Graduation 2029: The Ceremony

[Gabriel Lloyd]

Out of Character:

This particular thread is for graduates and speakers to post in. Guests and spectators may post in "Graduation 2029: Spectators/Guests."

Even though Gabriel Lloyd hadn't truly gotten to know any of the seventh years in attendance today, he was proud of every one of them, from the most upstanding prefects to students who struggled for their Ps and As. These students all deserved to be here, no matter which path had brought them. A wise man had once told the headmaster that there was more than one way to climb up a hill. Graduation was such a hill- no doubt, it was only one of many they would encounter after they took their final ride on the Hogwarts Express.

Streamers of different colors dangled in thin air, celebrating each house in no particular order. After all, the soon-to-be-graduates were here as the class of 2029, together, not simply as badgers, lions, snakes, and ravens. The ceiling reflected a sky painted blue and stuck fast with glued-on, cotton-ball clouds. All the long tables had been removed in favor of chairs and a stage. Seventh years filled the front row of seats while their guests filled the back. The headmaster and his deputies had their own place on stage.

Gabe rose and made his way to the podium. The buzzes and murmurs of dozens of voices died down as he began to speak.

"I'd like to welcome all who've journeyed here on this fine May afternoon," he began, "whether you're a graduate, staff member, family, friend, or someone who just wandered in. We're here to commend the blood, sweat, tears, laughter, smiles, effort, perseverance, love, and dedication the class of 2029 has put into seven years at Hogwarts New Zealand." The dark-haired wizard smiled as his attention gravitated towards those at the front of the audience. They were the reason for today and for the school's very existence. "Class of 2029- when you do board the train for the last time, take with you what you can. Do what you will to leave your foot and handprints on this world, to leave it an even more beautiful, better place. Above all else," he paused, "be true to yourselves. Don't ever give up on what can be."

Holding the silence for just a second, the headmaster intoned, "Next, I'd like to give a few moments to our Head Girl, Dannii Merrythought." Gabe waited for Dannii to take the stage before returning to his seat.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii took a shaky breath as the head master called her to the podium. She had tried to prepare a speech, she really had. As she walked in front of all the guests though she completely forgot the words she had written and practised for the last month. The head girl reached the podium and gripped it tightly to steady herself. For a few horrible seconds she couldn’t think of what to say and she just stared into the crowd. Oh god what do I do? she thought searching through the crowd. Finally she found three familiar smiling faces and calmed down a little. Justin, her aunt, and sister were all sitting there silently cheering on. She took another deep breath before beginning.

"Ten years from now we wont remember who was wearing what or who was dating, but hopefully we will be able to look back and find some fond memories of our years at Hogwarts New Zealand. Friendships come and one, Yule Balls, Halloween feasts, and even wheelbarrow races." Dannii began. "I remember when I first came here I was just this little girl looking for acceptance. Hufflepuff house took me in and really became my family. In my fifth years I was completely shocked when that little badge with a P and a Hufflepuff crest came in the mail. I was sure that they had sent it to the wrong person. Becoming a prefect though really help me grow as a person. Sure it was hard sometimes to balance it with homework and quidditch but I would never give it up. Now though that we're graduating I can only hope that the things this school have taught me, and all of us, will help me make it out in the real world. Yes its terrifying but its something everyone has to do." The Head Girl finished and took one more quick look at the crowd before making her way back to her seat.

I can't believe I just gave a speech in front of all those people. Dannii thought her stomach doing flips inside her. Sure her speech hadn't been as long or elegant as some former head girls but it was true to her. At least thats what she kept telling herself. She looked over at Rue who was sitting beside her and gave her a reassuring smile. Dannii didn't know how Rue felt about the whole thing but she was terrified of graduating. She had no idea what she was going to do now.

 

[Landon Dalton]

As Head Boy, Landon felt it both an honour and duty to make a speech. He had dressed in pristine clean clothes, that bore not a single crease. His Head Boy badge was evenly fixed to his clothes, and he had almost even managed to tame the fiery red mess of hair. He had resolved the issue by pulling it back into a low ponytail, which seemed to smarten up his appearance, tenfold. Landon was glad that his mother, father, and sister had made it to the graduation ceremony. He gave them a smile as he listened to Dannii's speech, applauding at the end. They had all found some sort of family life, here at Hogwarts. Very few struggled to get accepted by the house they had been placed in.

