Application Round

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Name: Ravariel Aiwince
Year: Third Year
Any Positions: I am a plain and simple student, though I do assist two classes taught by Professor Amy Lupin.
HOL House: Hufflepuff

Why did you join HOL?
There were mainly three things that drew me here to begin with. The first was simply that some of my friends had joined a little while before me, who then told me about HOL. As we were all in quite the Harry Potter mood at the time, I was most eager to have a look for myself. What intrigued me then and moved me to join was the sheer variety of classes offered – and besides that, I really liked the idea of being sorted into one of the four houses.

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What is your definition of a role model?
A role model, to me, is anyone in a position where others are likely to look up to them and strive to be like them. That might be parents or teachers for example, celebrities, older friends or siblings, but also, to some extent, certain characters in books and films. I therefore find it very important that those in such a position, or those creating characters likely to be emulated by readers or viewers, are mindful of the influence they have. They should, in my opinion, aspire to represent values worth teaching, values such as kindness and confidence, reason and tolerance, or honesty and tact.

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What challenges, if any, have you had to overcome in your time at HOL?
The biggest challenge that I faced was probably no more than my own perfectionism. When I first joined HOL, I had little time that I could devote to it and ended up having to drop several classes halfway through. Looking at those failures on my profile, and knowing that I would not be satisfied with handing in any less than each assignment and extra credit for a class in full, brought me to not take any classes at all for several years. By now I have learned to manage my time a little better, as well as to pick fewer classes and choose them more carefully according to what I am likely to manage, and have finally become a happily active badger.

 

With twenty years passing since the first book was published, what keeps you interested in Harry Potter and participating in activities like HOL?
To a great extent, this is simply the fact that I enjoy the story – I have only recently reread all seven books. By now, there is undoubtedly a solid touch of nostalgia involved as well, since the Harry Potter books and films were a huge part of my childhood. What keeps my interest active rather than slumbering, however, is actually HOL itself, by being full of life even after all these years and still constantly bringing up new ideas and activities.

 

Of the categories* listed that you will be judged on, which do you think is the most important, and why?
I would judge character to be the most important. The other categories may be praiseworthy aspects of a person, but amount to little if the person in question is, for instance, ill-meaning or ill-mannered towards others. Being a truly outstanding member of any community takes good character.

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Which category will be the hardest for you?
I expect that to be confidence, especially if it refers to confidence in yourself rather than others. Between a high amount of self-criticism and a somewhat shy nature, I generally have a hard time being confident.

 

Do you agree Mx HOL should be a gender-neutral contest and that contestants should be judged on the same requirements? Why or why not?
Yes, absolutely. In fact, the contest might not have interested me nearly as much, had it been parted by gender. There is no reason to me whatsoever to hold contestants to different standards, save for outdated notions that are well gotten rid of. Generally, I hold the view that gender-neutrality should be far more often strived for than it is, and that people’s personality, wishes and skills should stand in the foreground rather than their gender.

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Is there any other information you would like to give the judges and your fans?

Nothing other than that I am very much looking forward to this contest, and that – since I have not participated in anything like it before – I am very curious to see how it will unfold. It does promise to be a lot of fun.

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Round Two

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1. Which Harry Potter character do you relate to most, and why?

=> Rather than relating mostly to one single character, I relate to a number of them, but to each in specific aspects only. Hermione Granger, for example, speaks to me in her eagerness to learn and her perfectionism, while her determination and energy are something I admire, but sadly do not share. To Ron Weasley I used to relate specifically as the one surrounded by more talented and more successful close friends, though this is a feeling that has abated a little in the past years. And Luna Lovegood I feel connected to in being too quirky to easily make friends, though not particularly concerned by the fact: Like Luna, I find that the friends I made despite or even because of my quirks and unusual interests are the best I could wish for.

2. Where is your favorite place in HOL, and why?

=> My favourite place, I believe, would be the classrooms. I admit that that should be spoken of as “places”, but I really could not choose a single one of them. So many things to be learned, and in such a variety! The sheer scope of subjects offered in HOL is astounding, and I often wish I could take far more classes than I do.

3. In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages to ambition?

=> Ambition is a trait of considerable importance. Without ambition, we would never strive to create anything new, nor to improve our work, our skills or ourselves. We would lack the progress necessary to make the world a better place. And beyond that, without ambition, no one would ever attempt to create anything truly remarkable. Though on its own it may not suffice, it certainly takes ambition to achieve excellence.

There is a considerable downside to ambition, though, if it is taken too far. In such cases, it leads to those that are ambitious neglecting the welfare of others or their own, or outright doing damage to it. Unbridled ambition leads to people overworking themselves until their health – physical or mental – fails them, to people callously taking advantage of others and casting them aside when they are no longer useful, to people forgetting those that are close to them and that those ties are far more important than whatever their ambition could lead them to achieve.

