Apolline Fontaine could feel the anticipation in the air. It was her graduation, all of the work of the last seven years culminating in this final celebration and moment. All of the late nights, the parties, the studying, the practicing, all of it completed. Seven years had felt endless when she was a first year and just oh so new in the school, but now, now it felt like it had passed in a blink. She had written the speech she was due to give a few times, figuring out all the right things to say, how to say them. Figuring out how to balance giving a good speech with wanting to express herself. Express her thanks and gratitude for everyone in her graduating class.
She sat down with the head boy and glanced towards the headmaster as he spoke. She hadn’t experienced a lot of Professor Styx and was curious how his enture would continue. How he might change things, how things might evolve with him at the helm. Apolline didn’t think he was nearly as bad as people said, certainly not the friendliest of people but he was a headmaster, not a friend. She walked up to the podium and stood looking out before stepping up to speak. In the crowd she could spot her family, her parents, her brother. She could spot her friends, the fellow prefects, the professors that she had become accustomed to.
“Thank you Headmaster, and a warm welcome to all of your, graduates, professors, guests. We are over overjoyed to have you with us to celebrate the graduating class of Y51.” She greeted the hall with a warm tone, opening up her speech and placing it down in front of her as she did so. She took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders back and after a quick glance at her words looked up at the hall.
“Seven years certainly doesn’t seem like long enough, does it? Certainly it felt like an eternity to me when I started, but the time passes and it moves, passes by in the blink of an eye. It feels wrong for it to be over, I’m sure we#ve all been thinking that we had more time, that we had time for one more study session, that we had time for one more party. That we had time to annoy another new professor, but we don’t. This chapter of our lives is done.” Apolline took a moment to glance back down at her papers and then looked back at the crowd.
“But it is not done without accomplishments, whether we used our schooling to get the best grades imaginable, or perfect catching the snitch, or to make a club the best it’s ever been, if we used our school to make friends and to just have fun, we managed that. Whether you played a big or small role, all of us have contributed to each other’s time at school." Apolline took a breath. "There are few people here that I won’t carry forward as we entered the big world. I have made friendships to last a lifetime, and friendship that lasted just here, during these years. As you will have made friends that last a lifetime with ours and not with me.”
“Hogwarts is truly magical place, where we have been allowed to grow and flourish in all the ways that we would like to, where we wrote our own stories and decided our own paths. I don’t believe we’ll ever experience anything like this again, but I am thankful I did get to experience it, and to experience it with all of you. I would like to take a moment to express my thanks, first to our friends and families, of whatever shape and size, thank you for supporting us through late night and listening to us talk about all the things we’ve experienced. To our professors, thank you for all of the work that you did, in making sure every class was engaging, in helping us study with exams, and for keeping us right whenever we skirted the rules.” Apolline paused for a moment.
“To the Hogwarts Staff, those whom we don’t always see or speak to but whose work keeps our school tidy and in order. Who help us heal after we get hurt and help us find the information that we need. That work is done without much thanks, so let me be the one to give it now. Finally, of course, I would like to give thanks to all of you, fellow students, fellow graduates, for always keeping things interesting, for always making each day and year something a little different. Being sounding boards for ideas, for the love we have felt for each other, romantic, platonic or otherwise, to our enemies who made sure we never had an uninteresting day. Thank you for sitting with me when I studied, for helping with Accio when needed, for making sure no one was ever alone for that long."
“All of you, you made this place, and the seven years I spent here special. Whether you were here from the very beginning or right at the very end, thank you. Today marks a brand new day, a new path for us to take, for new opportunities, new friends, new experiences. I wish each of you the very best of luck in any of the paths that you take and I know no matter what we’re all going to do great. Here’s to us, Class of 2067, Y51 of Hogwarts New Zealand. Thank you,” Apolline finished with a smile, folding away her speech and then moved away to allow the ceremony to continue.
