Y50 Graduation Ceremony: Graduates

Matt stood at the end of the hall and watched as graduates, guests, staff members, and prefects entered and settled into their seats. The long house tables had been removed from the hall, leaving enough room for many rows of chairs for everyone in attendance. The decorations for the four houses were gone as well, replaced by simple banners with the Hogwarts symbol on them. The graduates were no longer a part of their house, they stood together as the graduating class of 2066.

After waiting for everyone to sit down, Matt made his way across the stage to take his position at the podium. It was one of the first times he had to do this, and he hoped his nerves weren't showing. There was something different about addressing parents and other guests along with the usual students. He hoped this would all go smoothly. "Welcome everyone to the graduation ceremony of 2066. I would like to thank you all for joining us in this celebration of all the bright young witches and wizards who will be receiving their diplomas today. Seventh years, you should all be proud of what you have achieved." He said with a smile. "Your lives are just beginning, you are the future of wizardkind. I think I speak for all of the staff when I say that our future is a bright one." He said, pausing for a moment. "With that, I'd like to call upon our head students Teddy Pirrip and Lucy Montague to take the podium." With that, Matt finished, stepping to the side to allow the two head students to take the stage

Teddy stood when the headmaster called himself and Lucy up to the podium. He’d sat through enough graduation ceremonies to think he knew the drill by now but with every eye on them, he realised that he had never spoken in front of an audience this size before. For a brief and dangerous moment, he considered looking important until he remembered June Davenport’s speech last year and decided that wasn't a good look for him either. Instead, he tried to keep it neutral but ended up looking a little tense as he stepped up to speak first. His eyes ran across the audience to find some familiar faces then looked back at the headmaster, “Thank you headmaster,” he said, his voice a little shaky then he took a breath and went on to address the audience.

“Graduates, guests, professors. I’m Teddy Pirrip, and it’s my honour to be standing here as head boy for Hogwarts 50th graduation. Pretty happy with that title.” he said. “Hogwarts has been the best adventure and I'm proud of all I have achieved at this school, but none more than on the Quidditch field.” He started to feel relaxed talking about Quidditch.

"I joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team in my second year and that was at a time when we lost a lot. Then a few years later, I became captain and Gryffindor won every championship from then on.” He was still buzzing about it and obviously proud from the smirk on his face, “But that's not just because of me. That happened because I had a team who worked just as hard, often harder than I did, and seekers who were very good at catching the snitch which helped a lot. I saw strength in my whole team and learned that leadership doesn’t mean much if you're not a team first.” He rested both hands on the podium to ground himself. “And that’s true of all of this. Hogwarts wasn't the best adventure because of all of us making it so. My friends, peers, professors, my parents who always supported me, and my boyfriend,” his eyes flicked to Hugo in the audience, “who made sure I didn’t get completely carried away with the head boy privileges.” Teddy lightly laughed, “Which happened more than I care to admit. Truthfully, I wouldn't have achieved so much or be standing here without the support of the people I love and care about, those are the people who made Hogwarts an adventure for me and I want to say thank you for making it so.”

"And then we graduate, just like the 49 graduating classes before us. Every success and failure, every adventure, and every lesson learned has led us here. Whatever comes next, I hope its all that and more.” He straightened to finish, “Congratulations to the class of 2066. It's been bloody brilliant.” Teddy stepped back from the podium and handed it over to Lucy.

Lucy was a bit nervous, but excited, but also sad. It was a lot to process at once but when in front of a huge crowd of people, it diminished slightly into a smaller ball of 'oh no I have to speak now'. She cleared her throat and stepped up to speak after Teddy, flashing him a smile despite everything. They were friends, after all.

"It's a real privilege to be here, to stand in front of you all. It's been a journey, as I'm sure a lot of you know, or will know in the future. But, um," Lucy paused, looking down for a short second as she tried to remember what she'd planned to say. Then, just as quickly, she decided to ad-lib it. "I'm grateful for all my time here. For the professors, who taught me so much. For the other students, who taught me just as much, really. I found myself here and I'm sure a lot of us did. Teddy said it well, I think, when he mentioned the support of peers and friends. We're here as a group, as a team, and we grow stronger together." Lucy started to blush a little, feeling self-conscious. But she carried on, nevertheless.

"Thank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart." She had an exception to this, but she didn't say it out loud and avoided looking too closely over at the Slytherin table. "Here's to a bright future for us graduates, and here's to a bright future to everyone! We can do it! And you don't have to follow your parents' dreams for you!" She realised she'd said a bit much and paused, but gave a smile, nonetheless. Make it look like it wasn't a slip-up, she thought, as she gave a small cheer and passed it over to the headmaster.

As Matt listened to the speeches, he felt melancholy. He was sad to know he wouldn't be here next year to hear the next ones, but he knew it was for the best. He listened to Teddy's speech, privately thinking he was talking a lot about himself. But the speech was nice, and Matt was glad of that. Lucy's speech was short and sweet, and Matt applauded for them both. "Thank you both." He said kindly, before turning his attention to the other graduates. "To the class of 2066, I wish you all the luck in the future. I know you will all be amazing. Once I call your name, come up to the stage to receive your diploma.” He took the group of graduates in for a moment, then smiled and read the first name on his list.

