Meet the Slytherin Prefects

R. Harper

A Conversation with Katzen

Prefects are busy people, and I was thankful that I was able to sit down with Demian Katzen of Slytherin House to learn more about him. I was so nervous, never having interviewed anyone before and he was so kind making it easy and fun to talk to him. Demian’s a pro at interviews saying, “We are having many interviewings last year too. Sometimes for band, sometimes for prefect, is always things for writing about,” he says encouragingly.

I was a bit star struck actually, I mean he’s so tall and, um, well, tall. So, my first questions went out of my mind, and I just blurted out what I was really wanting to know, “Where are you from? Are all your family so tall? Do you have pets? What is your favourite kind of music? What type of magic do you like best?” I could feel myself getting flustered, but he was so gracious and put me at ease, he has a good sense of humour!

“Tall?” he shrugs. “I am consider short from my family.” He’d hold his arm up high. “Everyone else is up here, for exception of mein Muter. She is down here.” His arm would now go much lower. He sits back and smacks his lips a little, “Aye music.” A large smile. “You are knowing that I am manager for Yung Meaniez. Is mostly punk band, ya?” He smirks. “I like punk. I like lots of music. Music is life. I do like to play a few chords myself. Sometimes, even I am on drums.” He had to think a little more about all the questions that were ask. “Ah pets. I have many. My family is owning wilderness survival camp all my life. I like all sorts of animals.”

Music and animals? I instantly felt like he was a friend. I bet the kids in his house think that too. That made me think of my next question asking, “What do you think is the most important quality of a prefect?”  

“Is hard to choosing just one quality. I think that patience is must. You are not want to go racing to conclusions without the facts. Und, we need to have the patience to nurture fellow students so they can grow und change into who they are meant to be.” He replied. It was clear he’d given this some serious thought. I found myself agreeing, especially as a younger kid, I figured people needed a lot of patience with people like me. 

It did make me think of something I figured a lot of kids wanted to know more about…how do they figure out what to do when we do get a foot wrong? “How do you decide what is a fair punishment for an infraction?”, I asked.

I could tell he felt a bit on the spot and didn’t really like the idea of punishing kids much. “Punishment is such harsh word. I feel that stupid game is get stupid prize. If I am know that person did something maybe wasn’t good but is not most serious thing in world, but they don’t like to get hands dirty, then maybe they are cleaning out barrels for Professor Dracheblume’s composting, ya?”

I couldn’t help it and giggled at that. I mean, composting is important and all; but it sounded so much like something my dad would have said.

I went back to something he’d told me earlier about nurturing students; I’d never really thought of prefects that way before, “Can you talk about how you include that in the way you relate to us students?” I asked.

He had thought of it though, you could really tell cause he answered right away, “I think is best to try to see what is student’s potentials. Maybe is art or spell work, some transfigurations or dueling. Then, is very easy for giving them encouragements or opportunities to do those things. As prefects, we are often helping out to offer practices times together in the dueling room. Others might be offering some times for study und homework, etc. etc. etc.”

I smiled again thinking of watching the King and I with my dad and all the etcetera’s. It was really clear why Demian was picked though, he seems really perceptive to know all that about us kids. How did he find the time to do all that though? “How hard is it to balance the time for your duties with your studies? How do you manage both at the same time?”, I found myself asking.

He smiled, “I don’t sleep. I am a night owl. So, I am not minding to do later patrols und to finish my studies after that. Is all working out very nice over the past six years. I think this year will being the same too. So far is so gud.”

I found myself admiring him, but his answer worried me. Slytherins take note and take care of your prefect so he doesn’t get worn out!

He seemed to give so much of himself, I wondered about how being a prefect might have helped him too. “You’ve talked about helping others as a prefect, but how has it helped you grow. What do you think being a prefect may teach you that will help you when you are a grown up? “

This clearly got him thinking deeply and he took a pause and cleared his throat before answering “Is big responsibility to keeping things in order. Prefects are helping in some manner to do this. We are on looking out for kid’s safety too. So, I am thinking this makes us somewhat more serious than we were the carefree years before this. This job, coupled with summer working experiences, has help me to seeing more what I maybe will like doing in future too. “I am adult with few more months for school left. I think during past summer working with The Department of Magical Transportation an Miss Driscoll taught me a lot too. This is very interest for me! So I am feeling that with time, we all finding right path for traveling on.”

It was a bit of a shock, but I realized that even though we think of the students here with us as kids, Demian is really a grown up already. I mean, like I knew he was, but I saw the man he is becoming in how he answered. 

I had already taken a lot of Demian’s time, still there were two things I just had to know before he left on patrol so I blurted them out fast…

“What would you tell another student who was thinking about asking to become a prefect?” and I blushed as I found myself staring at his hair, “You have the most amazing hair! Can you share your most important hair care tip with us?”

He paused again, thinking before he spoke, “If someone is very serious they are wanting to be future prefect, I think that they should keep to their studies, work hard und showing their leadership skills by making official clubs or things. Be involved in helping others. Show the first years their way around the castle. Being helpful goes a long ways.”

Then he laughed a little and I blushed harder as he actually answered about his hair, “First of all, is very important what you put into your body. Eggs, berries, greens, fish oil. Things like this. Also, be kind to your hair. Using natural shampoos. Don’t forgetting the conditioners. Also, I am never putting heating to my hair. I am let always natural drying.” He shrugs. “I am think that gud hair is a Katzen family trait too.”

Wise words and sound advice from Slytherin’s senior prefect!

