Graduation 2044

[Katherine Alicastell]

It had only been a year since Katherine had taken up her position as the headmistress of the school, and that short span of time had not been enough to truly get to know each seventh year student - indeed, she doubted she could have recalled them all by name. An event that normally may have been referred to as bittersweet by previous headmasters, was just another necessity for the woman. Perhaps in future years, as she became more familiar with the student body, seeing them progress through the next seven years of their lives, learning and growing as individuals, perhaps then she'd have felt something more than she did now. As it was, Katherine was neither happy nor sad to watch the class of 2044 go.

From the end of the hall, the Headmistress stood waiting for graduates and guests alike to enter and take their appropriate seats. Gone were the long tables that usually resided in the hall, leaving a large empty space for rows upon rows of padded chairs. Gone too, where the usual banners and drapes depicting the four individual houses and their respective colours, replaced now by banners depicting only the Hogwarts insignia. Today, the seventh years weren't Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs or Slytherins. They were the class of 2044. They were one.

As everyone settled into their seats, Katherine strode across the stage to take her position at the podium, and as the murmur and chatter of those present ceased, she spoke. "Welcome all of you, family and friends, students and staff, to the graduation ceremony of twenty forty-four. Thank you for joining us in celebrating the long journey of our honoured graduates, and in commending their seven years of growth and dedication at Hogwarts New Zealand. Truly, they have been the heart and soul of this school." There was a brief moment of applause, and once that too had died down, Katherine continued. "To the class of twenty-forty four, remember that your lives are only just beginning. You are all the future of wizardkind, and it is your actions and achievements that will continue to shape the world we live in. With that said, I'd like to call upon our head students, Felix Warrick and Alana Finch to take the podium. Please give them a warm welcome." The Headmistress finished, stepping off to the side to allow the two students to take her place and present their speeches.​

Out of Character:

This thread is for Graduates and Speakers to post in. Guests and Spectators can post in the 'Guest' topic.

 

[Felix Warrick]

Felix couldn't believe the moment was finally here. Graduation. Felix was in a total state of euphoria as he made his way into the Great hall for the final time. Lydia had said yes to his proposal, he had some doubts whether she would. Perhaps she would have been put off by their age. For the time being, Felix had to put his engagement aside and perform one last duty as Head Boy. He had agonised over his speech for weeks until he finally finished, though recent developments meant he was making a mental tweak to his opening as he made his way to the side of the stage.

Once the Headmistress gave her opening remarks to the graduating class she introduced the Head students. Felix was first up to make his speech. All the nerves he had felt melted away as he walked on stage to the podium and looked out at the faces of the graduating class. Felix cleared his throat and began. "Up until a week ago I wasn’t ready to graduate. But a lot has changed since then, things have fallen into place for when I leave the castle, but the biggest change happened in the last hour," He began scanning the hall for Lydia and a few other friendly faces to take in their reactions. "For reasons I don’t really understand, Lydia Archer has agreed to marry me, I figured now is a good a time to announce than any, since I have your attention anyway," Felix chuckled and cleared his throat again.

"So, I move onto the actual reason I’m up here. I’d like to start by thanking Alana, who had made being Head boy not only easy but also fun. I was very fortunate that my fellow head student was someone I have for some time been able to call a friend so thank you Alana," Felix looked over to the side of the stage and gave Alana a smile before continuing. "I’d like to thank my teammates, we may have struggled on the pitch this year but it has been a true privilege to serve as your captain this year, and I have loved every minute I spent on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. I wish Izzy and Tholomyes the best of luck as they begin their time as co-captains," Felix looked out into the crowd to find the faces of the new Ravenclaw captains. He was sure they would do a far better job than he had.

"Honestly, I could spend all day thanking individual people and professors who have made my time here memorable but Alana needs time to speak too so I won’t, I just hope you all know who you are and that today isn’t the last time we see each other. For my fellow graduates, I hope whatever comes next is as interesting and exciting as our seven years in this castle. To those we are leaving behind, good luck," Felix was glad he was able to bring his remarks to a close but before he left the stage, he had one final thing to add. "Now lets go celebrate, first rounds on me," With that, he left the podium.

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana Finch listened to the Headmistress talk, a little folded square piece of parchment in her hand that she kept turning over. Her finger would find a corner and give it a tiny squeeze before resuming its rotation. Mostly, she was looking forward to the woman finishing, eager to get her speech over with. Alana was a little pissed at the woman, if she was being honest, having had her request for Chaos to attend her graduation denied. It wasn't that she particularly wanted him there. It was just that she wanted there to be more than one person there, especially since her relationship with her dad had been difficult of late.

As the woman called her and Felix forward, Alana gave the Head Boy an encouraging smile as he walked to the podium first. She listened to his speech, the smile remaining on her face as he spoke. Felix's speech was so very much typical of his personality: friendly, optimistic, and full of life. Alana didn't know if they'd remain friends beyond school, but she hoped he'd go on to have a good life with Lydia. She was still chuckling as she made her way to the podium.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Felix" she said with a small chuckle before she grew more serious. She glanced up quickly and saw a sea of people, so her red eyes dropped, going to the parchment in her hand as she unfolded it. "Our school lessons are over and the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests that our professors spoke about class after class after class" she stressed, a smirk on her face as she glanced at the professors, "are finally over. Most of us have been adults for a year now, but this, this is really it. Now it's our time to head out into the real world, to figure out what it is we want to do.. .and then go do it" Alana glanced at the next bit she'd written. "Your life is in your hands now, so I hope that you will make the best of it, live your life to the fullest, and never, ever let anyone decide it for you." Writing this speech had been difficult for Alana, but she'd ended up deciding to write down some things she'd want to hear, advice that she felt would be useful to herself. Hopefully, it would prove useful to someone else as well. "Now it's time for us to put all of the knowledge we've gained in classes and from friends to good use. I want to wish everyone in the class of 2044 the best of luck as you move forward with your lives. I can't wait to see what you all accomplish." With that, Alana left the podium, heading back to where she'd been before.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine stood quietly to the side as the two head students gave their speeches, applauding each in turn as they finished and stepped down from the podium to make their way back to their seats. With all said and done, the Headmistress took their place once more to address the hall. "Thank you, Mr Warrick and Miss Finch for those words. To the class of twenty-forty four - the future is yours - don't be afraid to leave your mark in the history of wizardkind. I look forward to seeing what each of you bring to the wizarding world. Now, let's move on to why we're all here. When I call your name, come up to the stage to receive your diploma." The woman said, taking a moment to look across the sea of faces in front of her. Her eyes dropped to the parchment she held, and she called up the first of many names.