Marley couldn't believe it. She had made it. She couldn't believe that she had pretty much graduated from Hogwarts. All the needed was to get her diploma and walk across the stage, and her time at Hogwarts was pretty much completed. Marley knew that her time at Hogwarts was going to end, but being at the graduation ceremony had made it a reality to her. She didn't want to admit it, but she knew she was going to miss it. She was going to miss seeing her friends every day, as well as her Quidditch games and practices. She was going to miss all of it.

Marley sat in her seat as the ceremony began. She cheered for both of her friends' speeches, nodding in agreement with what had been said. She was proud of both Teddy and Lucy. Their titles of being head boy and girl were deserved. It wasn't long until names were called and her friends and classmates were walking across the stage with diplomas in hand. She cheered and clapped loudly for her friends. It wasn't long until it was her turn. She grinned happily when her name was called. She shook the headmaster's hand, got her diploma and walked across the stage, waving to the audience happily before making her way back to her seat.

She had finally done it. It was over.

It felt surreal to finally be at the end of her schooling. It felt so odd that in a week or so she would have no more classes, that she had learnt in theory all there was to know about magic. She hadn't unfortunately decided what she wanted to do beyond her schooling, there had always been more time, more time to decide what she wanted to do, but now there wasn't really. Callie had invited her parents to graduation, but it wasn't much of a surprise to her that they hadn't come. She had expected it, though really it hurt no less.

She sat amongst her peers and glanced towards the headmaster as he got things started. She'd heard he was stepping down, which felt odd but she figured much like any job eventually one might grow tired of it. She listened to the head boy and the head girl, nodding at what they said lightly before they were being given diplomas. She felt pleased to have made it, to get it as her name was called. She'd worked for it, worked hard to get it.

And now her schooling, was complete. And she was ready, Diploma in hand to face the world.

Dominic had thought his time in Hogwarts went quite quickly as he sat in his graduation robes about to receive his diploma. It felt like the other day that he was entering this great hall for the first time. It had seemed so much bigger back then.

The headmaster spoke, followed by the head people. Teddy was definitely a great pick for Head Boy, and the Hufflepuff wondered who would be taking his shoes the following year. He wondered who made the ultimate decision and how hard it would be for them. As the head girl had said it had been a journey, the Hufflepuff nodded in agreement. He had definitely grown as a person, and whilst he had no idea where he'd go from here, he knew that without this place having helped him, he would not be heading towards something good, which was where he was sure he was headed.

Soon enough, people were being called to collect their diplomas. When Dominic heard his name called, he held his hands into fists to stop them from shaking as he made his way up to the front. He shook hands with the headmaster and smiled at him before taking his diploma and standing with his peers. They had all done it, and Dominic stood there proudly as everyone had clapped for them all.

Oskar sat uncomfortably in the great hall and felt out of place. Even after all these years he still never felt like he had found his place here. But even with all that, he had felt at least happy during his last year and he owed it all to Hazel. He hated the thought that he'd be leaving her, and it almost, almost, made him want to come back next year. He turned in his seat to look out in the crowd to find his girlfriend or maybe his mom. He found both of them relatively quickly and shot them both a small smile. He had been tempted to ask his mom if she'd think about inviting his father but in the end he decided against it. He still didn't know if his father even knew where he was or if he had willing ignored him for the past few years, but for now he decided it didn't matter. If he had really cared, he would have found him.

Oskar turned his attention back to the front of the hall when the headmaster spoke and introduced the head people for their speeches. He didn't really know Teddy but he liked Lucy. He listened and clapped for both of them even if he felt it hard to be moved much by their words. He wasn't sure if he felt particularly grateful of fond of his time here but he was glad that it was soon to be over. When their names started to be called he got comfortable knowing it would be a while before he'd be called up. He clapped passively as his classmates got called up and finally it was his turn. He stood slowly and steadily and walked up to grab his diploma. He shook the headmaster's hand and spared a glance out towards the crowd to wave to his mom and Hazel before heading back to his seat, ducking his head slightly. He didn't want to think about everyone looking at him. Once back in his seat he got restless, counting down the seconds he'd finally be free. He didn't have any grand plans but he had his server job and he knew he'd get by, and that was enough for now.

Benicio was glad that the Headboy and girl didn't keep their speeches going for too long. He clapped along with everyone else as they finished, still a bit in disbelief that he was finally here. It was finally his last day of school, and he was feeling more emotional about it than he expected. There was certainly a lot of excitement there; he had a job lined up, surprisingly, and he was eager to get to it. He was also just happy to be done with lessons and exams. There was also some sadness there too. Sadness that he hadn't taken advantage of all the opportunities he could have. Sure, he had joined the Brotherhood and had a fun time there, but there was so much the school offered that he could have taken part in. The teenager gave a small shrug, physically pushing forward beyond the idea. It was too late anyway.

Instead, he focused on the names being called, popping up when he heard his own. He crossed the stage confidently, giving a quick glance and smiling at his mother and grandmother who were both there cheering him on. Now, it was done. He had a diploma, he had a job. Now it was up to him what he would make of it all.