Foolishness

[alt_terry]

boot thinks that foolishness is not so simple as it seems, always.

that is almost a joke

sometimes people are foolish because they really are fools. not much can be done about that.

sometimes people just seem foolish, maybe because someone made them look that way. like they played a prank on them. but perhaps they are really wise, even if everyone is laughing at them.

how would someone who is truly a fool react to a prank? how about someone who is really wise?

its strange. boot thinks that the one who is most truly a fool would try the hardest to make people see it was a prank and to convince others he is really wise. (but of course it is hard to look wise when you have fallen for a prank.)

but maybe you didnt fall for it because you are stupid. maybe just because you are kind or innocent, because you have a hard time even imagining people could be so spiteful. that isnt a bad thing, maybe. even if you are a fool. maybe its better to be a fool than to be cruel.

maybe if you are wise person who has been made to look foolish to others, you dont mind so much. maybe you laugh along with everyone else. because you learned something. like that you arent wise every single moment, all the time. or who your true friends really are. (they are the ones who are not laughing, if the joke was really spiteful). or maybe just that you like to laugh yourself. because you can enjoy a joke, even if its on you.

And if people think you are a fool, when youre really not, maybe then its good if you keep your wisdom a secret for yourself. especially if people are cruel.

Comments

[alt_gredforge]

we personally think that not all pranks are bad or cruel, professor

[alt_terry]

oh, of course, boot agrees with that. some pranks are fun even for the person being pranked, just because they are so funny.

boot has been thinking more about this and remembered a story he heard in the camps once. Did you ever hear the one about the King Who Had No Clothes? There were wizards who came to the King and said, 'We can make the most beautiful clothes for you. They are so magical, that only those who have the purest blood can see them. If you can't you are only a stupid mudblood.' So the King of course wanted to prove he had the purest blood, so he told the two men to make him a suit. But they were pranksters, and they only pretended to cut the air with their scissors and to sew it with their needles.

Then came the day the King was to try on the magical clothes and wear them in a grand procession. The pranksters pretended to put the suit on him, and the King pretended to see it, because he did not want anyone to think his blood was not pure. So he walked out before all the people, but he was naked.

But a little boy saw and said loudly, 'But he doesn't have any clothes.' And the people laughed and said the boy must be a mudblood, but everyone knew his parents were pure. so the people all started whispering, and the King was very unhappy but he had to pretend he was in a grand suit and keep marching, even if everyone saw he was the one who was a fool. A naked fool.

So maybe the boy was simple, but he was the one who told the truth. And maybe no one would have known that the king was a fool, if the pranksters hadnt played their trick. were they doing the people a favour?

[alt_terry]

of course, boot thinks a little differently about that story since never mind

[alt_percy]

If you

If I

Really, I don't see what business of yours

That's . . . all certainly something to think about.

[alt_terry]

boot knows he is just a mudblood, so sir doesnt need to listen to him.

but if it helps, boot knows what he is talking about here

because people try to make boot look foolish all the time.

and boot knows how it feels

[alt_percy]

I see. Well.

Experience can come from all kinds of places, I expect. I suppose . . . I suppose it would be foolish of me not to listen, no matter the source.

[alt_neville]

That makes a lot of sense, Terry. Reminds me of some things my Gran has said.

(I'd you to meet her sometime. I think you'd get on well with her.)

[alt_neville]

I've heard of Coleridge, I think. He's a poet, isn't he? Except I've never read him.

But who's Alfred Noyes?

[alt_terry]

boot doesnt know. but even if boot finds out, boot wont ever read him.

dont want to be like him, boot guesses.

[alt_hermione]

If you're talking about the person I think you're talking about, I think he is a fool, Terry - and I'm not sorry it happened to him!

[alt_terry]

fools dont stay fools if they learn, hermione

unless they are mudbloods, who are too stupid to learn

Order Only

[alt_molly]

Hermione, I think your friend is giving you a veiled warning here. And he's wise to do it, too. Don't you remember what happened the last time you were pert about Percy in the journals? Not that he didn't deserve it, but you were scrubbing the girls toilets for a month! And Terry was punished right along with you.

If you don't backpedal quickly here, Minerva may be forced to make an example of you again. For mercy's sake, Hermione, be careful!

[alt_hermione]

Terry! You know you aren't too stupid to learn, you know it for sure, stop that.

[alt_hermione]

Oh I mean, you're right.

I think I'm too stupid to learn anything, Terry, I know I oughtn't be pert but I am anyway, I hope people forgive me. You aren't too stupid to learn but I am.

[alt_lucius]

You are the library drudge, are you not?

[alt_percy]

Yes, she is, Mr Malfoy. And in all fairness, I must say that she is certainly conscientious in her duties, and serves Hogwarts well.

ORDER ONLY

[alt_mcgonagall]

Do not answer that, Miss Granger.

[alt_lucius]

It is said that a fool may insult a king; but the king may still have the fool's tongue out the next day. A jester's bells do not set one above his betters, no matter how he may jape.

I see Carrow's methods have done little to keep you in your place, for example. Perhaps someone else ought to change the pace for you both.

Order Only

[alt_molly]

Oh, my stars. This is what I was afraid would happen! Can anything be done to deflect him?

[alt_terry]

sir . . . please, sir . . . what can boot say?

boot knows he is a mudblood
boot knows he is low
boot told the great man so when he saw him before
boot is lower than a fool even
because fools are human, but
a mudblood is not even human

boot has said it again and again
boot played no pranks
said no insults
boot was only thinking in his own journal a bit
and said something because -- because he wanted to help the young master a bit
mr weasley
because he saw how he felt badly today
please do not blame boot if he was stupid and blundered in what he said.
and hermione has said she is stupid, too

The king may have the fool's tongue out, yes,
but is it not his mercy that makes the king so much better than the fool?

[alt_amycus]

That's enough. You'll give your journal to me and I'll return it when I see fit. Clearly this project is encouraging you to think beyond your station, and that will not do. I see that I shall have to think very carefully on how to teach you your place in proper society.

[alt_terry]

yes sir. boot will fetch the journal at once and leave it on master's desk in his office

boot is very sorry to have made people angry, master

[alt_percy]

Sir, I--well, I don't intend to interfere, and I know perfectly well he's your servant to do with as you see fit, but I certainly hope you won't feel it necessary to punish him on my behalf.

The thing is, I truly didn't mind what he said to me, since I can see he meant well, even it if was perhaps a trifle irregular for him to address me at all.

He is just a boy, sir, and, well . . . I hope you won't be too hard on him. That's all.

[alt_pansy]

I think you better stop replying to people. You're just digging yourself a deeper hole.

[alt_lucius]

And you had better stop nosing in, with good advice or otherwise.