There’s only so much your writer can do to show a calm and composed demeanour, in the past you’ve been inundated with useless peppering of positivity and jokes within ‘An Interview With’ but it’s not easy to dispel fear with little mentions of fashion and beauty.
The symbol of the Ouroboros, a snake swallowing its own tail, was first painted across The Owl Post on the 20th of January 2023, what followed was weekly rumours daubed on each edition in a hidden, orange smelling ink that could only be read near heat. Rumour Has It was immediately under scrutiny as it was a relatively new, but popular, column and the ouroboros appeared to be taking the joking jibes to a new level. The rumours fixated on the personal lives of professors, what appeared to be a mixture of truth and lies creating discord between professors that was evidently palpable to students.
At the time of Dorchester’s coup, more vitriol that became more and more venomous was splashed across The Owl Post, culminating in rumours of our own Headmistress Fischer’s death and Professor Fox being the perpetrator. As the steep mountain of lies and slander’s peak was reached there was a descent, the rumours became more Dorchester oriented eventually stopping altogether in April of 2023, and there has been silence since.
Silence only lasts as long as noise allows it to.
Professor Priaulx was the subject of the initial rumours of the ouroboros, The Owl Post and your writer have decided against republishing the words in print. Almost a year to the day of the symbol appearing on The Owl Post editions there was an attack on the Astronomy Professor.
Yes, an attack, not merely an accident as one would assume. I witnessed Professor Priaulx fall along with a few fellow students and it would be easy to assume it was a trip of the robe, indeed, we assumed as much until a piece of parchment floated -melodramatically, I must add – down the Grande Staircase. In black ink and moving in circles was the symbol of the ouroboros again.
Entirely naturally, students started their own investigations whereby the link between the first attack also being the same first named professor of the ouroboros rumours. The old symbols and the new were distinctly different, leading us to believe that there may be different attackers, maybe a group? Similar potentially to T.B.H.S or S.E.R.P.E.N, both who have been suspiciously quiet since the start of the school year.
Professors Du Val and Lykin were the first adults on the scene of the incident, their confidence in healing their colleague was not felt to be translated in their knowledge of what they were against. Professor Lykin assured us that the incident would not go uninvestigated yet it distinctly feels as if the younger students of the school have a firmer grasp of what they’re looking into.
Initially, when the ouroboros first appeared in 2023 myself and Eric Hyland, a fellow Ravenclaw, spoke with Professor Venom to understand the mythological connotations behind it.
“The symbol is an ouroboros. It’s name is Greek – oura meaning tail and boros meaning eating – but the symbol itself predates their civilisation. It’s found in Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology, as well as Hinduism and in Alchemy.”
Within Egyptian mythology the serpent deities represented chaos and disorder, whereas within Greek it was an immortal entity that represented the living universe. Purported to be the first living thing, it symbolises self-sufficiency, and being self-consuming. Jesma Pearl and George Macauley had remained during this discussion following a Mythology class and, surprising those present, Macauley also pointed out that the ouroboros is present within Hinduism, representing self destruction. The devouring of the self, and eradicating the ego.
Professor Venom suggested discussing this with the then-Head of Hufflepuff House as Professor La Pere taught Alchemy. This wasn’t possible but due to the recent resurfacing of the Ouroboros Essa Nazari went to Professor Rourke, our new Alchemy Professor.
“He said that it, ‘symbolise(s) the endless cycle of birth and rebirth.’ Something about the world evolving through like the circle of life. Living, dying. Creation and destruction. But no reason as to why someone would use the sign unless it is just to scare people with the snake.”
It is theoretically likely that the creator didn’t know of, or understand, the alchemical aspects to the ouroboros, but it is indicative that it is a “new” ouroboros, in comparison to the far tamer rumours that were spread, so could suggest the symbolism of cyclicity. Are we to expect a new ouroboros each time? It is with hope that I suggest the hindu symbolism of self destruction goes hand in hand with this, remain vigilant, they will be caught. If we cannot have faith in our Professors to at least catch the perpetrator, if not understand our fear, then what do we have?