Out of Character:

It's time Graduates. You can now RP your character coming on stage, getting his or her diploma and then sitting back down until the end of the ceremony.

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[Alana Finch]

It wasn't too long before Alana Finch was able to make her way back onto the stage, this time to get her diploma. Looking out at the crowd as she waited to cross the stage, Alana finally spotted her aunt who gave her a tiny wave and then her dad. She wasn't sure that he'd show up, and she smiled, hoping they saw it before she crossed the stage, her heels clicking the entire way. Her graduation robe billowed around her, but Alana didn't even care about that. Accepting her diploma, Alana was happy that she'd finally been able to achieve this accomplishment. It had felt like a long time coming. Sitting back down, Alana cheered for several of her friends, happy to see them receive their diplomas as well.

 

[Joel Gilligan]

Joel clapped along with everyone else when both speeches had been done and winked playfully at his best friend when he walked off the podium. The Gryffindor had to admit that both speeches had been pretty good, though all this talk about the future made him wish that he had known what he wanted to do after school because he still hadn't figured that out. Finally, the moment came for the Headmistress to hand out the diploma's was here, and he waited with sweating palms until she called his own name. He hesitated briefly when she called out his name, wondering if instead of standing up and walking towards the podium he should stay seated and not accept it. Joel wasn't ready to leave Hogwarts behind yet, there were so many things he still wanted to do, and to spend one whole year without Layla by his side now that she was his girlfriend at last... He took a deep breath and stood up, slowly making his way to the podium, smiling at the crowd of people once his diploma was handed to him, trying to find the Hufflepuff girl who sat amongst them. Joel walked back to his seat behind Felix and patted him on the back.

 

[Desislav Zhefarovich]

Watching all of his friends and classmates cross the stage before him had been more fun than he'd expected it to be. Desi had expected it to be boring because he'd very nearly almost died from boredom at all of the graduations he'd attended. Being on this side of things was different though. Even the speeches were good, Felix doing his best to show his fun side and Alana keeping things short. But Desi's surname did start with the letter Z, so when he finally heard his name, he jumped up, smiling at his sister who still had to wait.

Desi had chosen a muggle suit. He'd put the most attention to decorating his graduation robe, a message reading 'Look for Zurie's Joke Shop Coming Soon' on his back. He'd used a flashing paint charm to put it on. Taking his time to get across the stage so he could do a proper job of advertising, Desislav finally reached the Headmistress and accepted his diploma. Hearing the loud whoops and cheers as he took a step by, Desi looked around finally finding his girlfriend and Bethany. She'd made it! Desi put both hands up in victory and mouthed 'I did it!' to them before finally leaving the stage and returning to his seat.

 

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia couldn't believe all that happened in this day, even before she had graduated, the ring on her finger felt so perfect, she couldn't believe how amazing it felt. She was going to marry Felix, they were going to get married. She couldn't wait to both leave the school and spend all of her life with him, sharing their life experiences. The teen was sat, dressed smartly as she was supposed to for this graduation, and though she was so excited for this, she couldn't wait to leave the school. Her newts she hoped had gone well, and she felt certain for what the future would hold. She looked to the front of the hall, where the professors stood, she glanced to round in her seat where her brother and cousin sat amongst the crowd. She knew her cousin knew about the engagement but her brother didn't yet know and she could hardly contain her excitement over the news she was going to share with him. The teen was just so happy, this day could not get any more perfect that it already had.

The prefect's attention turned towards the front of the room and looked towards the professor who was beginning the ceremony. She looked to Felix and Alana as they gather their speeches, blushing at Felix's kind words towards her, and the fact he had just told them all. The teen knew that wasn't the perfect way for her brother to find out, but it was a way for him to find out. She clapped loudly for both speeches before the names were being called out, Lydia was a surname like Archer, and in much in the same fashion with sorting, she was one of the first to be called. The teen smiled brightly, brushing down the skirt of her dress, and fiddling a little with the ring on her finger as she made her way confidently across the stage, she shook the hand of the headmistress and thanked her before continuing across. She had done it, she'd graduated! She had actually finished with school, she was done. The girl clapped for the rest of her classmates, and her smile didn't once leave her face. The future would be perfect, she knew no matter what she could face it with Felix, with her NEWTs, she was sure that the future would only be bright.
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[Felix Warrick]

Felix clapped as he listened to Alana's speech, she spoke well and when she was done it was time for the Headmistress to give out the diplomas. Felix got comfortable, he would be one of the last to be called with a name like Warrick. He sat back and watched as his classmates went up and got their diplomas, Lydia was one of the first up who he clapped hard and wolf whistled for. Felix continued to clap every student who came forward, giving harder claps for Joel, Alana and Saveli. Eventually, it was his turn. Felix made his way across the stage and shook the hand of the Headmistress with a big smile on his face. He had a lot to look forward to when he left the school, he would soon marry Lydia, his career plans were on track, everything was in place.