Landon soon found it was his turn to speak. Giving his hair a quick smooth down with his hand, he approached the podium. But as he reached to his breast pocket for the little piece of paper he had written his speech down on, he found it was missing. A shot of panic hit him, but he told himself to calm down. Alright, yes, he had completely forgotten the well-prepared speech he had made, but perhaps this would make it better? Now he would have to do it entirely from the heart. Landon took a deep breath, looking out at all the faces, including that of his little sister. He gave her a Landonish grin. He was Head Boy, graduating Hogwarts. He had faced so much worse than this. And it was these times he thought about as he spoke.

"So many years, so quickly have they passed. I remember the first day I arrived here, the mingled nerves and excitement. I remember the first night consisted mostly of our dorm staying awake to chat and exchange stories of our past. I remember the friends I made, that very first year, and the friend I would lose in years to come. We all had a home, here. We were all thrown together by fate, and we learnt to make that work for us. In my fifth year, I remember the shock at being made a Gryffindor prefect, but I was proud to be given such an honour. Though the years have not always been a walk in the park, though there have been times I have been so close to giving up hope, I have always had my friends to support me. I would just like to say thank you to all of those who have seen me through the years, those who taught me some of the most important lessons in life; Never give up, never lose hope, and always have faith in who you are, regardless of upbringing. As long as the world keeps turning, you will always have Hogwarts as a friend to cherish."

He nodded to his parents, to several guests, before turning and leaving the podium. Though he had not mentioned them by name, there had been a mention of so many people he had befriended in his years. It saddened him to think that Jareth would never have a graduation, nor marry, get a job and live a mundane lifestyle. But the boy lived on through memory. And Landon now looked to the future. The job interviews he would go for, the new broom he may buy, the wedding he may have. He would live for two, and love only one. Though it was to remain a difficult day, emotionally, his heart was bursting with the flowers of celebration. He was a very lucky and happy young man.

 

[Avrille Grinaes]

Perhaps Avrille was strange but the only reason she was attending graduation was because Amaryllis Loncar had forced her into it and pestered her for weeks until she finally Avrille had agreed to go to graduation. The Ravenclaw wasn't quite sure why the girl wanted this but she would do anything just to free her of the headache that this girl could inflict on her. But now she wished that instead of appeasing the Slytherin she could have just used an unforgivable on her. However, the girl was an ally and one with promise so she did nothing.

Avrille Grinaes had not bothered to invite Rosaline or Simone to her graduation, instead deciding just to sit in silence loathing every moment of the celebration ending her school career the way she had entered and experienced it - with the taste of bile on her tongue every second. Finally her name was called and she briskly walked up the steps, her black cloak billowing behind her and her heals making faint sounds. She grabbed the diploma and nodded towards the Professor and then left the stage and returned to her seat beside Amaryllis.​

 

[Takuya Blaze]

Professor Blaze hadn't been a Deputy Headmaster for very long, but he had been at the school for quite a few years now. He knew how the graduation ceremonies worked, and he felt surprised when he had been asked to go up after the Head Boy and Head Girl finished their speeches to call up the graduating class to recieve their diplomas. After Dannii and Landon took their seats as before, he stood up and walked over to the podium. "Thank you for those words, and congratulations on the way you both presented yourselves." Takuya said, smiling at the two Headpeople. "I'd now like to call on the graduating class of Hogwarts New Zealand of 2029 in order to recieve their diplomas." Takuya said, stepping back from the podium to begin handing out the diplomas as they began to ascend onto the stage, one at a time.
​

 

[Rue Undersee]

Rue hurried into the Great Hall minutes before Dannii started to make her speech. She had promised to make it on time just to be there, and she smiled reassuringly at her. She'd been delayed by a sudden episode of nausea, but it had subsided in time for her graduation. Taking a seat, as it was safer for her to sit down, she watched as students were called to the front to receive their diplomas. The excitement was a little much for Rue, who began to shake in her seat. Despite this, she was grinning like mad and going through how she would act again and again in her head, even though she knew that it would be over in seconds. Her excitement turned to nerves the moment she was called. Carefully, she stood up and adjusted her cloak before shakily making her way to the front of the hall.

It required extreme effort for Rue to heave her tired body up the stairs, and her head started pounding. She knew this was no time to become anxious, though. She'd been through seven years of switching schools, going through health problems and struggling to cope with school work. And now, to top it all off, she was pregnant. Still, she composed herself and took the diploma from the Professor with a soft smile and a thank you before making her way back down the steps and to her seat, glad that it was finally over. It took her a moment to realize she was crying, though she felt no emotion whatsoever. She wiped the tears away and realized that, even after everything, she was going to miss school.

