restoration and preservation of what remains (and perhaps the addition, eventually, of new material, as well). This is our past, our culture, our imagination, our creativity -- even our mistakes.
I wanted to let you know about this project for several reasons. First, simply to share it with you. (I confess, I've rather buried myself in reading and researching for the past few days; I'm excited.) But also, because you may know of people who would be interested in helping me with it. The project is too large (and too important) for a single person. I've already sent an owl to Bill Weasley for his knowledge of ancient artifacts and languages, and I happened over Remus Lupin the other day in Socks. (And may I say that I was delighted to hear that he's teaching again? I remember him very fondly, and thought him one of the best teachers.) He's agreed to help me work on preservation charms and such, and I've asked Hermione Granger to set some of her wards on the building itself before anything is brought into it. And of course, my mother will be able to help me with information on the art.
On a completely different topic, I will be returning to Toronto to visit my family after Christmas, and I plan to bring back some of my remaining library -- including a number of Transfiguration texts and articles. I'll be sure to drop by with them for you. There's one in particular that I think might intrigue, as a fellow Animagus, on sensory differences and mental processing while in Animagus form. Essentially the author argues that because we retain our human cognition, we're unable to fully process the stimuli collected by our animal senses. We exist in a sort of 'halfway' state -- not fully animal, but not human, in terms of senses. The author used quite a lot of biological measurements to support her arguments, and as you can imagine, it caused quite a stir. On the one hand, I'm not at all sure I agree. But on the other hand, her research is compelling and deserves consideration. She's clearly not theorizing in the absence of evidence. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the matter after you've read her article.
Fondly,
Cedric
Character(s): Cedric, Bill, Hermione, McGonagall
Location: his tent
Status: Private
Summary: Cedric writes a series of letters to people about his museum project.
Completion: Incomplete
Dear Bill,
I'm not sure we've ever spoken more than in passing, although I know your wife from the Triwizard Tournament, and I went to school with several of your younger siblings. (Not to mention we grew up only a few miles apart.) I've certainly known of you, so I hope you won't mind this unsolicited letter from an old neighbor.
In the wake of the war, I've become very interested in rescuing, restoring and preserving our cultural artifacts from the London Gallery. Certainly the fact my mother's paintings were housed there is part of my interest, but it's more than that. I believe we understand ourselves better by remembering our past, and our relationship to the wider world. In the process of rebuilding, I hope we can preserve what's useful (and jettison what isn't), as well as look to other cultures to find new ideas. That's why I think saving and restoring the museum is more than just an antiquarian's interest. (Heaven knows, I'm definitely not an antiquarian.)
I understand from talking to Ron and Hermione, and from my own memory, that you have no little experience with ancient artifacts (and ancient languages) from your time working as a curse breaker for Gringott's in Egypt. I would greatly appreciate your assistance. I have no idea what records (if any) survived the burning of Diagon Alley, and the gallery. And while I did spend more than my fair share of time in the musuem, there are a lot of things I just don't and won't know or recognize, especially not if information about them is lost. The greater part of the damage to the museum lay in the forward galleries -- which is also where the offices were, as I recall. I'm not sure if the main records are there, or in the vaults below, but you can imagine the mess we've got if matters such as provinence, date, etc. are lost.
Please owl me back if you'd be willing to help. We could meet at your convenience to talk. This project will be much too extensive for any single person to manage alone. I work most weekdays and some weekends, but I'm free most evenings and often on Sundays. (Due to working weekends, I'm also able to take off the occasional weekday afternoon, if that would be easier for you.)
Sincerely,
Cedric Diggory
***
Dear Hermione,
I need to thank you and Ron again for fishing me out of the rain on Sunday, but more than that, for helping me find a new project. It's that project, in fact, that brings this letter.
You offered to put wards on my barn. I'd like to take you up on that, but not for my barn. After due consideration and on-going research, I've decided I'll need much more space even to store things, and have staked a claim on a building in Stoatshead, on the west end of D Street. Like your publishing project, this seems to have ballooned on me.
I don't believe I'm quite ready yet to move anything into the building, as I need to visit Diagon Alley to catalogue what's salvageable, and what kinds of protective and preservative charms I'll need. I also need to prepare the building properly. Right now, it's a former furniture store full of dust and old furniture that hasn't been absconded with yet by our new residents. (Oh, and it occurs to me that you might check there for bookshelves, and for display shelves that you could turn into bookshelves. Barter for the wards?) All of that needs to be moved or got rid of, and cleaned thoroughly, but I'd like to have the wards in place before I bring anything into Stoatshead. Given the attack on the 5 Alarm and, I understand, another store after that, I'm not about to leave anything open to vandals, so the stronger the wards, the better.
Please let me know when it would be convenient for us to meet. I work most days, and sometimes on weekends, but I'm free in the evenings. Also give my best to Harry and Ron. I hope your plans for your printing press are proceeding smoothly. If I can be of help with that, let me know.
Best,
Cedric
P.S. I'm owling Bill Weasley, and I also spoke with Professor Lupin -- you remember him? -- about preservation charms the other night. I plan to owl Headmistress McGonagall as well. If you happen across anybody else who might be interested, please point them in my direction.
***
Dear Professor McGonagall,
I hope this finds you well, and the school off to a good start. Thank you again for visiting with me the other night, and hearing out my ideas.
I'm writing because I have a new project that sort of fell into my lap, so to speak, or the idea for it did. I hope that it may eventually be of interest to the school, as well. As you know, when Diagon Alley burned, the London Gallery of Art and Culture burned too, although not everything was lost and in working at the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, I've come to realize just how much can be done with restoration. Obviously, I have a vested interest in the museum due to my mother's art, but my interest goes far beyond that. I'm going to work towards the rescue, restoration and preservation of what remains (and perhaps the addition, eventually, of new material, as well). This is our past, our culture, our imagination, our creativity -- even our mistakes.
I wanted to let you know about this project for several reasons. First, simply to share it with you. (I confess, I've rather buried myself in reading and researching for the past few days; I'm excited.) But also, because you may know of people who would be interested in helping me with it. The project is too large (and too important) for a single person. I've already sent an owl to Bill Weasley for his knowledge of ancient artifacts and languages, and I happened over Remus Lupin the other day in Socks. (And may I say that I was delighted to hear that he's teaching again? I remember him very fondly, and thought him one of the best teachers.) He's agreed to help me work on preservation charms and such, and I've asked Hermione Granger to set some of her wards on the building itself before anything is brought into it. And of course, my mother will be able to help me with information on the art.
On a completely different topic, I will be returning to Toronto to visit my family after Christmas, and I plan to bring back some of my remaining library -- including a number of Transfiguration texts and articles. I'll be sure to drop by with them for you. There's one in particular that I think might intrigue, as a fellow Animagus, on sensory differences and mental processing while in Animagus form. Essentially the author argues that because we retain our human cognition, we're unable to fully process the stimuli collected by our animal senses. We exist in a sort of 'halfway' state -- not fully animal, but not human, in terms of senses. The author used quite a lot of biological measurements to support her arguments, and as you can imagine, it caused quite a stir. On the one hand, I'm not at all sure I agree. But on the other hand, her research is compelling and deserves consideration. She's clearly not theorizing in the absence of evidence. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the matter after you've read her article.
Fondly,
Cedric