Reflections on Dechants

I reached out to Octavia Deschants for this year’s article, and she sadly found herself too busy to sit for an interview. I will never forget the graciousness of her refusal or how supportive she was of me as a new reporter for the Post. I have often been struck by the level of gentility she extends to members of other houses, and those who she might consider more humble souls.

This gave me the idea of writing about Octavia’s role as a prefect from a kid’s eye view. I’ve read that they do this for grown-ups in jobs too, but they call it a 360-degree review. I think that is because people are looking at the person from all angles.

The second most frequent comment I heard from kids was about Octavia’s love of cats! Everyone agreed that Octavia just loves kitties! It makes everyone smile when they talk about it. There are a lot of cat fanciers here at the castle, but it seems Octavia is a fervent feline friend! One kid wrote fiend on the survey I sent by owl, but I’m pretty sure they just spelled that wrong. Kids think that Octavia’s best feature is her love of cats and that this must mean that she is human after all. She has been adopted by a cat and that weighs heavily in her favour with the kids here at the castle.

The kids also talked a lot about Octavia’s creativity. There were soooo many comments on this point I don’t have room to list them all out. One girl talked about how Octavia seemed to have a never-ending ability to find new ways to motivate students. Kids are amazed at how she never gives the same consequences twice running and it’s so hard to predict what she will come up with next for students that need correction. Some kids even wrote that they are sure that Octavia must spend a LOT of her valuable free time thinking up things to do to kids in advance, so she’ll be ready in case she needs to step in. 

Octavia’s a highly motivated girl according to many students. Everyone said she was tireless in her dedication to ensuring that discipline and order was maintained in her house. Octavia also was noticed for being extra generous with her time with the students outside of Slytherin, going well above what could be expected in her efforts to keep other houses to a high standard. I think we’ve all seen Octavia do this and frequently comment on her persistence in pursuing even the most trivial of infractions with those of us who don’t happen to be Slytherins. She sure does like to keep us on our toes!

Many have talked about Octavia’s sense of fairness and her patience in dealing with students in the course of her duties. There were some lengthy responses from kids talking about how Octavia doesn’t hesitate to use a strong punishment even for minor infractions. Although strict, Octavia can be counted on for a certain level of patience in responding to us kids. I can relate a personal story of how Octavia displayed such patience with me when the Time Capsule was first discovered. I smile thinking back to how eager and curious I was as a firstie to explore the site before it was officially opened. Dechants was one of the prefects guarding that night and she counted not just to three…but all the way to six as she warned me of all the things she’d do to me if I didn’t leave! The kids who talked about creativity were definitely right about that. She was marvellously patient, and really good at counting too! Even while thinking up what kind of detention to give she never lost track of what number she was on. I personally admire that ability to think on two tracks at a time like that. I even brought her a carry out tray of food from the kitchen to show my appreciation of her, but she’d left by then sadly. 

But the number one comment about Octavia Dechants was about how sensitive and perceptive she is about students’ concerns and emotions. Every person contacted talked about how Octavia seemed to have an uncanny knack for connecting with them in a way that provoked their strongest feelings and emotions. Some students even admitted dreaming about Octavia but didn’t want people to know how deeply she had affected them. This may be why so many students have been reported to have resumed sleeping with teddy bears in Slytherin House, including Dechants herself!

I think all of us kids hope that Octavia does so well in her studies that she might even graduate early! That must be possible for such a dedicated and talented student, right? Go Octavia! Don’t let concern for us hold you back, great things await you!

Abigail Grace Bluetooth

Slytherin is justly proud of Abigail’s contributions on the Quidditch field and as a mentor for younger players. She was also unable to find time to sit down to chat, but there were so many students eager to talk about her and her accomplishments, both on the field and off.

Abigail is known for her tenacity and practicality, and many have talked about how her advice has helped them develop the basic skills they’ve needed to succeed here at Hogwarts. Kids have been very positive about how she has explained things step-by-step along the way and given them ways to feel successful as they learn more about what interests them most here at Hogwarts. 

Abigail is reported to be thoughtful and studious when off the field, which is probably why it was so hard to contact her for this article. She’s either on a broom or has a book in her hand. Students think her approach to study is much like her approach to Quidditch, methodical, thorough, and aggressive. 

Abigail is rumoured to have a number of professional teams making offers for her, but this reporter couldn’t discover which teams are still in the running for her final consideration. Whichever they are, it is strongly believed that there are a lot of Galleons involved. Abigail hasn’t had her head turned though and is reported to still be working towards her goals of becoming a healer. Abigail shows real wisdom and maturity in planning for her future with two strong options for success.

Ari

Ari is an enigma to staff and students alike, ghosting through a tenure of prefecture with hardly a ripple seen. While unavailable for this article, the thing other students most often said about Ari as prefect was, “Who?”, and many stated that Ari’s most endearing quality was they were the “Non-Prefect Prefect”. One fourth year student said, “We’ve got too many bloody prefects as is, it’s a relief to have one that doesn’t put it about so much.” Others generally agreed with this view with another saying that, “With Dechants around, it’d be good to have fewer prefects generally, if you get my meaning.”

A picture did begin to emerge of Ari from other kids responding to the survey, “Ari really pushed me to do my best, they’re so supportive.” There were some other comments echoing Ari’s accomplishments as a mentor, saying “Ari is passionate about helping people, including helping them with their schoolwork or being there when they need someone to talk to.”

This wasn’t universally true, with other students commenting, “Ari is away with the Fairies most of the time, head in the clouds, thinking about their own stuff like.” And “Sure, if you’re one of their peeps they’ll give you the time of day, otherwise no road.”

It isn’t clear what side the two headed coin that is Ari will fall on, we hope to see more emerge as the year unfolds.