Y50 Graduation Ceremony: Graduates

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

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 Pirrip]

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 Montague]

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.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

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.