The 'Master-Apprentice'-Type Relationship

[alt_moderator]

Alternity dealt with themes of education - formal, informal, and via one-to-one tutelage. Which makes terrific sense when you're writing a story that encompasses the span of schooling for its young protagonists. But in Alternity, the scholarship relationships outside of the classroom offered opportunities for characters to work side by side - and often, secretly at cross-purposes.

Through the magic of my phenomenal alt-moderator powers, I have the pleasure of being able to introduce to this thread some very special guests. These individuals forged deep, close connections with each other in either actual or virtual master-apprentice relationships.

We invite you to ask any questions you may have - about their training, about their relationship, about their suspicions, about how their training prepared them for the fights they eventually fought, or lessons they learned that they would pass on - whatever you want to know! Time and space are immaterial here; the individuals who are participating are free to answer in whatever way they see fit, depending on what's called for in your questions.

Please welcome:

Antonin Dolohov
Justin Finch-Fletchley (Noble Arts)

Severus Snape
Hermione Granger (Potions)
and
Draco Malfoy (Occlumency)

Aurora Sinistra
Evelyn Longbottom (Astronomy)

Barty Crouch, Jr.
Hydra Lestrange (Death Eaterdom)

Savitha Desai
Ron Weasley (Auror training)

Poppy Pomfrey
Sally-Anne Perks (Healing Arts)

Comments

[annia]

Antonin has already answered this but to the other masters/mentors, what was your proudest moment as a mentor? Also, least proud moment? (For the Death Eaters, least proud moment other than the fact your protégé was a member of the Order, please. )


For the apprentices, what was the most useful/important thing you learnt from your mentor?

[alt_sinistra]

I have so many moments to be proud of with Evelyn, but I always come back to the two nights with the wards. Both were incredibly complicated. In the first, I did something I never thought I'd do - killed someone - and that in the middle of a patched together ritual that I'll admit now, we had no idea if it would work. And then when we shifted the wards from the 83 wards to the Octoboros, I'd more or less wrestled them into submission by sheer force of will, and was not really myself for a bit.

(I should give credit to Tosha there: I don't think I'd ever have dared - I'm a badger, and I had neither native bravery or native ambition to carry me through, just stubborness - but for some of the conversations he and I had. Informal mentoring, it is a thing with a lot of ripple effects.)

Anyway, through both, I absolutely knew Evelyn would be right there, giving her all, whatever I asked or needed - calculations, measurements, monitoring a dozen different effects, flasks of tea, cleaning charms, a dozen other things. I couldn't have made either of those nights work without knowing I could utterly rely on her for anything she could offer. She's done a lot of other wonderful things before and since, but those two nights shine much brighter than the rest.

When you ask about least proud, I think about the things I'm least proud of, not least proud of her for. We had more than a couple of rough spots, once we started school again - trying to find a new rhythm, figure out how to make sure she got the training and education she needed to back up the Mastery, dealing with some of the more difficult members of our Guild. And it was a rough year in a lot of ways, personally. Rough set of years. But that was much more my doing than hers, and we sorted it out in the end.

On the topic of informal mentoring, I do want to say I'm also very proud of Cedric and Linus, for different reasons, and still rather in awe that they trusted me enough for a couple of very difficult conversations each that I think made a great difference to them both in the end. My least proud there was not being able to do more to help Cedric in the battle for Hogwarts (for all analysis after the fact made it clear to me I just didn't have the skills to do more), and for having a day where I didn't help Linus as much as he deserved.

[alt_cedric]

War wounds are no one's fault. I assign you no more blame than Fu or Frank or anyone else not in the corridor fighting with me against the thugs desecrating our sacred halls.

If I'd had any sort of idea what I was really betraying, I would never have told you about Sarah.

You pointed my broom at my flight path in that conversation before the Third Task. I will be ever grateful for that.

[alt_sinistra]

Still, I regret it.

As to Sarah - well, you would have made my life easier for a few months if you hadn't told me. Only, harder, too, because knowing about her helped me make the leap, when I got there.

And you did most of the rest yourself. I'm just glad you were around to do it.

[alt_linus]

The challenge to the teacher
Of fair Astronomy
Is teaching students to be still,
And to, observing, see.

To see, not what they may expect,
But what is truly there —
Strange discipline! From dark and still,
Illumination rare!

’Tis not just stars that brightly shine
That can complete the view;
The other, fainter, further stars —
Their light is needful, too.

Their movements, too, contribute
To Life's great orrery.
We’ll see them, if we but be still.
If we observe, we’ll see.

[alt_sinistra]

Did you ever think your detentions and your eyebrows going purple would lead to this, then?

(I must say, your poetry is no guidance of mine: I've no skill at it at all, other than appreciating yours.)

[alt_linus]

It was absolutely beyond my ability at the time to imagine, I assure you! Since then, of course, my capacity for astonishing imaginings has been quite thoroughly expanded.

You know, thinking back to that stretch of time during which I was alternating detentions between you and Professor Dolohov, I cannot prevent myself from envisioning one of those charmed cartoons where a hapless fellow sits with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.

As to the poetry, I have found a most splendid quote by an American author, Mr Mark Twain, so with him I will say that it cannot be helped, the stuff seems to stew out of me naturally as the precious ottar of roses out of the otter.

[alt_linus]

To be less jocular, however, I must thank you for giving me the opportunity to help on the various arithmantic and wards-related desperate endeavours. I am well aware that those of us who came late to the support of Albion were not always easily welcomed as comrades in arms -- or in Arithmancy, in my particular case.

[alt_severus]

The first time Miss Granger was able to brew the Wolfsbane without flaw was of particular note. I had honestly expected her to take another few months to produce an acceptable draught.

[alt_hermione]

Well, it was important!

[alt_severus]

I know; I ought to have realised you never once failed me, or yourself, or others, when it was important.

[alt_hermione]

Believe it or not, the most important thing I learnt from Severus was patience. The ability to dissect one's work to the most granular level and discover where the flaws might be--between which steps--and to carefully analyse what remedy might solve for the unsatisfactory result. That takes a great deal of perseverance. It's important to be patient with oneself when searching for the missing piece of the puzzle.

[alt_savitha]

My proudest moment, hmm.

Ron had done an internship with MLE, of course, so he'd had at least a bit of formal training, but there are quite a few things that are only touched on in the internship, or restricted to a brief observation, among them interrogation. Interrogation was largely handled by specialists like Truncheon, but there were times when it was required, urgently, in the field, and the Sherwood operation was once such instance.

In Warsop, we took the bulk of the village alive, and finding out precisely what they knew about the terrorists who were using Sherwood as a staging area was imperative. All hands were needed to interrogate the prisoners, which was not something Ron had previously done. I had very little time to instruct him, and no time at all to supervise. I was tremendously impressed at his ability to follow my lead, to swiftly spot it if a prisoner was hesitating or withholding information, and most of all, to master his disgust. (We, or at any rate I, did not expect ducklings to arrive devoid of certain human reactions. What was crucial was their ability to master them, control them, and do what was necessary. As Ron did.)

[alt_savitha]

Oh, and least proud, that would have been the time I caught him and his girlfriend snogging in the duelling salle. Needless to say, that is not what we had in mind when we set it up.