Interview With A Portrait
This was actually initially a school assignment that I had been reticent about completing. I felt incredibly awkward about interviewing a school portrait and was confused about the point of the exercise. I was incredibly surprised at how informative and interesting it was to speak with someone with so much experience, both in life and after. Portraits are incredibly interesting, particularly those at Hogwarts, and I felt that sharing would be the only thing to do. I also intend to collect other people's interviews if they are willing to include in this book. (Note: Still accepting submissions! Owl me!)
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
7
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948
Iris Pius: An Interview By Rebecca Fletcher
Chapter 7
Me: May I have your name?
Iris Pius: My first name is Iris. The Latinate nature of my last name means that it can be spelled P-i-u-s or P-i-v-i-s. Either spelling is fine by me, though I do require the use of my proper title: Professor.
Me: I’m sorry, Professor; I will remember that. Thank you for letting me interview you.
Iris Pius: It is always a pleasure to sit down with and get to know an aspiring witch.
Me: May I ask how old you are?
Iris Pius: That is not a topic about which I am particularly comfortable speaking. It has nothing to do with hiding my age; it is just that…I left Hogwarts and much of the Wizarding-World behind and spent my last years in my own company. I have no desire to share, with anyone, just how much time that might have been. That is something that belongs to me alone.
Me: Of course, Professor; I think I can understand. Can you, maybe, tell me the story about why you left Hogwarts and the Wizarding-World?
Iris Pius: I suppose I was ahead of my time. If that is the case, then I still am. I just believe now and believed then that we are all entitled to be treated equally. When I was alive, I fought for women to have the right to vote. I fought for the rights of homosexuals as well—just to be able to exist. This fight seems to still be going on today and leaves me with absolutely no regret that I left and sought the company of only a very few. The retribution heaped upon me by my, especially male, contemporaries was nearly more than I could take. My intelligence and even sanity were called into question. I was harassed nearly incessantly, to the point that I could not teach my classes or carry on a normal life. Eventually, as I’ve stated, I had to leave. I found a great deal of peace in that choice.
Me: Were there good times, though? For instance, did you have any favorite pastimes at Hogwarts?
Iris Pius: Without a doubt, my favorite pastime was exchanging ideas. We did not have what a Muggle school might consider a formal debating club or team, but we did have a group of students and professors who met during free hours and discussed ideas, great and small. In fact, it was call the ATLAS Club and ATLAS stood for All Things Large And Small. It was intensely exciting to learn and share ideas.
Me: That sounds amazing. I would love to join such a club like that at Hogwarts now! If I did, could you give me any advice?
Iris Pius: Be sure to keep things open and free. Allow for the open exchange of ideas. Do not invest all the power in one person and allow them to dictate the flow of every conversation, but pass that duty amongst yourselves.
Me: Thank you, Professor.
Iris Pius: You are most welcome.
Me: On an unrelated matter, how did you feel about the fact that Hogwarts did (and does) have the largest group of House Elves in Britain, considering the fact that House Elves are basically slaves to wizard-kind?
Iris Pius: I feel as though we have trained them to feel they can be nothing else. We have set them up to believe they are nothing more, so that even if they try to set out on their own, so many of them fail due to fear. In a way, maybe they are safer here, because Hogwarts is often, though not always, under considerate and kind leadership, but that isn’t always the case. I wish that it would be safer to free them than it ultimately would be.
Me: That would make a lot of people and Elves happy, I believe. Did people in your lifetime talk about or discuss Elf rights?
Iris Pius: Some people did, naturally, but it was by no means a common conversation. It was hard enough to convince the people of my lifetime that women were human beings, it was all but impossible to convince them that living beings who are not human are just as worthy of respect.
Me: That still seems to be the case.
Iris Pius: Indeed it does.
Me: Thank you for spending this time with me, Professor, and for answering so many questions. I hope it might be okay for me to come back and visit you some time.
Iris Pius: You are welcome and an occasional visit would be okay, though I do ask you to consider how much I enjoy the time I have to myself.
Me: I will, Professor, and thank you again.
