The Oracle: Victory Day Tribute Issue

From the desk of Parvati Patil:

It’s been 20 years since the Battle of Hogwarts, a battle in which I fought Voldemort’s forces along with my sister, best friend, and so many classmates. Unbidden memories of this day return to me nearly as often as the good times that I shared with my Hogwarts mates.

Several people lost their lives on 2nd May, 1998, to ensure the world was free from Wizard supremacy. In this special edition of The Oracle, we pay tribute to the Fallen Fifty in gratitude for their sacrifice and service to humanity. The very first person we pay tribute to has a very personal and sentimental tie to me as my closest friend, Lavender Brown.

From the first time I sat myself at the Gryffindor table, Lavender and I were fast friends. We shared a love for all things fashion, mystic, and witch power. In her, I found a great confidant, private dance party partner, and sharer of dreams. Without her encouragement and dedication, I never would’ve gotten our secret international student paper, Seer Circle, off the ground nor learned what it takes to run a major publication. It is thanks to her that The Oracle exists and our mission to inform an audience shaped by the Wizarding Wars persists.

Thank you Lavender, I love you from the orb and back.

In the creation of this tribute issue, we asked that in addition to our regular English The Oracle correspondents, Angelina Johnson, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Padma Patil, that those who were close to those lost in the Second Wizarding War pay tribute to their fallen as well. Our hope is that every reader not only recognizes each person lost but also feels the love that they have shared with the world.

Public memory is a victory. Thank you for paying tribute with us.

Parvati Patil

Editor-in-Chief

A Tribute to: Lavender Brown     pg. 9

by Parvati Patil

A Tribute to: Florean Fortescue  pg. 17

by Angelina Johnson

A Tribute to: Fred Weasley          pg. 20

by Ginny Weasley

A Tribute to: Alastor Moody        pg. 29

by Luna Lovegood

A Tribute to: Bathilda Bagshot    pg. 33

by Padma Patil

*Tributes by Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas, and others continued on page 58*