 

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Today was it. It was actually here. Today was where it all ended. Seven wonderful years of Ariah's life was finally about to come to an end and she didn't feel a damn thing either. During the past year the Slytherin Prefect could feel herself growing less and less attached to the place she had called home. A few months ago Ariah would have pictured this to be one of the happiest days of her life. A few months ago everything was perfect in her life. But today Ariah Rowan had nothing left to do but Graduate and get out of here with hopes that she could make something out of her life. During the past five years at Hogwarts she had been so strong and so happy to finally have friends. To have people that loved her. But during the past year she had lost all of it. All of it. Her brother's were all busy with work or girls so they never had any time for her anymore. They were her biggest supporters in anything and now they were too busy to really do anything but the occasional letter to her here and there. They all promised they would be here today and Ariah prayed that they would. She needed someone here to comfort her today. To be proud that she had made it all the way here. With all the difficulties she had faced she knew she should be proud. What was sad was that she knew that others in her year probably suffered so much more than she had. But they hid it so well. It was hard to tell that today they didn't have an ounce of pain within them. Ariah lost all of her friends over time. Every single one of them that she had she either lost contact with or was forced to forget like Damian because she wanted to please the one she was going to marry as soon as he Graduated from this school. Then there was Leviathan himself. Ariah nearly wanted to rip her hair out just thinking about yesterday. After all the things she and Levi had gone through together they let their relationship fall apart that easily. They could have fixed their problems. If Ariah had more time she could make it up to Levi. He saw her with other guys, but one was only because they were apologizing for Quidditch and the other was just asking for directions. His jealousy got the best of him and apparently her attitude just fueled his anger. A part of her knew that she was probably the world's girlfriend for never listening to him. Ariah tried to listen to him. A few tears pricked at the blonde's eyes. She needed to forget about him. She was so angry at him right now. Even if she missed him, she forced herself to forget. Her eyes didn't even to bother and list to see if she could see him here. He probably didn't want to come anyways. They were going to be married anyways so it wasn't like their hatred mattered.

The speeches by both the Head Boy and Head Girl were lovely. Well as lovely as they could be to someone like Ariah. She wondered if they were ready to get out of this place too. Did they have someone they were leaving behind? 'It's going to stink not being able to see Levi and Kara all the time...' Not that either of them probably cared about ever seeing her again. Ariah was angry but she had a heart enough to pity what she had done and miss the ones she was leaving behind. But Ariah figured she had better just forget and move. She had a whole year of trying to figure out maybe some way to get out of this, or to just suck it up and go through it. Keeping her and Levi both miserable. He always seemed like he didn't want to get married like this anyways. Not that she blamed him. Clapping ensued and Ariah realized that she had spaced out again. She had been doing that a lot today. When Ariah heard her name being called to receive her diploma she smoothed out her emerald green dress and stood up from her chair. Stiffly she walked up and took the diploma from his hand. Ariah offered him a soft smile before she walked back to her seat. As she sat herself in her chair once again it hit her. She was no longer a Slytherin Prefect. She was now a Graduate being sent off into the work. Mint green eyes lifted and when she saw her brothers. All three of them sitting together her eyes filled up with tears. Ariah just wanted to get out of this school. The former Slytherin couldn't wait to hug all three of them. Hopefully they would numb the heartache. ​

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii placed a hand on Rue's shoulder as she began to shake. She had no idea weather it was from excitement or nervousness as Dannii was feeling a mixture of both. Of course the worst part of the ceremony was over for her. Now all she had to do was walk across the stage and receive her diploma. On the other side her aunt and sister and boyfriend were all waiting for her. It had been so long since she had seen Muriel or Aurora and she couldn't wait to pull both of them into a huge hug. Dannii heard her name being called and stood up. She gave Rue a discreet thumbs up hoping to calm her down a little and walked across the stage. Dannii shook the hands of all the people she was supposed to shake and took her diploma before taking her seat again.

 

[Brodie Summers]

Brodie crossed his arms and huffed as he sat there waiting for graduation to be over. Honestly the sooner he got out of this school, and into the real world the better. This seemed like nothing but a huge waste of time to the seventh year. Why did there have to be some big party? Couldn't they just receive their diplomas and leave? Of course none of his family were attending, because he hadn't invited them. The last thing he wanted was his grandparents, or worse his uncle, here making such a big fuss about every little thing. He half listened to the head boy and girl's speeches. At least they were short. Finally people were being called up to get their diplomas. Having a last name starting with F had its advantages, namely being on the first students to get called up. He took his diploma silently and poker faced. With his student days behind him Brodie perked up a little. I can almost taste freedom. he thought as he sat back down in his chair.

