Post by gear on Aug 21, 2011 13:44:23 GMT -8
Title: Value
Rating: PG
House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 546
Warnings: Implied, non-violent, cannon character death.
Summary: What has value? How can you tell? It is defies measurement, confounds those who try to quantify it. Rowena has valued many things over the years. Which were right? Which were wrong? Perhaps none. Maybe all. Rated for implied character death
When Rowena was a young girl, she valued intelligence above all else. With knowledge, came power, with power came control. If she had power, no one could ever control her. If she had power, she could control others.
She met Helga Hufflepuff when she was thirteen. She loathed the other girl. She was so … plain. So boring. So uneducated. She was the exact opposite of all Rowena held dear. And yet she was well liked and well respected. Despite her openness, no one used her, and even with of her unschooled status, the young woman obviously enjoyed learning, and had a sharp mind. She was a puzzle. And more importantly, she was a puzzle that Rowena could not solve. If there was anything that Rowena disliked above all else it was an unsolved puzzle. So Rowena began to approach the other girl, her quest for an answer slowly turning into a genuine friendship.
Perhaps, she decided, intelligence and power are not the greatest things a person can have.
But if intelligence was not the pinnacle to which Rowena would reach for, then what would be? Again, she turned to her friend. Helga, the uneducated, the openhearted, the friend of all, yet slave to none. Of all those qualities, Ravenclaw’s bright mind honed in on her love and open nature. Perhaps this was what she ought to value. But yet … it did not seem right. That was Helga’s domain, and while it was good there, and Helga used it masterfully, Rowena had the sneaking suspicion that if she where to try, it would all end in tears.
After much thought, she decided that maybe her first idea was not so much faulty, but that it was lacking. Love of knowledge and learning and intelligence would be what she idolized, not simply intelligence or love in and of themselves.
As she was dying, Rowena yet again reconsidered her choice. For most of her life, she had revered the love of knowledge, or intelligence, even dedicating her house, Ravenclaw, to it. But it had not brought her happiness, had it? Here she lay, with her daughter killed by the man she had sent to plead with her to come back. One of her best friends had left in bad terms, after a fight about the students. There may or may not be a monster dedicated to killing non-purebloods roaming the school. Yes, her life was distinctly different than that which she had planned. And from here, she could see all her wrong choices, all the points at which she could have fixed these things, all the turning points.
Wisdom. That is what she wished she had had more of when she was younger. Yet her other values had served her well at times too. Maybe her mistake was trying to decide on one thing to epitomize.
With ailing hands, Rowena reached over for a quill and parchment. She could not fix her previous mistakes, not now, but maybe she could keep those who followed her from repeating them.
She began to write,
Those in Ravenclaw will value above all else, intelligence, love of knowledge, and wisdom.
As she exhaled for the last time, she hoped it would be enough.
Rating: PG
House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 546
Warnings: Implied, non-violent, cannon character death.
Summary: What has value? How can you tell? It is defies measurement, confounds those who try to quantify it. Rowena has valued many things over the years. Which were right? Which were wrong? Perhaps none. Maybe all. Rated for implied character death
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Intelligence is the ability to learn and acquire knowledge or understand
When Rowena was a young girl, she valued intelligence above all else. With knowledge, came power, with power came control. If she had power, no one could ever control her. If she had power, she could control others.
She met Helga Hufflepuff when she was thirteen. She loathed the other girl. She was so … plain. So boring. So uneducated. She was the exact opposite of all Rowena held dear. And yet she was well liked and well respected. Despite her openness, no one used her, and even with of her unschooled status, the young woman obviously enjoyed learning, and had a sharp mind. She was a puzzle. And more importantly, she was a puzzle that Rowena could not solve. If there was anything that Rowena disliked above all else it was an unsolved puzzle. So Rowena began to approach the other girl, her quest for an answer slowly turning into a genuine friendship.
Perhaps, she decided, intelligence and power are not the greatest things a person can have.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Love of Knowledge is to enjoy the acquisition and application of facts and reason
Love of Knowledge is to enjoy the acquisition and application of facts and reason
But if intelligence was not the pinnacle to which Rowena would reach for, then what would be? Again, she turned to her friend. Helga, the uneducated, the openhearted, the friend of all, yet slave to none. Of all those qualities, Ravenclaw’s bright mind honed in on her love and open nature. Perhaps this was what she ought to value. But yet … it did not seem right. That was Helga’s domain, and while it was good there, and Helga used it masterfully, Rowena had the sneaking suspicion that if she where to try, it would all end in tears.
After much thought, she decided that maybe her first idea was not so much faulty, but that it was lacking. Love of knowledge and learning and intelligence would be what she idolized, not simply intelligence or love in and of themselves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wisdom: knowledge accumulated through experience
As she was dying, Rowena yet again reconsidered her choice. For most of her life, she had revered the love of knowledge, or intelligence, even dedicating her house, Ravenclaw, to it. But it had not brought her happiness, had it? Here she lay, with her daughter killed by the man she had sent to plead with her to come back. One of her best friends had left in bad terms, after a fight about the students. There may or may not be a monster dedicated to killing non-purebloods roaming the school. Yes, her life was distinctly different than that which she had planned. And from here, she could see all her wrong choices, all the points at which she could have fixed these things, all the turning points.
Wisdom. That is what she wished she had had more of when she was younger. Yet her other values had served her well at times too. Maybe her mistake was trying to decide on one thing to epitomize.
With ailing hands, Rowena reached over for a quill and parchment. She could not fix her previous mistakes, not now, but maybe she could keep those who followed her from repeating them.
She began to write,
Those in Ravenclaw will value above all else, intelligence, love of knowledge, and wisdom.
Rowena Ravenclaw
As she exhaled for the last time, she hoped it would be enough.