As with so many things in the world, the key to ambition is balance. It is necessary, yet it should not be overdone. As the saying goes: Too much of a thing is bitter, even if it is honey.

4. What is the most important lesson you have learned in life?

=> That lesson would be to always be honest with your closest friends, as honest as you can possibly be. Hiding things based on a vague fear that they might negatively affect your friendship may well end up doing far more damage than the truth ever could have done.

5. If you can't be MX HOL, who do you think should, and why?

=> First off, allow me to admit that I am terribly biased in this question, since I happen to know a single one of the other candidates personally. Of course, I would therefore know far more of her praiseworthy qualities than of the other candidates’.

But that said I believe it should be Gail Allen. Not only is she one of the most active and creative HOLers I’ve seen, teaching, assisting and taking various classes at the same time, editing for ALTE Sententiam, and both participating in and organising numerous activities on the Ravenclaw forum. She is also crafty and artistic, knitting and embroidering, creating beautiful edited imagery, singing, writing and more.

More importantly than all that, though, she is simply a wonderful person. She is fun to be around, clever, kind and patient, and she has helped me and is helping me through quite difficult parts of my life. With all that together, I think she would be a perfect choice for Mx HOL.

6. If you were a fruit what would you be and why?

I’m nuts! Nuts are at least technically fruits, so I’d say that counts.

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Round Three

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1. How active are you in HOL?

=> All in all, I fear calling myself truly active would be wishful thinking on my part. As I mentioned already in the application round, I need to balance very carefully how much and what kind of work I can allow myself to pick up for online activities. As much as I love writing, for instance, writing tasks with a deadline are always particularly daunting to me due to my perfectionism. Between that, the fact that I get very easily overwhelmed by the feeling of having too much to do and then end up not managing anything, and a highly active Real Life, I’m afraid this badger is a rather sleepy one.

Currently, I’m mostly grading assignments for two classes and participating in Mx HOL. I’ll pick up classes again next term and I snaffle activities whenever I can.

2. How are you currently helping your House succeed?

=> By earning points mostly, particularly through participating in this contest. It turns out that I am pretty easily convinced to take part in things if someone tells me “We need more Hufflepuffs here! We have too few Huffie signups!” I had originally discarded the idea of joining Mx HOL, because I was sure I wouldn’t have enough time to not risk dropping out midway, but when Kyrie prodded my badger pride, I simply couldn’t say no.

Also, though this might not be so relevant on HOL itself, where the Houses are all linked in friendship, I am a very outspoken advocate of Hufflepuff’s ideals and defender of my House against all the “house of losers” talk that Hufflepuff often faces. That’s something I could probably write lengthy essays on if I tried.

3. Outside of your House, what have you done, and/or are currently doing to help HOL succeed?

=> Firstly, I frequently recommend HOL to Harry Potter fans I know. It may seem like a small thing, but new members bringing fresh creativity and new ideas are what keeps communities like ours alive. It’s always good to spread your enthusiasm about HOL and tempt potential new members with all that’s awesome about it – the classes, the activities, the community.

On a scale of smaller relevance, I also proofread for classes and activities and am happy to test puzzles to see whether they work. So far, I’ve mainly done this for Gail Allen, but I’d be happy to help anyone that is interested by checking their HOL texts for mistakes in language and content and trying their puzzles.

4. What are your plans to help both your House and HOL in the future?

=> For reasons I have by now amply mentioned, I’m keeping my ambitions for my future on HOL well grounded. I certainly mean to keep up what I’m doing so far and participate in at least some classes and activities every term. Beyond that, I would really like to teach a class at some point. It will certainly be a class with linguistic content, although I’m still juggling ideas for the content. I’m considering something on one or several fictional languages.

5. What is one way you think HOL could improve?

=> Off the top of my head, I certainly can’t think of anything that definitely needs change. One thing that bothered me initially – that it was only possible to sign up for a short time twice a year, which led to quite a few people looking at HOL and then forgetting about it – has long since been fixed.

One thing I could think of as a good idea would be having designated newbie helpers and contacts that aren’t House-specific. It would be good if there were a handful of people that could easily be found and contacted on the main HOL site rather than in the House forums, which I’m sure would make it easier especially for uncertain and shy newcomers. The newbie helpers could answer questions, offer recommendations and help and, last but far from least, help the young HOLers find their footing in the community also outside of their Houses.

6. Are there parts of HOL that you have no interest in? Why?

=> Not as such, though I can’t say I get around much due to my restricted amount of activity. I believe that the part I’m least interested in is the HOL library. The writing activities that it offers are simply, well, too heavy on the writing for me to feel I have the time for them, and I lack the leisure to just dig around in there and read. That doesn’t mean I lack interest in the library by default, but my priorities for HOL certainly lie elsewhere, mainly with class work and puzzle-heavy activities.

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