OWL: Cedric to Blaise, Cedric to Wilhelmina
Date: December 3, 2004
Character(s): Cedric Diggory, Blaise Zabini, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
Location: Their respective houses
Status: Private
Summary: After hearing Zabini mentioned several times, Cedric decides to write a letter. He also decides to owl Professor Grubbley-Plank about the strays Hermione mentioned
Completion: Incomplete
Dear Mr. Zabini,
I hope you'll pardon this unsolicited letter of inquiry, but your name has been brought to my attention now several times with regard to my current project: resurrecting a Wizarding museum and art gallery. I'm in the process of salvaging what I can from the London Gallery & Museum of Wizarding Culture. As you're no doubt aware, the museum burned along with Diagon Alley, but not everything was lost, and even some of what was damaged might be reclaimed through restoration. I've laid a 'squatter's claim' to an old furniture store here in Stoatshead and am working on cleaning it up, getting rid of the stock, then preparing it for housing artifacts. It will be a long-term project, but the first tentative steps have been made.
I currently work at the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, so I have some familiarity with museums, and I have a degree in political science and a minor in anthropology from the University of Toronto. Also, as you probably know, my mother's art hung in the gallery in London, so one might say I have a personal interest in this project as well as an academic one. Yet this isn't something a single individual can accomplish -- for both pragmatic as well as ideological reasons. This is our civilization, our history, our ancestors, either directly or culturally. After all, few Brits have Iraqi or Kurdish ancestors to match our Assyrio-Babylonian collection, yet the fact we have a collection at all owes to the Assyrians, who invented the "bît mummi" or House of Knowledge ... the first libraries and museums. I hope this new museum can become such a "House of Knowledge" again, and also a "House of Respect": for our past as well as for the magical traditions of other cultures around the world.
That gives you some idea of the reasons for my own interest, my hopes and visions, as well as what I bring to the project. If you are, indeed, interested in the matter, perhaps we could meet for tea and a discussion of museums and history? I work most days and often Saturdays, but otherwise, I'm available in the evenings and on Sundays. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Cedric G.C. Diggory
***
Dear Professor Grubbly-Plank,
I hope this finds you well. I very much enjoyed our dinner the other night and wanted to thank you again for my owl. Her name is Pallas, and as you can see, she's doing well.
In a conversation with Hermione Granger today, she made mention of the number of strays in Stoatshead. No doubt some are animals left behind by owners who fled (or died), and others have probably been strays all along. But she was thinking about finding volunteers to feed them on a rotating basis. I'll be contributing some food and I'm sure my dad will help too. But she and I both were commenting on the need for somebody who has a knack for animals, and a concern for them, who might be able to devote more time than either of us are able. I know you have the owls, and the unicorns, but I thought of you.
If you'd be interested, please owl me back, or you could just owl Hermione directly. She lives in the house on Alpha Road south of the Burrow (I think that address will be sufficient to reach her).
When you need help moving the owls, please contact me. I'm still very willing to help.
Best,
Cedric Diggory
Character(s): Cedric Diggory, Blaise Zabini, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
Location: Their respective houses
Status: Private
Summary: After hearing Zabini mentioned several times, Cedric decides to write a letter. He also decides to owl Professor Grubbley-Plank about the strays Hermione mentioned
Completion: Incomplete
Dear Mr. Zabini,
I hope you'll pardon this unsolicited letter of inquiry, but your name has been brought to my attention now several times with regard to my current project: resurrecting a Wizarding museum and art gallery. I'm in the process of salvaging what I can from the London Gallery & Museum of Wizarding Culture. As you're no doubt aware, the museum burned along with Diagon Alley, but not everything was lost, and even some of what was damaged might be reclaimed through restoration. I've laid a 'squatter's claim' to an old furniture store here in Stoatshead and am working on cleaning it up, getting rid of the stock, then preparing it for housing artifacts. It will be a long-term project, but the first tentative steps have been made.
I currently work at the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, so I have some familiarity with museums, and I have a degree in political science and a minor in anthropology from the University of Toronto. Also, as you probably know, my mother's art hung in the gallery in London, so one might say I have a personal interest in this project as well as an academic one. Yet this isn't something a single individual can accomplish -- for both pragmatic as well as ideological reasons. This is our civilization, our history, our ancestors, either directly or culturally. After all, few Brits have Iraqi or Kurdish ancestors to match our Assyrio-Babylonian collection, yet the fact we have a collection at all owes to the Assyrians, who invented the "bît mummi" or House of Knowledge ... the first libraries and museums. I hope this new museum can become such a "House of Knowledge" again, and also a "House of Respect": for our past as well as for the magical traditions of other cultures around the world.
That gives you some idea of the reasons for my own interest, my hopes and visions, as well as what I bring to the project. If you are, indeed, interested in the matter, perhaps we could meet for tea and a discussion of museums and history? I work most days and often Saturdays, but otherwise, I'm available in the evenings and on Sundays. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Cedric G.C. Diggory
***
Dear Professor Grubbly-Plank,
I hope this finds you well. I very much enjoyed our dinner the other night and wanted to thank you again for my owl. Her name is Pallas, and as you can see, she's doing well.
In a conversation with Hermione Granger today, she made mention of the number of strays in Stoatshead. No doubt some are animals left behind by owners who fled (or died), and others have probably been strays all along. But she was thinking about finding volunteers to feed them on a rotating basis. I'll be contributing some food and I'm sure my dad will help too. But she and I both were commenting on the need for somebody who has a knack for animals, and a concern for them, who might be able to devote more time than either of us are able. I know you have the owls, and the unicorns, but I thought of you.
If you'd be interested, please owl me back, or you could just owl Hermione directly. She lives in the house on Alpha Road south of the Burrow (I think that address will be sufficient to reach her).
When you need help moving the owls, please contact me. I'm still very willing to help.
Best,
Cedric Diggory