A Fine Day for Quidditch

It is a splendid thing indeed, a spring afternoon of Quidditch here at dear old Hogwarts. So many remarkable students have played or watched, over the centuries, and then grown into remarkable witches and wizards, and it quite gives one an appreciation of history to think on the many celebrated names who have been where we are now. It gives us a great deal to aspire to. At the same time, it is sobering to measure ourselves by those who have gone before.

Personally, it calls one to mindfulness that one has not always been at one's best, and that when it comes to excelling for the glory of the Protectorate, one has sadly fallen short of the mark. One can but admit one's shortcomings and pick oneself up -- not unlike a certain player who had a bit of a broom-slip early on today -- and rejoin the fray, anxious to attempt to make up for one's insufficiencies. For truly, even we who are obviously not cut out for the highest levels of excellence in competition may still serve the Protectorate and Our Lord with our talents, even beset as we are by numerous personal flaws and faults.

I, for one, pledge to try.