 

[Alexis Ziamian]

Alexis stood confidently in the crowd of seventh years, waiting patiently for her name to be called. Over the past seven years, she'd finally come to realize who she was. At the start of Hogwarts, she'd been a girly-girl and a teacher's pet. But that just wasn't for her anymore. Now, she stood tall, her ash blonde hair sitting bouncily on her shoulders as she waited. It took a while before her name was called, though she was used to such a thing. Having the letter 'z' to start your surname had its difficulties every now and then, even if she was proud not to have a boring name like most people did. Finally, she was called to the front to collect her diploma. Good. She was fed up. Making her way up, she gave a look to the crowd which showed that she was extremely bored. That she couldn't care less that this was her most important day at Hogwarts. It didn't bother her, though she was exaggerating her bored just a little. She took her diploma, nodding instead of thanking the Professor before she made her way back into the crowd. She didn't say a word. She didn't need to.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

Lucy wiped a tear from her eye as the Head Girl and Head Boy made their speeches. It had been a difficult seven years, but she wouldn't change a thing about them. She didn't achieve what she wanted academically, but she learnt a lot. She learnt spells, she learnt history, she learnt what the school had to teach - but more importantly, she had learnt who she was. It had taken her until the last couple of days to realise this fact, but she had finally come to the realisation. All the trials that had been thrown at her? Character building. Losing her mother had been hard, but she had become a stronger person for it. She had learnt to stand on her own two feet. She had learnt what she wanted to do with her life. And she had found love, and that was the most important thing of all.

She was going to miss Hogwarts, but for the first time, she didn't feel worried about what the future had in store. No, she simply felt excited. What was going to come her way? She didn't know for sure, but it was going to be an adventure. And an adventure she wouldn't be embarking upon alone.

Being a B, Lucy was one of the first called up to the stage. Standing straight and tall, she smiled as she confidently walked up to the stage, touching the ring on her finger for luck. "Thank you," she whispered, taking the diploma. There was a lot more to the thank you - it wasn't just aimed at the professor giving her the award, it was also aimed at the school in itself. She sought out Landon and gave him an encouraging and loving smile, before returning to the crowd.

"Thank you for everything."

 

[Amaryllis Loncar]

Graduation had a lot to live up to judging by how much Amy had pestered Avrille about attending. But in all truth, Amy knew that it was not going to be a wonderful experience, it was going to be long and boring. Amaryllis' seventh year had been an eye opener to her. The Quidditch cheerleader had more than her fair share of school spirit when she had attended Hogwarts Scotland, but now and Hogwarts New Zealand the only thing keeping her from going insane was that she had been placed in Slytherin with her fellow ambitious students. She truly felt for Avrille, whom she had befriended (if you could call it that) just this year, as she had been placed in Ravenclaw when she obviously belonged with the snakes. Amaryllis had grown to like the pale girl, they felt the same disdain for their school and both had high ambitions for themselves. The reason the Slytherin had pestered her about attending was because her sister Azolla, brother Larkspur and girlfriend Jennifer were attending to watch, and Amy did not want to do it on her own. Luckily Avrille had eventually agreed, and there they sat, dull faced and decked in robes. Amaryllis and Avrille were allies, that was the only word that could be used to loosely describe their relationship and as they both sat and listened to the speeches of the students that supposedly represented the general school populace in the form of Head Boy and Head Girl, the Slytherin sighed. the eighteen year old could almost taste the bile in her mouth, the speeches were nice, but she did not feel as though they represented her journey at the school whatsoever.

It was fair to say that spending time with Avrille had an influence on Amy. She was still the chirpy and silly and messy girl around her sister and family, but when around Avrille she showed her disgust in the education system, the lack of strict Professors and discipline. She could not wait to leave school and put her skills to actual use, quitting cheerleading for the quidditch teams had given her spare time, her new found lack of school spirit had certainly helped. With her hair tied in a loose bun Amy watched her Ravenclaw friend receive her diploma and return to her seat and soon after her name, Amaryllis Loncar was called. Its just Amy now. she thought to herself, but did not dare speak up. Instead she approached her Professors and took the diploma, swiftly performing a handshake and glancing towards her girlfriend and siblings. Returning to her seat beside Avrille she leant in towards the pale girl and whispered "When can we get out of here?" she did not have any friends to watch receive their diplomas, though she recognised girls she had been in Heta Omega with, and there was still letters M-Z to be read out, she hoped that they could leave soon. ​